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My Life Unscripted: Who's Writing Your Life?

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My Life Unscripted by Tricia Goyer is a fun, powerful devotional for teens. Tricia shares scenes from her life written in movie script format interspersed with movie-making terms, Bible verses, hard questions to make the reader look deeper at their own lives, and other teens' responses to those questions. She faces the mistakes she made as a teen head-on without flinching and offers alternatives and opportunities for discussion. Drinking, sex, cheating, friends, the hard things that teens face: she's got it covered. Without offering trite or pat advice, she encourages teens to find answers for themselves and write their own script for their life rather than follow someone else's (other than God's) or just drift along without thinking decisions through. As the mother of two teens, it opened my eyes to some discussions I need to have with my kids and reminded me how hard it is to survive high school without sacrificing something of yourself. While reading this, I asked my 14-year old daughter to describe herself (as Tricia did online and then published the teens' responses), and I ended up listening for several minutes as Molly defined herself in ways I never would have imagined. She knows herself far better than I did at that age, and listening to her helped me understand her far better. There's room for teens to record their answers to questions, as well as discussion questions at the back for use in groups. This is a great book for teens, their parents, and youth groups.

I wish I'd read this book about 20 years ago. It's so hard being a Christian young person in today's society, being bombarded with peer pressure, media pressure, even parental pressure. This book will help those in their teens and early twenties figure out how to deal with the bad influences and actually take control of their lives and live them according to God's plan.

My Life, Unscripted gives practical tips on how to mold your thinking, and ultimately your actions, in the direction you want to go. She gives lots of Bible verses about how to live wisely in a crooked and (very) depraved generation. This book will help you steer around the dangers and mistakes that are so prevalent in the teen years.

I highly recommend this book to all youth workers, teens, and young adults. It is packed with real-life scenarios, as well as activities, that will get teens to think about their own thought patterns and the possibility that they might be headed for trouble. It will show them how to plan ahead for situations that may arise in which they will need to make a well-thought-out decision. It's all about making wise choices and decisions. In the back of the book, youth leaders will find discussion questions perfect for small groups.

This book is a real God-send.

I wish I'd had this book as a teenager. If I'd read it and heeded the advice inside, I could have avoided so many painful mistakes! In fact, even at age thirty-five I found some of Tricia's guidance helpful. After all, adults are not immune to insecurity and peer pressure.

As usual, Tricia Goyer's writing lays it all bare, with no pretenses. Teen girls will "get" this book because it's so "real." Tricia encourages teens to script their own lives, using a clever format. Each chapter has an element of theater or moviemaking.

No relevant topic is "cut" from this one. She addresses alcohol and drugs, premarital sex, self-talk, popularity, modesty, and so much more. I feel like I know Tricia, though I've never met her, simply because she laid bare so many scenes from her own life, many of them painful memories better forgotten. From abortion, teen pregnancy, betrayal, and redemption, Tricia's journey is sure to inspire others to take control of their own scripts for life.

Every chapter contains a Biblical solution and encouragement for all the issues teen girls face today. She assures them that they can look to God for inspiration in writing their own scripts, instead of allowing friends and circumstances to pressure them into what she calls "B" list scripts.

As a Mom, I will definitely encourage my daughters to read this book. Tricia's candor and wisdom is sure to benefit them as they write their own scripts, with dialogue and action that pleases God.

Tricia Goyer has used her many writing strengths to pull together possible life saving information for a whole new generation of teenagers. Tricia, like a lot of us, carries around a past, one she'd like others to avoid. Armed with that desire, she is an outspoken advocate of thinking before you act and learning from the mistakes of others.

Wise instruction is delivered by Tricia who shares parts of her own teen life in screenplay format. Included in the book are areas for teens to journal and honest instruction and help from clusters of Bible verses throughout. In addition, Tricia has interviewed teens around the country asking them about struggles and issues. Organized in sound or information bites that is My Space/Facebook/Blog reader easy to read.

If you have a young woman in your life, I'd suggest that the purchase of My Life Unscripted instead of a cute T-shirt, or a new bottle of perfume might be a very helpful, welcome and wise choice.

Tricia Goyer's book opens a way for parents to create discussions with their teens. Not only will teens benefit from reading this book, but parents, too.
These subjects can be difficult to talk about, but with Tricia's book as a tool and guide, parents can approach a myriad of topics using her book as a sprinboard to begin talking about those tough topics.
Tricia's transparency about her struggles show teens that even old folks had stuff to deal with that made life challenging. The sidebars written by teens shows teen readers (and their parents) that things are different and yet much the same...just at a faster pace.
While I'm glad my teen made it safely through those years, I sorta wish I had a teen to give this book...almost!

