Tag Archive for: sadness

Inside Out 2 and Our Identity in Christ

Inside Out 2 Big Screen

Disney’s Masterful Exposé of Riley’s Brain on Puberty Reminds Me that Emotional Regulation Can Be Hard for Adults, Too

 

by Jenna Kruse

 

It would be easy to chalk up Disney’s newest Pixar hit, Inside Out 2, as cinema therapy for those whose hormone siren just went off—it certainly normalizes teeth that haven’t yet surrendered to the braces, skin that won’t cooperate, and the awkwardness of needing deodorant for the first time.

 

But as the movie masterfully gives a behind-the-scenes view of Riley’s emotional control center, I’m left wondering why, as a 40-year-old woman, I still relate so powerfully to her story—and not just as a mother of a teen and preteen.

 

Riley’s experience of puberty and the subsequent “emotional overhaul” it causes mirrors the intensity with which many teenagers—and adults—experience the flesh vs. spirit war that Romans 7-8 exposes within us all.

 

Granted, Riley and my Read more

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Hope Was Born…For you. For 2020.

City Christmas light display

December reflections for a holiday like no other

 

“Every perfect gift is from God.” -James 1:17

 

If ever there was a time that our Christmas lists would look a little different, it seems this would be the year. When so much has been stripped away—the security of jobs, the simple pleasantries of dinners out, the elusive guarantee of good health, uncomplicated holiday plans—we are all reevaluating what matters to us. Not what matters most, just what matters at all.

 

It’s a family joke that my Dad is admittedly never short on gift ideas for his own big day or for Christmas (really, it’s helpful!), but he recently reposted the below tear-jerker, with a simple resounding “yea”: Read more

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