September 14, 2025 — Episode #87

Content note: this episode briefly references a school/church shooting and touches on family verbal and physical abuse in general terms.

Many of our most vivid lifetime memories are formed during the teenage years — Jerry and Becky Drace explore how parents and grandparents can be intentional about shaping those years for good.

Jerry and Becky open by continuing their series on the characteristics of teenagers, starting with the idea that lifetime memories are disproportionately made in the teen years (and sometimes even earlier childhood). Becky shares memories of summers with her grandmother watering flowers and gathering bouquets for church, and both hosts reflect on Ecclesiastes 12:1’s call to “remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” They discuss how today’s teens spend far more time than past generations on phones and devices rather than working or building real-world friendships, citing a claim that teens can spend around 30 hours a week outside of school on their devices. Becky warns parents to monitor not just how much time but how their kids are spending it online, cautioning about predators in chat rooms, especially targeting pre-teens.

The conversation turns to the importance of boundaries and rules, including an anecdote about someone who found the discipline of military life (“The Green Book” of military rules) to be an eye-opening contrast to a childhood with almost no structure. Jerry and Becky then share family travel memories — Jerry’s move from Tennessee to Kentucky mid-eighth-grade, Becky’s family road trips and first taste of a Florida orange, and international mission trips that exposed their children to cultures in China, Hong Kong, and Korea — arguing that travel, even a short local outing, is an education children never forget. They emphasize that home should be a “safe zone” even amid instability or a violent neighborhood, referencing a recent school shooting as a somber example of why children need to feel safe, and noting that abusive adults were often themselves exposed to abuse as children. The episode closes with a look at flawed families throughout Scripture — Joseph, Cain, Abel and Seth, Noah, Samuel, Eli, Esther, and even the household Jesus grew up in — as proof the Bible doesn’t shy away from messy family stories, and a reminder to build precious family memories rather than only troubling ones.

Topics discussed:

• Why lifetime memories are largely made during the teenage years
• Ecclesiastes 12:1 and remembering God in youth
• Screen time, social media, and online safety for teenagers
• The importance of household rules, boundaries, and discipline
• Family road trips and international travel as educational experiences
• Creating a “safe zone” at home amid instability or violence
• A recent school shooting and childhood exposure to abuse
• Biblical families with complicated pasts (Joseph, Seth, Esther, Jesus’s siblings)

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