{"id":813,"date":"2015-02-06T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T15:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?p=813"},"modified":"2019-05-17T14:28:11","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T19:28:11","slug":"beginning-end-mind-goal-series-part","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2015\/02\/06\/beginning-end-mind-goal-series-part\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning With The End In Mind: Goal Series- Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

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by <\/a>Lydia Floren<\/a><\/p>\n

We have three sons, who all played sports at various stages while growing up, and we quickly learned that youth sports were not only competitive for children, but even more so for parents. When our son made a great play, we would get more high fives from other parents in the stands than our kids would from their teammates. When there was a victory, there was as much or more cheering on the sidelines as there was on the field. (Of course at the early stages, the main reason the players were cheering at the end of the game is because it was time for treats! Aaaah! Those were the days!)<\/p>\n

So how does a parent cope with the temptation to be drawn into this ultra-competitive environment? And how does one then teach their child to keep things in perspective? Well, I could write a whole book on this (I made many mistakes) but a couple questions really helped me keep my feet on the ground through the whole kids-in-sports thing:<\/p>\n

\u201cIs my child likely to be in a professional athlete?\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u201cDoes he have that drive, that desire, and that amount of natural talent?
\n\u201cIs that the way I see God leading him?\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked myself these question repeatedly over the years, and my answer was invariably \u201cno.\u201d (Sorry, guys.)\u00a0If most kids aren\u2019t destined for ESPN highlights, the next question is obvious:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should kids even participate in organized sports?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n