It's 4" wide and 4' off the ground and scary. Unless you're this person.

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 Shawn Johnson's performance on the balance beam at the 2008 Beijing Olympics is considered one of the best Olympic performances ever on the apparatus.

Being a scant 4” wide and a frightening 4’ off the ground, the balance beam is not something that most people can do flips on.

Balancing on that skinny thing so high up in the air and then having to do all kinds of acrobatics while not falling off is just insane. I couldn’t even do a round of “head shoulders knees and toes” without landing on the mat.

 But when done well, the 90 second routine done by an Olympic athlete can be absolutely amazing.

For the rest of us, balancing all of life can seem like an Olympic sized event in itself. Work, family, friends, church, volunteering, and more can seem just as stressful as being in front of over 12.7 million viewers watching your every move.

So when parents come alongside their players and guide them in balancing gaming with other responsibilities, it’s a huge win for everyone. 

As players know their parents trust them to balance gaming with other responsibilities like schoolwork, chores, or family time, they are more likely to take responsibility for their own actions.

This is trust in action, giving players autonomy but with the foundation of trust and accountability.

Trust doesn’t mean no boundaries. It means giving players the tools and the space to manage their responsibilities and leisure time, rather than micromanaging every aspect of their time.

Teaching players to be faithful with their time reinforces the principle of stewardship found in Luke 16:10: The one who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and the one unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.” 

Your player doesn’t need to perform a record-setting routine every day. Not even Nadia Comaneci or Simone Biles can do that. But as you develop parenting with trust with your gamer, even the small win will feel Olympic.

Make the connection:

  • How might we help our players develop the tools they need to balance gaming and other responsibilities? 

We are #ForTheGamer and help players play with purpose and win for good.


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