Summit After the Storm | Leadership, Faith & Resilience Podcast
Oct 13, 2026 · 8 min · 9 segments
**One of the hardest things about giving your kids opportunities is making sure they don’t start believing those opportunities are owed to them.** One morning in Europe, one of our kids was…
One morning in Europe, one of our kids was complaining about having to get up early for something that we had planned for our family, and Amanda and I just looked at each other.
We're thinking about all the money that we're spending to give our kids this experience, all the planning that went into it, and the travel, the effort it took to get six people across Europe.
And now we're getting them up early because we're taking them to something that we thought would be an incredible experience for them.
And the complaint was basically, "Why do we have to get up so early?" And I remember thinking, "Are you kidding me?" It frustrated us.
Because one of the hardest things Amanda and I wrestle with as parents is, how do you give your kids opportunities without teaching them that those opportunities are owed to them? How do you bless them without raising them to feel entitled to the blessing? And that's a hard balance.
You want to give them travel, to see the world, to try things, learn things, have opportunities.
You work hard to provide them, and sometimes when they complain about the very thing you're trying to give them, it can make you want to lose your mind.
And the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable the lesson became, because entitlement isn't just a kid problem.
I can look at one of my children and think, "Do you have any idea how blessed you are?" And then I wonder how many times God looks at me and asks the exact same question.
I complain about work, stress, money, traffic, schedules, things not happening fast enough, the car that cut me off, things not going the way I expected.
And meanwhile, I'm surrounded by things I once prayed for: people I love, a roof over my head, food, opportunities, health, family, another day.
That realization changes the conversation because suddenly this isn't just about teaching my kids gratitude.
One morning in Europe, one of our kids was complaining about having to get up early for something that we had planned for our family, and Amanda and I just looked at each other.
We're thinking about all the money that we're spending to give our kids this experience, all the planning that went into it, and the travel, the effort it took to get six people across Europe.
And now we're getting them up early because we're taking them to something that we thought would be an incredible experience for them.
And the complaint was basically, "Why do we have to get up so early?" And I remember thinking, "Are you kidding me?" It frustrated us.
Because one of the hardest things Amanda and I wrestle with as parents is, how do you give your kids opportunities without teaching them that those opportunities are owed to them? How do you bless them without raising them to feel entitled to the blessing? And that's a hard balance.
You want to give them travel, to see the world, to try things, learn things, have opportunities.
You work hard to provide them, and sometimes when they complain about the very thing you're trying to give them, it can make you want to lose your mind.
And the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable the lesson became, because entitlement isn't just a kid problem.
I can look at one of my children and think, "Do you have any idea how blessed you are?" And then I wonder how many times God looks at me and asks the exact same question.
I complain about work, stress, money, traffic, schedules, things not happening fast enough, the car that cut me off, things not going the way I expected.
And meanwhile, I'm surrounded by things I once prayed for: people I love, a roof over my head, food, opportunities, health, family, another day.
That realization changes the conversation because suddenly this isn't just about teaching my kids gratitude.
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