When it comes to a favorite pastime, the General and I are generally not glued in front of the television. Over the past 3 ½ months when I've been "off my feet", we've relied more heavily on filling time in the evenings with the television turned on. We don't watch regular television and how many episodes of HGTV can you watch without getting bored? Okay, so that wasn't a fair question. We have been fans of HGTV for many years. I'm not sure we ever got bored, but they say that variety is the spice of life.
This past week or two, we've watched a series on Amazon Prime that tugged at my heartstrings. The series is entitled The Baxters. It is the fictious story of John and Elizabeth Baxter and their adult children.
The thing that made this series different from any series I've watched on television is that John and Elizabeth negotiate the ups and downs of life from a faith-based perspective. They are a Christian family, and they are actively involved in their church. Every episode highlights a scripture that that seems pertinent to the storyline.
One of the things I've found to be true as a parent is that when your kids are doing great, you are doing great. When disappointments or difficulties surfaces in a child's life regardless of their age, it also impacts the parent. That truth is reflected in the lives of John and Elizabeth Baxter.
There are times in our lives when hardships, disappointments, or difficulties take center stage. We either turn to God or we turn away from God. You see both approaches in the Baxter family. John and Elizabeth attempt to provide guidance or gentle re-direction to their adult children without overstepping their boundaries.
I found the Baxter series to be thought provoking. Like I said, we mostly binge-watched season-one in a few evenings. Individually, the Baxter family members didn't always take the high road or follow the straight and narrow path, but regardless of where they landed, there was always the underlying hope on the part of the parents that faith could make a difference. John and Elizabeth have a large family and drama comes in shocking and unexpected ways. But the undertone of each episode demonstrated the difference that unconditional love and patience can make.
The drama is based on a series of books written by Karen Kingsbury. She is a Christian novelist and grew up in a household of five children. She was the oldest. Following college, she was a sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times and later wrote for the Los Angeles Daily News. Her first book was entitled "Missy's Murder (1991)". It was based on a murder story that she covered in Los Angeles.
Kingsbury has written or co-written almost 100 novels or short stories. She is a #1 New York Times and USA Today best-selling novelist with the last dozen books published topping best seller lists.
I suspect that you will enjoy the Baxters.
All My Best!
Don
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