I chose this quote, not because I don’t think the process in training your kids is important. It is!! Don’t get me wrong. I do not think that the tips I’m giving are the end all be all to raising kids. I’m telling you things that we’re striving toward or that have been working for us so that you can try it and see if it might be helpful for your family too. There is no exact recipe that works for every family and every kid, but I know I’ve been so grateful for some of these tips that I have found along the way that I felt compelled to pass them along. The point of this quote, for me, is that we can get very bogged down in the day to day process and what we see in our kids every day. It can be very discouraging. What do you want your kids to look like in 30 years? Train them for the long distance. Do you want kids that honor God? Teach and show them what that looks like now? Think of how you want your children to be productive, pro-active, teachable, loving, successful, functional, forgiving, helpful, generous, courteous – these are all goals to train toward. You also want to try to raise kids who you enjoy being around and who others enjoy being around. It’s so easy to get clouded in the day to day and the overwhelming child-like behavior you’re dealing with on a day to day basis (Afterall, they are children). You have to keep the end results in mind to stay focused and keep things intentional. It’s part of why I’m doing the character series. These are all end results that I want to see in my children, so I am parenting toward the end result. Be patient too because things don’t happen overnight. I’ve learned, especially through parenting, how much God is STILL working on me with all of these traits, so why should I think my children would have magically grasped these concepts by now. It’s going to be a lifelong process for them too, but we still are going to be more effective if we have those end goals in mind.
