TOS Review: The Ultimate Gift from FishFlix.com

A physical copy of The Ultimate Gift from FishFlix.com was sent to us to review as part of the The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew. We've already watched it several times and plan on watching it again real soon.

What is FishFlix.com?

FishFlix.com is a Christian online movie store that offers a wide assortment of family-friendly movie features from different genres including but not limited to drama, children's, Christian, romances, catholic, documentaries, educational, entertainment, comedy, and more. They carry wholesome video selections in DVD and Blue-Ray format. 

Movie Summary 

The faith-based movie is about a selfish and greedy trust fund baby named Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller) who learns some pertinent life lessons. Jason finds out that his grandfather, Red Stevens (James Garner), is deceased. Red's entire wealthy family shows their dislike and hatred towards him yet they still gather together for a will reading with hopes to gain his billionaire fortune. Jason who holds a major grudge against his grandfather expects to inherit absolutely NOTHING. Red hires a lawyer, Hamilton (Bill Cobbs), to be in charge of his estate. Before his death, they videotaped private messages related to a series of "gifts" or tasks. These tasks must be completed with success by Jason before he can receive the mysterious "ultimate gift" inheritance. If he fails then he gets nothing. Jason meets Emily (Abigail Breslin) a 10-year-old spunky girl with leukemia and her single mother Alexia (Ali Hillis) when presented with the Gift of Friends, a task requesting that he find and bring back one true friend. An unbreakable bond and beautiful friendship develops during the movie.

What are the Twelve Gifts or Tasks?

• The Gift of Work
• The Gift of Money
• The Gift of Friends
• The Gift of Learning
• The Gift of Problems
• The Gift of Family
• The Gift of Laughter
• The Gift of Dreams
• The Gift of Giving
• The Gift of Gratitude
• The Gift of a Day
• The Gift of Love
• The Ultimate Gift

The movie recaps or sums up the 12 gifts at the end of the movie. This may help when having a conversation with your children about life and what matters most.

Additional Movie Details
The Ultimate Gift, which is a drama released in 2007, lasts approximately 117 minutes. It is based on a best-selling novel written by Jim Stovall. The DVD is rated PG due to mild language issues and some violence. For example, the word "hell" is used on several occasions. In the movie, Jason is confronted by a group of Ecuadorian drug lords carrying large guns they later fire. They threaten the lives of Jason and his guide. They captured and imprison them both after he learns the truth about his father's death. There is also a quick scene of Jason's gold digging ex-girlfriend wearing a skimpy dress while dining with a male figure. Smoking and social drinking scenes are evident in the move. The movie does contain off-screen deaths which may or may not be suitable for younger sensitive viewers. The suggested age range is 10-12 years old. I recommend previewing the movie in advance so that you can decide whether it is appropriate for your family or not.

Special Movie Features include Live The Ultimate Gift, Introduction to the Film by Jim Stovall, Behind-the-Scenes Featurette, and more. The movie has English or Spanish subtitled if desired.

Our Experience 
I watched The Ultimate Gift with my 8-year-old daughter who is very mature for her age. I didn't preview the movie ahead of time. We quickly put on pajamas and gathered our snuggle blankets to watch the movie in our living room on the comfy couch. Popcorn was popped, buttered, and ready to go. Throughout the movie, we discussed any discerning or problematic scenes or behaviors. We discussed alternative Godly behaviors after seeing Jason's rude and mischievous behaviors. We talked about etiquette as well. For example, at the beginning of the movie Jason arrives at the funeral location late in a loud, roaring car smoking a cigarette. We discussed the importance of being on time for important events and proper funeral behavior. We also watched this movie a second time with family members who recently moved to Texas as a way to relax after their long trip. They seemed to enjoy the movie.

Overall, the Ultimate Gift is a family-friendly movie with talented actors who gave a stunning performance. I can't decide on my favorite character, because Emily and Jason both play dynamic, extraordinary parts. Alyssa's favorite character was Emily, because of her humor and attitude about life. She said a few sassy things, but Alyssa really liked how Emily whispered to Jason during her Christmas holiday, "If you got nothing out of the deal but her (Alexia) - you'd still be a huge winner." This girl really puts things into perspective for Jason. This movie has it all drama, action, romance, friendship, adventure, and so much more.

The movie definitely teaches some major character trait lessons. Children will learn about generosity, love, kindness, loyalty, persistence, hard-work, courage, selflessness, ambition, and other important character traits. The strong plot teaches us valuable life-changing lessons. Christian themes are interwoven beautifully into the plot with a handful of touching scenes. The main character, or protagonist, dramatically changes from a spoiled, arrogant, rich kid to a kind, lovestruck, and generous man. You'll fall in love with this character as he develops and becomes more mature and passionate about the important things in life and how you should live it. His adventure helps him learn about unconditional love, friendship, family, and gratefulness.

