The things we want that cause us pain

With the first day of school just around the corner, we went shopping the other day for new shoes for my 7 year old. Upon arriving at the store, he found a pair he absolutely had to have. Thankfully they were on clearance, but I wasn't too sure about how well made they were. The salesman's attempt to convince me they were good by telling me they were one of the most popular shoes they have did not appease my concern. Thankfully my husband arrived, and upon further examination he didn't feel good about it either. Here is the problem we come up against with our children. When do we let them decide and live with the consequences, and when do we over-rule them? I am big on over-ruling at this point. He's only 7. But he really wanted them, they fit, and were on clearance, so against our better judgement we let him get them. He was thrilled. Until the next day. After wearing them for less than 24 hours, I noticed he was taking them off. He said they made his feet itchy. What he was actually scratching were blisters that were starting to form. Needless to say I was miffed. I told him if they were going to continue to hurt his feet, he wasn't going to be able to wear them. Of course he started to cry and said how much he loved them, and tried to convince me his feet were only itchy. This became a great opportunity for a life lesson and I'm glad I took the time to hear the Lord on this one. I lovingly tried to explain to my son that although he loves his new shoes very much, after a few days and maybe weeks of wearing them and having them hurt his feet, he will not love them quite as much. He disagreed. I reminded him of a friend he had that he wanted to play with so badly every day, and every day he would play with him and that friend would hurt his feelings. This "friend" would put him down, or just downright say he didn't want to play with him that day. He would come in crying or upset and I would always tell him he had a choice. It was up to him if he wanted to have a "friend" like that who was going to treat him so badly. After a while, my son stopped playing with him. God will allow us to do the same. He will let us make bad choices, knowing full well we are going to get hurt, but hopefully through the pain we will learn the lesson. We allowed our son to get these shoes, and in the end it probably isn't going to be a happy ending for him. He will get another pair of shoes that will fit well and he'll move on. But I hope that through this he will always remember that he has a choice, whether it be in relationships or monetary things. If you want something so badly, but it is causing you that much pain or turmoil, look to the Father for answers first, but it just may be time to let it go.