Family Movies in the Teen Years

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One of our favorite family activities are movie nights. When we bought our home in Nebraska, the room that sealed the deal was the theater room.

When they were younger, they’d watch anything we put on. We did lots of christian movies, the really cheesy ones even, and they loved them. However, once they are teens, those movies don’t fly. It’s so hard to find movies the entire family can enjoy equally.

Recently, we’ve watched 5 movies as a family that we all really liked. Definitely these suggestions are not intended if you have young children. Our youngest is a month away from 13, and all these movies are PG-13. Also there may be some language, so be aware of that. I can’t tolerate much language, but it’s almost impossible to find movies with zero.

Each of the movies I’m sharing were suggested by our teens that already watched them with friends.

5 Movies to watch with teens on family movie night

  • Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio

“A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.”

This was a really great movie. My family followed it better than I did. It’s super confusing. I can’t follow the Bourne movies, and this had that feel to me with lots of complication and fast paced action. I don’t typically like Sci-Fi but enjoyed this one.

  • Knives Out

“A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.”

Definitely kept you trying to solve. No humor, but not scary. Just a classic mystery, which I totally appreciate. Also very little language. Just a few words.

  • Murder Mystery with Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler

“New York cop and his wife go on a European vacation to reinvigorate the spark in their marriage, but end up getting framed and on the run for the death of an elderly billionaire.”

What an underrated movie. A big cast, a fun plot, some definite laughs. And obviously a murder to solve.

  • A Quiet Place with John Krazinski and Emily Blunt

“In a post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing.”

I never watch scary movies. And anything in the horror genre I’m out on. While this is classified as horror, it is no more horror than Gremlins, but without the cheesy humor. It’s incredibly suspenseful and a few jump scares. No bad language. Actually not much language of any kind as they are mostly silent.

I can’t give anything away in this movie, but if you follow me on IG or FB, you saw my spoiler alert. I made a very strong Jesus correlation in this movie that brought me to tears.

  • A Quiet Place 2

“Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.”

We enjoyed part 1 so much, we watched part 2 the following night. Again very suspenseful and not realistic, but well done and easy to enjoy with our teens.

Go make some popcorn, grab some candy, and cozy up with your teens! Happy watching!

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

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I thought it would be fun to share a recipe with you today. It’s different than my normal posts, but I slightly miss the days when I blogged some randomness now and then.

Also, I’m on a bit of a cooking streak. When it hits, it hits. Andrew commented, “I love it when you are in a cooking phase. We all benefit from it.”

My kids requested my homemade pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this week. It’s a modified version of a recipe a woman gave me when I was pregnant with Andrew. While I’ve tried many versions, this remains a family favorite.

Side note: I tried to take some shortcuts this week and buy some healthy box muffins and healthy box energy bites, assuming they would be enjoyed more than my homemade versions. All family members requested I not do that again. Box is never better than made from scratch.

Double side note: I had a lot of words I wanted to write in this post, but what drives me bonkers about food bloggers is how long it takes me to get to the actual recipe. If you feel me, I hope you appreciate today’s post. Hugs!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Wet ingredients:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 can pumpkin

Dry ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup honey (or sugar) (original recipe uses 2 cups, but I think that’s crazy)
  • 3 TBS cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup choc chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine wet and dry. Grease muffin tins, fill muffin cups. Bake 350 for 15-16 minutes.

 

When your teenager sees the power of prayer

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Backstory: Zachary is doing high school through Liberty University Online Academy. To say it’s an adjustment is an understatement. High school math online is crazy hard. He’s been struggling through it, several weeks behind, secured a tutor for one week to get unstuck. And then I basically gave him permission to fail the test and quiz so he could move to the next modules, which looking ahead I realized were concepts he’d easily understand.

Why did I give him permission to fail? Because he was trying as hard as he possibly could. I don’t want performance based kids. I want my kids to work as if unto the Lord, yet realizing sometimes the results aren’t always what we want. Did he give his best attitude and effort? That’s all that matters.

“Zachary, just take the test and fail it. You’ve worked with the tutor. We can’t lose anymore time.”

He seemed relieved as he picked up his computer to take the test.

“Wait! Let’s pray first.”

I sat next to him on the sofa and prayed, “Lord, thank you that you are always with us. You care about what we care about. Please help Zachary to have understanding he doesn’t have on his own. Give him answers only You can give him. Give him clarity of thought and a calm heart. And Jesus, please give Zachary a C on this test.”