The Ultimate Gift is a must see! It made us go through a mixture of emotions. We laughed out loud during hilarious parts and cried during other parts. One funny part that made Alyssa and I both laugh was when Jason was being lazy on a Texas ranch. He didn't want to wake up early to work so Gus (Brian Dennehy), the rancher, woke him up with a cattle prod. Jason's facial expressions made us burst out in laughter. This was one of Alyssa's many favorite parts! I tried to take a photograph of the screen, but there's a shadow at the top because of my television armoire doors.

Jason also learns that he is no longer given the luxuries of first class airline passenger benefits when he gets sent back to the economy class seating area. For the first time in his life, he experiences the reality of airplane rides as he sits next to a man falling asleep on his shoulder and a crying baby. This was another movie scene that made us giggle. His facial expressions really help you feel or relate to the frustration he is experiencing during the plane ride.  

Will Jason figure out the real meaning of life? 

We hope to watch the rest of the trilogy in the near future. I had a desire to watch more and was super excited when I found out they had additional movies in this series. FishFlix.com was already one of my go to movie buying websites. I visit their website quite often searching for Christian-based entertainment as gifts for my daughter. I love browsing through the $5 Christian DVD's or under the Bargains tab in hopes to find a new treasure to watch. You can even search movies based on Recent Offers for different percentages off. I reviewed another one of their products in the past called Little Boy which we also thoroughly enjoyed.

Recommendations
I highly recommend The Ultimate Gift for family fun movie night for mature audiences ages 10 and up. The lessons to be learned are meaningful and relevant in today's materialistic world. It really makes you think about your priorities in life. Grab a box of Kleenex and some hot, buttery popcorn ready to eat!

Price
$6.99 - $14.98

Note: Prices are subject to change without notice. FishFlix.com provides free shipping on orders of $40 or more. You can also subscribe to their email newsletter to receive a 10% off coupon.

Watch the movie trailer below to see if The Ultimate Gift sounds interesting to you.

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Visit The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to read the reviews for 10 different FishFlix.com movies. Click the link to read the reviews and hear about other crew member experiences! 

I can't wait to read the reviews for Woodlawn which is one of the movies on my wish list!

BookLook Blogger Review: The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family by Kara E. Powell

I came across an interesting book title as I skimmed the available books to review on BookLook. I chose to review The Sticky Faith Guide For Your Family: Over 100 Practical and Tested Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Kids written by Dr. Kara E. Powell. I received the book in paperback trade format.

Do you ever wonder if your child will keep their faith once high school or college approaches? I have pondered this question numerous times especially now as we face challenging circumstances and our faith is tested. I wonder if I'm doing everything I can to raise my daughter into a Christian woman who will remain faithful to God in her lifelong journey. My upbringing didn't give me the tools needed to properly raise my daughter as a Christian so I am constantly evaluating the methods I utilize. I pray that I am modeling Godly behavior and that I am arming her with Biblical truths that will have a positive impact her lifelong decisions.

Book Description (From the Website):

The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family addresses one of the top current concerns about youth and the church: the reality that nearly half of all young people raised in Christian families walk away from their faith when they graduate from high school. That's the bad news. But here's the good news: research also shows that parents are one of the primary influences on their child's faith. This book arises from the innovative, research-based, and extensively field-tested project known as "Sticky Faith," designed to equip parents with insights and ideas for nurturing long-term faith in children and young people. Grounded in academically verified data, The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family is a positive and practical resource that empowers parents to take the small steps that can translate into big progress in their kids' spiritual journeys. Even busy families will find the "guidebook" format accessible and easy to use. More importantly, they'll be equipped with research-tested tools to nurture a strong faith in the next generation.

What I Thought
The Sticky Faith Guide is a 240-page parent resource book published by Zondervan that is based on recent research from several longitudinal studies conducted by the Fuller Youth Institute. The practical ideas presented are derived from personal interviews, real-life stories, and family experiences. Dr. Kara Powell's book is a follow-up to a previously published co-authored book titled Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids.

I made the assumption after seeing a few sample pages that this book and its format would be a quick read, but I was mistaken. It took me several months to get through this book, but mainly because the book contains pages and pages of practical suggestions and information. My spiral notebook contained many notes and ideas to consider implementing right away and in the near future.

The book encourages you to evaluate your life choices and to think about what we truly desire for our children's future with regards to their faith development. Dr. Kara Powell inspires you to turn the ideas into meaningful actions - to practice and test the suggestions in your life. The book makes no guarantees, because obviously it depends on you and whether you implement the ideas taking small steps towards positive change. The author encourages you to try just a few ideas at a time and to not be so hard on yourself. She tells you to pick and choose no more than FIVE manageable ideas to build a stronger foundation for your family. You can always start off with fewer ideas if necessary. I know that I am not always doing everything right all the time and that I've made many mistakes as a mom; however this book gives me a glimmer of hope by offering me a toolkit of ideas to try. The author doesn't make you feel like a failure and doesn't judge you which is greatly appreciated. She doesn't want you to be discouraged about the things you aren't doing or to compare yourself to the efforts of others. Keep in mind that you'll hear about both the triumphs and the tragedies experienced by families.

Each chapter story addresses one particular topic or theme. There are 11 themes that are thoroughly discussed within its own chapter. Dr. Powell begins with a story that describes the topic addressed in the chapter. Then, she explains the significant research and findings behind the theory with numbered examples. Furthermore, she offers practical "sticky faith" ideas and parenting strategies that were suggested during the family interviews conducted. The ideas are indicated by a light bulb icon. There are several reflective questions and a short questionnaire at the end of the chapter in which you evaluate your efforts using a 1-5 rating scale. This book consists of 13 chapters and 2 appendices. One appendix section is about college transitions which will be more beneficial to me at a later time. The other appendix is an overview about the project's research which contains information about the studies conducted. I quickly skimmed this section.

Chapter 1 discusses the reasons, purpose, and benefits for a parent to read the book. Chapters 2-12 contain a topical collection of practical ideas modeled and experienced by other families. Topics explored are modeling sticky faith behaviors, faith, family relationships, technology, handling mistakes and forgiveness, connecting with teens, community, vacation, extended family, communication, service learning, transitions, and more. Chapter 13 is about taking the necessary baby steps towards a new life with your family. It covers your goals and the implementation of the book ideas. It discusses how you can apply those ideas to your life immediately with God's grace and guidance.

My favorite chapters were 3, 4, 8, 10, and 11. Chapter 10 (Home Sticky Home) and 4 (Warm Family Relationships) were my two absolute favorite chapters, because they contained simple and relevant ideas that I could easily implement with my daughter.

FIVE Ideas I Intend to Implement

• Bible Scripture Wall
• Faith in Every Room
• Conversation Couch 
• Christmas Card Dinner Prayers 
• Wow, Pow, Holy Cow, and How Dinner Conversations

I also enjoyed reading the chapter on connecting with teenagers. I love how the author encourages family game night. I liked the idea of having a heart-to-heart talk with my daughter about her future spouse and journaling what qualities she's looking for in a husband. I think this will help her with the pain she's dealing with during our divorce. 

Furthermore, I want to limit the use of technological gadgets including computer use, smartphone, and iPads during family time and meals. Phones won't be allowed at the table - they will be placed in a basket until after mealtimes. Technological gadgets can have both a positive and negative impact on your family if not moderated. I want to be present in my daughter's life and not have my nose stuck in some gadget and I want the same respect from her when we're together. The ideas presented in the book aren't difficult to implement. It'll take just a little effort. I was motivated to start as soon as I began reading the book.

Overall Thoughts
This valuable book will definitely help guide Christian parents into teaching and developing a long-lasting faith in their children's hearts which is a process that obviously takes time. Parents should also consider modeling their own faith. The book serves as a reminder to parents that we are the primary influencers and that faith develops at home pouring out into all areas of life. It is jam-packed with applicable and eye-opening ideas to implement which will lead your child towards Jesus and give you more quality family time. Another book feature that I appreciated was Dr. Powell's simple explanation of the 5 G's of Gospel: Good, Guilt, Grace, God's People, and Gratitude which can be easily understood by children during any family meeting.

I will be rereading this insightful book a little at a time. It is a parenting tool that I will probably keep for years as I explore and implement the different suggestions. There are many helpful and relevant ideas to be implemented and I'm going to do everything in my power to keep my daughter's faith strong.  

Price: 
Zondervan $15.99
Amazon $12.60

Note: Prices are subject to change at any time.

Recommendation:
I would definitely recommend this incredible book to all Christian families wanting to beat the statistics and become better parents. It is a "must have" resource if you want to help develop and instill a long-lasting faith in your child's life. This book will be useful for parents with children 18 and under. I also highly recommend this informative book to youth pastors or ministries working with children or teenagers.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary, free copy of this book from the publisher as part of the BookLook Blogger Review Team Program in exchange for an honest review on my blog. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."