Growing up I was taught the skill of “not giving up.” It was
taught to be part of my DNA. I remember as a child getting frustrated with
school, and my dad encouraging me to keep working on it. He would say, “Hang in
there. You will figure it out.”
My dad always pushed me to follow through and never give up:
“Even if you are not the best you always finish and hold your head up high.”
Today I push my kids with the same attitude and passion my dad had, wanting my
kids to be the best they can be.
So my question: What happened?
Today I see kids throwing temper tantrums when they can’t
figure something out and walking away with the attitude that they are not smart
enough to figure it out. I see kids of all ages NOT having the DNA of following
through or sticking with something.
There is no regard that they gave their word, and they don’t
care if they break it. I even see adults today doing the same thing of not
following through with their word in two areas:
1.
Ministry. They make a commitment to come aboard,
and when it gets tough or requires a little extra, they say they do not have
time or “I am not qualified.”
2.
Marriage. When things get tough or take a little
extra effort to work through, they call a quits. They don’t provide the energy
or time to work on it.
Well we wonder where our kids get it from, and we wonder why
they so easily give up. What has been their example?
In our kids’ world we demand them to follow through, and we get
upset when they easily give up. Kids are products of their homes, plain and
simple.
What happened to that spirit that set us apart as a nation, a
people, and most important of all, as Christians?
You are so right. Kids learn what they see and too often it's the parents with the tired old do as I say not as I do attitude. I also believe part of the problem with kids not sticking to it, is there is little incentive to complete things these days. I noticed in everything from the Girl Scouts to Youth Sports, everyone gets a trophy. When I was young they were called participation awards and we knew it meant you finished last, but these days the finish orders go down so far that there is no last and entries are limited to ensure everyone feels like a winner. Whether they met the standards or not. So we are setting our kids up to fail later in life when there is no reward or payoff for not completing the task or following through on a commitment. I once sat through an awards ceremony for the Brownie Olympics that I swear was longer than the event because they had so many catagories to try and make sure everyone received a medal.
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