There is something unique between a mother and daughter from the time she is born. Mothers look forward to sharing things from their own childhood they love in the hope this precious bundle of joy loves them too. Of course that doesn’t always happen, not every little girl likes ribbons in her hair or tea parties and yet the mother discovers all the details of what makes her daughter a one-of-a-kind little girl. 

Too often the teen years have more bumpy spots and communication is not always easy or smooth for either mother or daughter. If you are familiar with that and wish there was a template for navigating this season, you’ll want to get a copy of newly released Heart to Heart: A  Mother-Daughter Devotional with 50 Devotions for Teen Girls written by teen and mother coauthors, Bekah and Stacey Pardoe. This is the second book coauthored by this teen-mother. In January of 2023 they published Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith.

Building on their first book, Stacey utilized her decades of experience with teens as a high school youth group leader, teacher, and mentor in conjunction with Bekah to write about challenges and temptations teen girls face every day but don’t always have open dialogue about with their mothers. The big topics of friendship, academic stress, sports, and faith can be found within these pages using a biblical focus verse for each topic while avoiding the pitfalls of preachy dos and don’ts that often shutdown things that can make a major difference to teens choices.

Each devotional is set in an interactive format with mother and daughter each sharing experiences on the subject for that topic and then looking at practical biblical truth to deepen the conversation and understanding between them.

The Table of Contents gives a small glimpse of what you’ll find in these 50 devotions: The Fear of Failure, Can I Mess Up God’s Plan for My Life?, Life’s Closed Doors, Comparing Yourself to Others, How to Set Standards for Dating, Swearing, Sex, and Violence, How to Handle Drama, The Need to be Liked, When Friends Hurt You, When Your Heart is Hurting, Discerning God’s Voice, You’ve Got This!, and more.

With a backdrop focus of 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 Bekah writes:

“Let’s imagine a scenario. You’re hanging out with a close friend. You’ve been friends for a couple of years, but she’s recently started being mean. She’s been rolling her eyes when you talk, correcting everything you say, and talking about you behind your back.”

This day’s devotional goes on with Bekah sharing what she has learned when this happens and what may or may not happen from her choice of response. Then there is a brief “Teen Reflection” where Bekah asked some questions for the teen to reflect on followed by a “Mom’s Reflection”. This portion looks at practical ideas for dealing with friendship drama. 

Then mom is asked to share about a time when she had conflict in a friendship and they make a list together of insights for handling conflict and drama.

This format is used for each of the 50 devotionals as a path to open communication between mother and daughter.

You may not have a teen daughter but perhaps you know someone who does, this would be a great gift to develop that mother-daughter relationship.

My daughter is a mother herself now and her daughters beyond teen years but I wish I would have had this book when she was a teen and I plan to give a copy of this excellent tool to a mother I know who does. Don’t miss this special heart-warming book.