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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nI wasn\u2019t the cool kid, folks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
None-the-less, I loved the game, loved me team, and respected\nmy coach. I\u2019ll never forget one particular game \u2013 the highest scoring game of\nmy career. I scored twenty-six points when all was said and done, and by the\ntime the buzzer went off, I was proudly walking on cloud nine, even with\nbruised knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first thing I did was use a pay phone to call home. My\nparents were hosting a group from church that evening, and when my mom answered,\nI told her all about the game. She flew up to cloud nine with me and sat there for\nseveral proud moments. I clicked the phone down and you couldn\u2019t have pried the\nsmile off my face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This game was on my mind when I recently came across an article entitled, \u201cWhy Parents Should Go to All of Their Kid\u2019s Games.<\/em>\u201d The title was intriguing to me, and as I read the content, essentially arguing that much of a kid\u2019s self-worth comes from their parent\u2019s presence, I thought back to the night of my highest scoring game. I called my parents<\/em>. There were several games they had to miss through the years, so it wasn\u2019t their absence that stuck with me, it was the sweet phone conversation with my mom that included concentrated listening and proud responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What should our response should be, as Christian parents, toward\nthe mentality that we should never miss one of our children\u2019s events? <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are three important principles that guide us from Scripture: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Our Children Are Precious Gifts From God. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 127:3 reminds us that \u201cchildren are a gift from the Lord.\u201d <\/em>This gift, a picture of God\u2019s faithful love, comes with great responsibility. We should be protecting, loving, and guiding our children while seeking wisdom regularly from the One who created them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our love for our kids should make us want <\/em>to attend their events as they grow. As you watch your kids\nmature, there is nothing more beautiful than seeing them flourish with unique talents.\nWhen my daughter uses her acting skills on the stage, I am blown away because I\nknow (trust me) that I didn\u2019t put those skills inside of her; I didn\u2019t produce\nin her a desire to know and understand the world of theatre, but God did. Every\nsuccess along the way, from potty-training to college scholarships, are pictures\nof the grace of God at work in our kid\u2019s lives. It\u2019s remarkable! We should praise\nthe milestones and rejoice in their accomplishments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And because they are gifts from the Lord, we shouldn\u2019t view our\nkids or their activities as inconveniences. We have eighteen shorts years with\nthem in our home, so when school is called off unexpectedly, your child is not\nan inconvenience <\/em>because of work.\nThey are a precious gift. And when a basketball game is scheduled early on a Saturday\nmorning, they are not an inconvenience <\/em>because\nthey are making you get up early. They are a precious gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a believer in Jesus, your heavenly Father sings over you (Zephaniah 3:17) because He loves you and delights in you. As image bearers of Christ, we should be singing over our kids and regularly give thanks to God for these gifts He has entrusted to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Our Children\u2019s Confidence Should Come From Christ Alone <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the article, \u201cWhy\nParents Should Go to All of Their Kid\u2019s Games<\/em>,\u201d the author states: \u201cAt every game, I would search for [my parent\u2019s]\nfaces in the stands. When I found them, I knew I mattered. I knew my dreams\nmattered.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter how many games, recitals, or shows we attend because\nwe love our kids, if we teach them that they matter because they see us, <\/em>we have failed to usher them – past us – <\/em>to the feet of our Savior. The\nburden of instilling in our children a sense of confidence in who they are\nbecause of our presence is too great a weight to carry, which is precisely why\nGod did not intend for this to be our priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God\u2019s plan and purpose for godly parents is that they teach\ntheir children to put their confidence in Christ alone. Psalm 78 gives us clear\ninstructions on this matter: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will not hide\nthese truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the\nglorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders\u2026He commanded\nour ancestors to teach them to our children, so the next generation might know\nthem \u2013 even the children not yet born – and they in turn will teach their own children.\u201d\n(<\/em>Psalm 78:4<\/a>-6<\/em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Training them in this way doesn\u2019t leave room for selfishness.\nWe shouldn\u2019t withhold reading the Bible to them because we\u2019re tired, and we\nshouldn\u2019t stay at home from a piano recital because Netflix is more exciting. But\nit does mean that if our priority is teaching our children about who God is, we\ndon\u2019t have to carry the burden that their confidence rests on us and our\npresence with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, we want our kids to understand that what they do, they do for the glory of God \u2013 not for us. We want to instill in them an assurance of the gifts and talents God has given them, which means they can play, sing, dance, and compete with confidence both when we\u2019re in the crowd and when we\u2019re not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Our Goal Is Well-Rounded Faithfulness <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When we can\u2019t be at a game because of an important work commitment,\nchurch event, or a planned night out with our spouse or friends, we\u2019re also reminding\nour kids that while they are a priority, their activities are not always the most important choice. <\/em>It is a gift to\nyour children to model for them involvement in other aspects of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While God has called us to be parents, He has simultaneously called us to commitments in other significant roles. Many are concurrently spouses, friends, church members, employees, organizational leaders, and volunteers. The Bible speaks to the importance of every single one of these roles. There will be times as parents when commitments in one of these areas will keep you from attending a game or event. And there will be other times when you\u2019ll have the opportunity to cheer from the stands. Both scenarios can have a positive impact on your children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important that we\u2019re teaching our kids what it looks\nlike to be faithfully well-rounded. If we set the standard for ourselves that\nwe will never miss a child\u2019s game or event, then another area of commitment\nwill likely suffer along the way. Our kids need to see us relying on the\nall-sufficient grace of God to be faithful in the many roles we\u2019re called to,\nand we need God\u2019s wisdom to see where there might be unbalance. Be encouraged to\nknow that as we grow in grace and understanding, our children are learning right\nalong with us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I knew growing up that I was precious to my parents. I felt loved\nby both of them, and I cherished their presence when they made it to games. But\nthis was not their greatest gift to me. Their greatest gift was introducing me\nto Jesus and teaching me that my confidence and security doesn\u2019t come from\ntheir praises from the stands, but from Jesus Christ alone. Let\u2019s cheer our\nkids on toward a faith grounded in Christ, the only One who is sure to be present\nwith them every day and forevermore. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I played four years of varsity basketball in high school, but I was not the best on the team. Not … <\/p>\n