A Letter to my Teenage Daughter

My Dearest,

I know it's not cool to listen to advice from your parents, but I thought you'd be more likely to read what I wrote than to listen to my words while trying not to roll your eyes. I wish for you to be all the things your mom and I dream for you to be. I hope you learn from our mistakes and not merely recreate them. I pray that you find faith and follow God and not the world. Understand that just because other people do it, doesn't automatically make it right. Learn to think for yourself and follow your heart for what you truly believe is the right course of action. Your life is in your hands and the decisions you make are yours and yours alone.

People will have no shortage of advice to offer you but be weary of the intentions of those supplying it. Your parents give you advice on the premise that we love and care for you, wanting you to do your best, having the best life possible. We may not be perfect, but we always have the best of intentions and no hidden agenda. Teachers, for the most part, have pure intentions. They have little to gain by misguiding you and blatantly lying to you. Some things they teach because they have to, but they can generally be trusted with the advice that they give. Your friends care for you and want you to be happy, but their intentions can sometimes be tainted. They want you to listen to them above all, but if you are in trouble, you are the one who will have to face the consequences of your actions. I am not singling anyone of your friends out as I don't even know who your friends will turn out to be. You haven't even begun to turn into the woman you will be when you read this. Friends can be loyal, loving and trustworthy, but they can also be two-faced, vindictive and bitter. People don't show their true colors until they have to.

Be wary of the company you keep. Your time is valuable and shouldn't be wasted on the brain dead. Money isn't everything. Though it may seem like it when you can't get the things you want, God always provides us with the things we need. Don't spend all your time comparing yourself to other people. No matter how high you make it up the social ladder, there's always someone higher with seemingly better stuff than you have. Try to be happy with what you have and realize you are so much better off than a lot of people. You have two loving parents who will always be by your side no matter what. Don't be afraid to let us share your life.

You may find it hard to believe, but we were both young once. We know the trials and tests you will be tempted by. Though it may seem hard to pass up the pleasures of the world, things are not always as wonderful as they appear to be. The ways of the world are fleeting and empty. In the grand scheme, they only give you loneliness and emptiness when the whole scenario plays out. You try to say that we don't know what it's like, but we do. The types of drugs, sex and peer pressure that you face might be in a different form but it's still the same as it was twenty years ago. The world hasn't changed all that much, everyone has just become more tolerant of the wickedness.

As I wrap this letter up, remember that you can always talk to me. I may not have a lot of knowledge about the details of your problem, but no matter what the subject, I will always listen. There are a lot of kids who don't have two parents, so be wise and use the gifts that God has given to you. Your mom and I love you with all your heart and we look forward to meeting you.

Love,
Dad

Knowing Movie Review

I've been on blogger break the past few weeks. I've been working on my story so have had limited to time to write about my incessant ramblings. I return to you with a movie review. I recently watched the Nicolas Cage movie Knowing. The general consensus about Nic Cage is that if he is in a movie, you shouldn't see it. I've liked most of his movies. They aren't great, but good. Knowing has me conflicted as I'm not sure if I really liked it or not. It bugged me at first, until I thought about it deeper. Please realize the following does contain spoilers as to plot and purpose. If you want to see this movie and not spoil anything, please read after viewing. And then maybe we can discuss.

In Knowing, Nicolas Cage's son finds a list in a time capsule containing a young child's view of the future from fifty years ago. Instead of a picture of flying cars or spaceships, he finds a paper with nothing but a list of numbers. The numbers, he infers, are related to predictions of major disasters including date and death count.

I won't go into the details in case you want to see the film for yourself. The suspense is pretty exciting even if some of the events are a tad unbelievable. As you approach the end of the film, you realize that the earth is doomed with no chance of redemption. The numbers are not meant to be a warning for prevention, but a prophecy for belief. With all of the references in the believers, and the ones who are called, I suddenly realized it was a christian film or at least heavily lined with christian themes. The whispering people seem creepy for the entire film, but have wings on at the end. The unbelievers are burned up in a solar flare and the young children approach a beautiful tree that looks like the Tree of Knowledge.

I still don't think it's a wonderful movie, but the christian elements definitely give it a deeper meaning. God said he wouldn't destroy the world again with a flood, but does that mean he won't ever start anew using another disaster? We'd like to think that's untrue. Maybe it's more reminiscent of the New Heaven and a New Earth reference.

It was an interesting movie and the people that downright hated this movie, have to question their ideology. Do they hate the movie because of the content or because they're not seeing the deeper message? It's definitely worth a view to make your own mind up.