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Review: 5-Minute Devotions for Teens by Laura L. Smith

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5-Minute Devotions for Teens by Laura L. Smith

5-Minute Devotions for Teens: A Guide to God and Mental Health
Laura L. Smith
Zonderkidz
Published December 6, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About 5-Minute Devotions for Teens

5-Minute Devotions for Teens: A Guide to God and Mental Health removes the stigma on mental health and advises Christian teens what they can do when they are depressed and anxious. Scattered throughout the book are tips to help teens maintain good mental health practices such as meditation, disconnecting from social media and technology, saying affirmations, and much more.

Each day includes a Scripture verse, short devotional, and a prayer or prompt.

This 100-day devotional will help teens 13 to 17 years old:

deal with mental health issues, depression, and/or anxiety.
re-enter normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
develop an authentic relationship with God and deepen their faith.
5-Minute Devotions for Teens is an affordable resource that can be read again and again.

My Review

Laura L. Smith’s books always seem to find me at a moment when I need the messages within them. This devotional is broken down into 100 one page sessions. Each one begins with a verse from the Bible and then a few paragraphs discuss how the verse relates to our lives. The paragraphs always encourage, offering compassion, wisdom and even humor.

The subtitle of the book says it’s about God and mental health. I feel like that can be a fraught combination for a lot of us, so I want to speak to that for a second. The way I read the book was with an intent to encourage and uplift. The author does make it clear that getting professional help and treatment for mental health needs like depression and anxiety are really good things. She also offers some basic wisdom on how to care for our bodies with good mental health in mind. Things like, going outside, tracking our thought life and focusing on gratitude. Stuff like that.

Each page closes with a journal prompt to get you thinking about what’s happening in your life and help you identify parts of your life that aren’t healthy or good for you and parts that are. I like the simplicity and straightforwardness of the writing and how overall positive it is.

Gift Ideas

I think 5-MINUTE DEVOTIONS FOR TEENS would make a great gift — or even a stocking stuffer! It’s pretty small– for a teen who’s interested in deepening their Christian faith. I think the book perfectly lives up to its name. The devotions took only a moment to read and always led me on some interesting thought journeys.

If you’re looking for something a little meatier and more in-depth but like the sound of this, check out RESTORE MY SOUL by Laura L. Smith, which explores 30 Psalms, or HOW SWEET THE SOUND, which explores 30 beloved hymns. I really liked both of those, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
None.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains verses from the Bible with prayer and journaling prompts to help readers explore and deepen Christian faith.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of 5-MINUTE DEVOTIONS FOR TEENS in exchange for my honest review.