Description

This week on the Men at the Movies podcast, we ride the roller coaster of Parenthood starring Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, and Dianne Wiest. We put too much pressure on ourselves as parents, feeling like we have to be perfect so that we don’t break our children and ruin their lives. Even though life is messy, it is in the messes that we find the most meaning.  Like Proverbs 14:4 says, you won’t get a bountiful harvest without a barn full of crap.  Even if you feel like your whole life is have to, I have good news for you.  It doesn’t have to be.  Join me as we discover God’s truth in this movie.

Questions

• What regrets do you have as a father? Can you see how God might use what you regret to shape your child?
• Do you believe God loves your children/your wife/you more than you do? How does that change your approach to these relationships?
• Where do you feel like your whole life is “have to?”
• How can you change your “have to” into a “get to?”
• What would it be like to change the way you look at your kid from perfect angels that you broke into broken kids that you helped guide to maturity?
• How has your interactions with your father shaped the way you father your children?
• What’s more important-a clean barn or a bountiful harvest?
• What does a bountiful harvest look like?

To dive into this content even more, visit our website: www.menatthemovies.com/podcast. You will find resources mentioned on the podcast, plus quotes and themes discussed.

If you would like to support our work (and get some behind-the-scenes perks), visit our Patreon page, www.patreon.com/menatthemovies. Get invites to livestreams, ebook devotionals drawn from a movie, even free merch. If you’d like to do a one-time contribution (a cameo appearance), visit www.menatthemovies.com/investors.

Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster (https://graysonfoster.com/)

Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).

Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock