We are all in this parenting thing together. Please check out this 90-second challenge from CCS Executive Director, Dr. Jeff Potts, for all of us!
Have you ever had to stand by and watch someone settle for less than God’s best for them?
It can be agonizing to watch, especially when you know that individual could do so much better. I don’t care what the issue may be – relationships, jobs, you name it. There’s an old adage that can be traced back to the middle ages that says, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I’m not so sure.
The same phenomenon happens with our kids and you can see it all the time. They will settle, especially when the alternative is hard or may take some time instead of working hard for some future reward. They take the immediate payoff. But what if we gave our kids the gift of understanding delayed gratification, putting off the immediate reward for something better down the road? It’s so hard, I know.
Kristen and I struggle teaching this lesson constantly, but I’m reminded of Jesus’s words in John 10:10. “I came that they may have life “and have it more abundantly.” More abundantly. Isn’t that the life we want for our kids and even ourselves? If so, the lesson of delayed gratification, combined with faith and hard work, is something that is vitally important to teach our kids. How do we do it?
Well, we have found we just watch our kids’ decision-making processes. The opportunity seems to always arise quicker than we think.
