Dear Emii,

heyy emii,

my parents have split and im dont want to go to church anymore but i kind of do just so mum will get off my case..., pretty lame huh?
im also not comfortable being around any of my friends except 1 (;))
ive also been making up excuses to not go to youth.
i used 2 really believe and everything and i was happy but now it feels to hard and im always sad and angry.
wondering if you had any ideas on how to help?

Okay, so this totally sucks. But you don't need me to say this. You already know that. Hmmm...

First off, the fact that you wanna go to church so that your mum will get off your case? I don't think that's lame. It's normal.

I think that, maybe, because of  what's happened -- your parents have split up -- well, it's probably making you feel pretty insecure. I mean, if my parents split up? Suddenly I'd be all like, "Well, now that this has happened, anything can happen. My life is pretty much over."
Of course, that's not true.
But onto the next thing -- friends. Have you told them what happened? If you haven't, why not? Are you afraid they won't understand? Won't like you anymore? (And if they don't like you anymore, well, what type of friends would they be?) Or maybe it's something you just don't want going around -- and I totally get that.

Maybe one of the reasons you're feeling so disconnected is because you might've...well, given up on God. "Can't be bothered anymore," like you wrote me. But, as you've probably read, the sooner you do this the better. In books, the girl knows she should just stop, stop living like this -- and just give it all to God. Maybe that sounds weird. And maybe you'll only feel a tiny bit better. But at least you won't be alone.

And if your friends aren't getting you through this the way you need them to (Or if they don't even know about it) maybe you should speak to..*gasp* a counselor. I know, I know -- "What? I don't want to speak to a total stranger. Who do you think I AM?"
But the longer you hold off talking to someone, the bigger your problems will get, and soon enough, it'll seem like you can't get out. Sort of like when you're sick, and you don't see the doctor -- you just get sicker and sicker, and it's harder to cure it, to get better.

Oh, and about the whole not going to youth anymore? I say, you don't have to start everything up again at once. But, here's the question: Do you want to go, but you're afraid of something? Or are you just sick of the
whole church thing, and just don't WANT to go back to the place -- like, at all?

Maybe you just need a new place to go...a new surrounding. But I have to say this -- what is church to you? It's NOT the building, I can tell you that -- it's being with the people, singing, learning, listening -- worshipping God, with people. Maybe you could get a couple of friends together, and study a devotional book together or something -- I know a pretty awesome one, called Redefining Beautiful, by Jenna Lucado. :)

Hope this helped, even just a little.

Luv,Emi