The Miley syndrome...

Parents these days. They should just call them "Those Older Friends I Live With." It seems that so many people in this world are way too worried about their kids liking them and thinking they are "cool" that they forget their duties to protect their children by saying no to things that are harmful to them, even at the risk of their children being "mad" at them. Then they can't understand why their kids don't respect them. Your kids don't respect their other friends, so why should they respect you?

Miley Cyrus is an example of the consequences of being your child's buddy. She has gotten into a lot of trouble lately. First she was posing semi-nude before the age of 18. Now she's been photographed getting high. People want to blame Disney or "the man" or whoever, but I blame the parents.

Guess what! For once, so do the parents. Miley's father, Billy Ray Cyrus, said this in a recent GQ Magazine interview:

"How many interviews did I give and say, 'You know what's important between me and Miley is I try to be a friend to my kids'? I said it a lot. And sometimes I would even read other parents might say, 'You don't need to be a friend, you need to be a parent.' Well, I'm the first guy to say to them right now: You were right. I should have been a better parent. I should have said, 'Enough is enough--it's getting dangerous and somebody's going to get hurt.' I should have, but I didn't. Honestly, I didn't know the ball was out of bounds until it was way up in the stands somewhere."

I'm glad Billy Ray was able to open up his eyes to the truth that at the end of the day, HE is responsible for the way his kids turn out. It's unfortunate that it's too little too late for his daughter and for his marriage... for his family.

But then again, it's NOT too late. With God, it's never too late. He can redeem and restore anything. I pray that Billy Ray will open his heart to the Lord and get on his knees and cry out to the Great Healer right now. Nothing is irreparable with God. NOTHING.