We have a preteen. I can tell you that this journey has been beautiful, rough, inspiring, challenging, humbling, confusing, rewarding, tiring, and fulfilling. I feel all the feels as some people may say. While we are not in the middle of our teenage years, my husband and I feel a great sense of responsibility. Not only because we are her parents and we are responsible to raise a decent human being but this sense of responsibility is different, a calling to raise God's child according to His will and purpose.

 While we are constantly learning this parenting journey, I can tell you for sure that conversations at home are very important.  My prayers are always asking the Lord to give me the eyes to see the areas of their lives where both of our girls needed help. The areas that are not way too obvious, those areas that I am missing because I am preoccupied with other things. I am also constantly re-evaluating myself if I am intently listening.  Not only to the words that they are saying or communicating but also to those nonverbal communication.

 I am thrilled and blessed for the opportunity to review Behind Closed Doors written by Jessica L. Peck. As I have mentioned above, conversations at home are important during tween/teenage years. So is relation-building paired with Gospel-centered parenting. Sometimes we don’t know how to navigate these roads. Most especially in this day and age, we are bombarded with cultural lies and pressures. Behind Closed Doors is written by a Christian mom as well as a clinical expert with experiences helping tweens and teens who struggle with issues such as gender identity, self-harm, anxiety, and depression. 

 This book has sections like:

 BEHIND THE CLINIC DOOR (Her professional advice)

BEHIND THE HOME DOOR (suggested activities/prompts to unlock dialogue at home to meet them at their point of need) 

BEHIND THE HEART DOOR (devotional readings, relevant bible readings, prayers, Christian music playlist, writing prompts).

About the Book:

Behind Closed Doors (A Guide to Help Parents and Teens Navigate Through Life's Toughest Issues) takes your teen/tween parenting into a faith-filled and actionable plan. This book will encourage you to have vital discussions at home and build your relationship with your tween/teen along the way. The author shares her personal experience along with her professional experience and expertise (all scenarios are real but the privacy of the people is protected in this book). 

Behind Closed Doors is a guided lifeline to help you strengthen your connection with your teens. This book will empower you and give you the tools to:

•  Get professional advice on tough teenage issues from a medical perspective, as well as the true stories of patients.
•  Discover suggested settings, activities, and question prompts to give you conversation keys to unlock doors for open dialogue on tough issues with your teens 
• Share a time of reflection with devotional readings, relevant Bible verses, Scripture-based prayers, themed music playlists, and more.
• Prompts to write 12 Legacy Letters: a generational keepsake for teens.

This book covers hard topics such as mental health, social media, suicide, sexting, gender identity, substance abuse (with a chapter focusing on vaping), and more, Jessica Peck's book will encourage and strengthen all parents—married, single, or divorced; grandparents, stepparents, godparents, bonus parents, adopted parents—anyone who is serving a parental role in a teen's life. 

About the Author

   Dr. Jessica L. Peck has been a pediatric nurse practitioner for twenty years. A native Texan, she is a clinical professor at the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing as well as president of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Most importantly, she has been happily married to a rocket scientist for nearly twenty-five years and is a mom of four teens. A passionate advocate for underserved children and anti-trafficking, Dr. Peck equips families to promote physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual health. She especially loves encouraging parents in her clinical practice and equipping them to build healthy relationships with their children. She speaks to nurses all over the world while also reaching out to more parents so they feel engaged, equipped, encouraged, and empowered to raise resilient, holistically healthy kids.