MYView: Tricia Goyer candidly lays out the challenges she encountered in her teen years for all to read. That takes guts!

This is a great book to hand to your daughter or son giving them another real and vulnerable adult's point-of-view on life and growing up.

Tricia's unique story format and her willingness to be honest may shed a little more light in what can be a dim place for teens. Knowing adults had challenges growing up and knowing that adults still need God to write their scripts may help teens to relate to us.

I appreciate the author's honesty because she could have hid her experience in a piece of fiction, but she didn't. And her readers will be blessed because of it!

When asked how other moms can share their experiences and past mistakes, Tricia states:

"Well, they could each write a book about their teen years...just
kidding! But for those moms out there...maybe your teen years were not as
drama-filled as mine. Or, if they were, maybe you are fearful of sharing them
with your teen. The truth is, teens learn best not with information and
knowledge, but rather by hearing life examples and understanding how decisions
can affect all parts of our lives. So, time to get brave, Mom. Open your heart
and share what worked and what didn't . It just might help your daughter write a
better script for herself."



I totally agree! My parents were very open with their mistakes and never led us to believe they were perfect. That made them very approachable. It's a vital parenting skill I use today with my son.

(Oh no, I just gave my parents some props! Let's just keep it our little secret. ;) Just kidding.

My Life Unscripted is what I would call a 20 week devotional for teens ages 14 to 18. Each chapter has a script that has a situation that is either actually from Tricia's own life - or one that she has made up but is very common to teen girls. Then, there is discussion on the script. Next comes the Intermission - where the script/situation is related to a similar situation in the Bible. There are usually questions that the girls are to ponder and write down their thoughts. Also in each chapter is a section called "My Script" which has comments from teens on the subject/issue discussed in the chapter. Woven in every chapter are bible verses, strategies for evaluating situations and the way we react. I found the scripts very relevant and interesting - I was looking forward to the script in each chapter. I like how the script was tied to a similar situation in the Bible - showing that the Bible is as relevant today as it was hundreds or thousands of years ago. The goal seems to be to get young women to THINK about their choices - before they make them. To THINK about God when making daily decisions. To think about possible consequences if they make their choices without bringing God into the decision making process.
The way the book is laid out makes it entertaining to read. The chapters go by quickly and you look forward to the next script. It really gets you to think about how you've been making our choices and learning how to make better choices - choices based on what God would have us to do.

As a high school teacher for the past twenty years, I wish I could give this book to every girl who steps over the threshold into my classroom. Bombarded by media hype and smothered by peer pressure and angst, so many girls want and need practical and timely advice. They fear making the wrong decisions, not realizing that deciding not to decide may be the worst decision of all. Trish's advice meets them where they are, and she doesn't pretend sex, drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, and abortion don't exist in their world. As a teacher, I most appreciate Trish's approach to guiding them to write their own scripts. She doesn't give them the "right" answers; she leads them to search for the script to guide their lives in ways that will make God smile.

My Life Unscripted: Who's Writing Your Life?

Tricia Goyer, I'm sure, wouldn't want the credit for the Inspiration brought forth in this amazing book for teenage girls, but her obedience in having shared her story will bless, strengthen, and encourage anyone who completes this study. God has given her the courage to boldly share her "unscripted" life to mentor, teach, and provide godly alternatives to hopefully thwart others from the same mistakes she made, while sharing the joy of making right choices!

Tricia addresses topics in a unique way, and, if you're not careful, you'll learn a bit about scriptwriting. :) She also includes "scripts" from teenage girls across the USA. Topics covered are peer pressure, fear, those hard-to-love folks, sex, abortion ... She doesn't back down, and that's what our youth need today - examples of Strong Christians grounded in the WORD willing to take the stand for Christ, sharing His neverfailing love for us - no matter what!!

Thank you for your obedience and your boldness, Tricia!!! I pray lives are changed and that final script in the book becomes a reality a thousand times over!!

In My Life, Unscripted, the author takes real-life scenarios from her teen years and creates valuable lessons from her experiences. Quotes from other teen girls and tidbits of their thoughts are interspersed throughout the book as well. I liked how everything tied together with Scripture and every scene was used to illustrate a point in the lesson. The screenwriting metaphor also made for an interesting set-up and the book was easy to follow. A great resource for teen girls. So check it out!