It’s important not to let parental pride make us insensitive to our children’s feelings. Sometimes there’s a fine line between encouraging our children and showing them off.
One year, our children were deciding whether or not to try out for the school talent show. Shon and Heather had been in it the previous year. Kristy was trying out for the first time. Their ages were 11, 8 and 6.
Heather did not feel ready and decided not to try out. Kristy tried out but was very frightened and got upset when they changed her room three times for the tryouts. The judges liked her performance, but feared she’d be overwhelmed in front of a large audience. Her teacher asked if I felt she could handle it. I should have asked Kristy, but my parental pride kicked in and I said yes. Kristy was relieved when they didn’t choose her. I’m so thankful the Lord spared her the trauma of attempting something she wasn’t ready for!
Shon had a bad case of allergies, which hindered his performance, but he was still chosen to be in the talent show and I learned that having God’s anointing is far more important than technical perfection. We learned to help our children focus on how they could minister to people, rather than on how perfectly they performed. We also learned that, while it’s good to encourage our children to try new things, we have to be careful not to pressure them into things they don’t feel ready for.
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