Jimbo's Jots

“Adulting is hard!” is a phrase I’ve heard recently from some of my younger generation friends. And it’s true adulting can be hard. But adulting can be a little easier when we as parents take into consideration three helpful hints from Tim Elmore’s recent article, “Three Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids . . . And How to Correct Them.” We’re going to look at these over the next few weeks.

In short, here is the first of three mistakes we parents make as “helicopter” parents:

We allow too little risk because we fear their safety.

At the house where I grew up, there were woods behind our house. My best friend, brother and I would spend hours in those woods. Or we would ride to the park down the street. We just had to tell mom where we were going and we’d hop on our bikes and ride.

Elmore believes we have elbow and knee padded, and helmeted our kids to the point where they are not given opportunities and don’t take risks. It helps develop leadership when our kids are able to deal with risk in healthy ways with some assistance.

Matthew tells the story of Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). The disciples and Jesus have had a very busy day of ministry. Jesus sends the disciples in a boat while He goes and prays. While on the water, a storm comes up. The disciples, at least four being experienced boat people, were afraid. And then they see what they think is ghost. It’s Jesus. He says, “Take courage! It is I!” Peter says, “If it’s you, tell me to come to you!” Jesus says, “Come!!”

Peter didn’t know for sure that is was Jesus. But he took the risk in faith to walk to Jesus . . . ON WATER!!

I think the bigger risk was taking his eyes off of Jesus. When he did that, he began to sink. And then he cried out to Jesus to rescue him.

That’s what our kids need. They need to know that they can attempt and try and take risks. But they also need to know that when they take that risk, we are there to offer support and rescue. That we are there as parents with a good supply of bandaids for when they fall!

Be blessed and be a blessing!