Bringing Out the Winner in Your Child
“Don’t get to high. Don’t get too low. Just stay the course.”
This is one of our mottos at Big Oak Ranch. We are not saying don’t get excited when something good happens, nor are we saying don’t be sad when something bad happens. We are simply saying that things seem to run so much better if we maintain a consistent balance on our emotions.
Every time I’ve gotten too excited over something or gotten overly frustrated about an issue, it always seems to have a negative ripple effect. In every voyage of every ship, there will be calm waters and there will be difficult storms. How we handle these extremes in our lives reveals our trust in the Lord as the Captain of our ship. He has given us control of the steering wheel, but He is the master navigator of our lives. You and I as Christians cannot honor the Lord when we lose control of our emotions over things that are completely out of our control, or even worse when things are in our control. A healthy emotional balance is the key to consistency in our walk with the Lord.
Greatness, or the lack of it, is oftentimes revealed during life’s losses. May we be found to be stable in all our ways – win or lose. Every great man I’ve ever known has had control of his emotions. Let’s work at being great!
John Croyle, Founder, Big Oak Ranch
Author, Who You Are/Defying the Circumstances that Define Us, Bringing Out the Winner in Your Child, The Two Minute Drill to Manhood and Raising a Princess, www.bigoak.org.