Zachary laughed, “Mom, a C is impossible. The practice test and the quiz were Fs.” Side note, I high-fived him for a 48 quiz grade because I fully expected a 10 on that module.

He took the test on the family room sofa while I worked at the kitchen table. 20 minutes later I heard his laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

“Mom, I got a 70.”

Exactly what we’d prayed for, a C.

I squealed and blurted, “Shoot!!! We should’ve asked for an A!”

I knew it was God’s direct answer to our prayer.

Fast forward a week, Zachary began making 100s on his lessons. He totally understood the next concepts as I knew he would. Then he reached a lesson prior to the quiz that stumped him. Again his lesson grade was an F. The concept was a stinker to understand. But we don’t have much time to spare. So I encouraged him to do the best he could and take the quiz.

This time when we prayed we asked God for an A. 20 minutes later I see him emerge from test taking. With a smirk on his face, he said, “Mom, I got a 91.”

“Shut up!!!!!!” Yes, what a godly response. But, I can’t even contain myself when I see my kids experiencing the power of prayer.

Zachary did the work to the best of his ability and he asked God for what only God could give. The results. And it exceeded our expectations.

I want my kids to see the reality of Christ in their everyday life. He’s not some faraway God. He is right here. He cares about every detail of our lives.

While the Lord gives me these kids in this home, I will do everything I can to counteract culture in their lives. God is real. God is love. God is the God of the impossible. They need to see their deep need for Him. Life is better when surrendered to Him.

And God answers our prayers!! Not always how we ask or expect, but always in ways that are what we need over what we want. Thank you, Jesus!

If you want visual reminders for your kids of God’s great love and mercy over their lives, then give them God’s Word to rest their heads on. Scripture pillowcases are a tool in your parenting toolbox to get more of God’s Word into their minds and hearts. It’s one way to counteract the lies of the world.

Giving the Holy Spirit space to work in my child’s life

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I took a walk and prayed, “God, fill me with your Spirit. I’m losing strength. Use me as an instrument of your grace in my children’s lives.” I love that phrase Paul Tripp uses, instrument of grace.
Parenting is refining. Homeschool is next level refining. Nothing I’ve ever done has exposed my need for Jesus more.
Andrew and I had to wrestle through some hard moments. I’ve learned something over the years. Love + consistent discipline is necessary. And so is space. So I took a walk, which made room for the Holy Spirit to speak and work in his heart. And mine.
When I came home, we started fresh with our day at a time we’d normally be done, we were just starting. He offered the sweetest apology that no lecture from me could have produced. Only God could do that.
As I told him I forgave him, he exhaled a sigh of relief and said thank you. “I’ll always forgive you. And I see God working in your life growing you into a young man more everyday.” He smiled, and we carried on with “school”. But the real lessons are in the heart.
When we see parenting challenges from the place of opportunity, everything changes. I have the opportunity to point my child to his need for Jesus. To confront sin and turn to God for love, mercy, and forgiveness. When we stop seeing the hard moments as interruptions or impacts on our selfish desires, everything changes.

One of the most influential parenting books I’ve ever read is by Paul David Tripp. I’ve read it three times. It quite literally offered me the greatest perspective shift I’ve ever experienced in my parenting journey. The most eye opening statement he made was that God never tasked the job of heart change to parents. I’d been white knuckling parenting, fearful I was screwing up or that my kids would wander away. This book was a deep sigh of relief. My one job is to love Jesus wholeheartedly, pray consistently, and point my kids back to the cross over and over and over again.

I stopped being so concerned about right now outcomes and focused on making the gospel real in their lives. It’s a must read in my opinion for all parents at every single stage.

Click image to go to Amazon.

My scripture pillowcases were born out of desire to get more of God’s Word into the hearts of my children. I wanted to really teach them to turn to His Word for every single thing. In a world that bombards them with lies and fears, they need to be grounded in the truth that the God of the universe holds them steady. I want His Word instructing them night and day.

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Grow in Discernment, Maturity, & Faith

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Grow in Discernment

You may find yourself needing more encouragement this week. I pray these mini-devotions will help you cast your gaze upon the Lord. He is good.

“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” 1 Thes 5:5

Therefore, expose the dark. Expose the evil. Call it out into the light. We are living in the greatest age of deception in our lifetime. The speed of change is startling.

Yet, you were chosen to live for such a time as this. What a glorious calling. 

