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Four Ways a Boy is Groomed

 

If you pay attention to any news, be it political, entertainment, sports, or business you would have noticed that all the top participants in each of these areas had something in common, they were groomed for their position.  Nothing sinister here.  Grooming is important, even critical to the success of any top performer.  Webster defines grooming as; prepare or train for a particular purpose of activity.  Sounds about right, doesn’t it?  Let’s take a minute and examine what goes into grooming a young man and see what might be missing.

 

#1 Grooming for Sports

 

Without a doubt youth sports can impart lots of valuable life lessons and impact a young person’s health for a lifetime.  But, grooming a child for sports can get extremely involved and take a financial toll on the family that should be kept in balance.  According to a TD Ameritrade survey in 2016 the typical parent spends between $100 and $500 per month, per child on youth sports, but $1,000 per month in not unheard of.  If that fits nicely into your budget, great, but if it’s stretching the family and the end game is a college scholarships you might want to consider something. According to 2015-16 data provided to MassMutual by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Savingforcollege.com, just 2.3 percent of undergraduate students in bachelor’s degree programs received athletic scholarships.  A simple calculation based on just $250 per month will get you to the $20,000 mark with just 10 years of participation.  You would have been able to pay for college on your own with money to spare.

 

#2 Grooming for School

 

It’s amazing how much parents are researching high schools and doing everything they can to groom their kids for a particular school.  I think this is a great idea.  This type of grooming can affect their friends and eventually their post school endeavors.

 

#3 Grooming for Culture

 

This type of grooming can affect the circle of peer’s your children mingle and give them resume items that look good to future schools and jobs.  Parents will register for cotillion, have their kids join various civic groups, and participate in numerous volunteer scenarios.

 

#4 Grooming for Life

 

Until now you may have thought that you were grooming them for a great life, but we are talking about “Life”.  All the things we have talked about can be great, but all it takes is for “life” to throw you a curveball and everything is turned upside down.  Dreams are dashed, goals will never be reached and what once was a certainty seems impossible.  If we are not grooming our children for life by pouring the truth of God’s word into them and introducing them to Jesus it will be hard to make sense out of life.

Foundations are crucial and having an eternal one will give you the strength to handle anything that comes your way.  The bonus is that all the other things of life: sports, college, business, etc.., will be so much richer.