Be bold for the truth. Be bold for souls. 

Be careful who you follow. Be careful who you allow to influence you. You aren’t part of the cancel culture when you wisely discern a voice of influence is negative for you. As deception increases, we must grow in discernment. Then choose to NOT participate with the darkness. And call it out!

But how do we grow in discernment? Read the Bible daily. Every single day. The more you take it in, the quicker you are to recognize the deception and evil around you.

Grow in Maturity

Are you immature or mature in your spiritual walk? According to the Bible if you live on milk, you are inexperienced with the message about righteousness because you are an infant. “But solid food is for the mature-for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.” Hebrews 5:14

So what are you living on? Milk or solid food? If you are still on milk, you may be malnourished, your growth stunted. Is your only source of food from the message your pastor preaches on Sunday? Is it podcasts and books by christian authors? If so, it’s time to make a decision to wean yourself and feast on solid food.

It’s time to grow up. The times have changed. The Bible says the mature believer has trained his senses to distinguish between good and evil.

Culture is swarming with people professing Christianity who cannot distinguish between good and evil. Sometimes that line is very thin. Satan masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:14)Can you distinguish the difference in the true versus the false light? 

Evil is masquerading as good right now. Can you see it? Have you asked God to give you clear vision? Are you in His Word? Silence opinions. Silence the media. Silence the famous christian platforms. Fast from it all and seek Him with all your heart. He will grow you up. 

His Word is true.

Grow in Faith

The last sentence of Isaiah 60:22 is an encouragement to us. “I am Yahweh; I will accomplish it quickly in its time.”

We tend to look at our circumstances or the world and feel God’s purposes are taking forever. However, we must remember the nature of God. He is compassionate, slow to anger, desiring more to come to repentance.

He is not slow to act. In fact, when the time comes, He will act quickly. God moves quickly in the proper and perfect time.

Dear Lord, your Word is true and full of your promises. Increase our faith to trust you. Help us patiently wait for your time to act. We long for the day the world is righted. Thank you that the day is near. Teach us to look for your goodness in the land of the living. Help us live eternally minded knowing you hold the whole world in your hand. Amen.

The key to staying encouraged is keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. But how? By having His Word in front of us at every turn. This is why I created scripture pillowcases, inspirational tea towels, and our latest addition truth mats (aka laminated placements). The world is a constant bombardment of bad news. Fill your spaces with the best news. Jesus is King!!

Hop over to my shop and fill your world with more of His Word!

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Here’s a sneak peek at a few new designs on the way to the shop.

 

What we need in a darkening world

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The world feels darker by the day as chaos and confusion increase. We are desperate for light. The world moans for hope. What can we expect in the coming days, weeks, months, and years?

According to the Bible, we can expect the days to become darker. At the same time, the light within us will not dim. The darker the world, the brighter our lights shine.

One reason so many christians are struggling with their faith right now is the lack of focus on worship of God alone. On who He is, His nature and His character. Modern worship songs tend to be self-focused and absorbed. How we are filled by God, what He does for US, what WE need. I feel what we need most is to develop a habit of focusing on the One True God.

We need to know who He is, what He promises.  Instead of emotionalism in worship, we need the raw truth of His Word in our souls.

You have been chosen to live in these days. You have a purpose, a role, a job. We are living in days that require we make a decision to grow deeper with God and build stronger faith muscles. Casual Christianity is over.

Are you craving intimacy with God? Are you fighting fear as you watch the world seem to fall apart? Are you desperate for more but don’t know how? If so, I invite you to take a 14 day journey to grow in intimacy with God.

I wrote a devotion that focuses on the character and nature of God as illuminated by His Word. God as Creator, as Light, as I Am, as the Perfect One, as King, and Emmanuel (God with us). Alternating days will lead you in guided meditations through the Psalms. My prayer is that each day Your eyes will shift away from this crazy world and onto our Almighty God.

My prayer is that after 14 days you will want to listen or read again and draw into Him in deeper ways.

And I’ve lowered the price. It’s the cost of a cup of coffee, but will last much longer.

Illuminate makes a great easy gift. After buying one for yourself, log back in and buy one for a friend. You’ll only need to know her email address. Then send her a note to encourage her and tell her you are thinking of her today.

Together we can grow in Him and glow brighter in this dark world. He is here.

Purchase your copy here and begin listening or reading today. Available in both audio and ebook or both!

ebook devotional