Marshmallow Temptation

I saw this on my sister-in-law's blog and thaught that I would share this on my blog. I hope she doesn't mind.

I came across this guys photography blog who said that he had stumbled across this little video clip (which he included on his site) and he loved it. I watched it out of curiosity - and I have to tell you all about it. It's really made me think - not only about each of my kids, but as us as adults also. The video was called The Marshmallow Temptation. Now, I've never gone out seeking other Christian teachings outside our church - but it was done by a preacher of another religion, but I think it's message was good.In the video, there are children in a room with a hidden camera. A man comes in and brings them a marshmallow and tells them, "you can eat this now if you want, but if you can wait till I come back then I will give you 2." Then the man left the room. Each child responded differently and it was interesting to see how each one handled "the temptation." Each child sat for at least a short moment and looked at the marshmallow intently. One just licked the top of it a few times. One picked off tiny little pieces from the back side so you couldn't see he had done it. (and ate them) Another just stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. One took a little bite, then put it back down, then another little bite, and put it back down, etc. Another one just pushed the marshmallow all the way across the table and turned and looked the other way. (Soon the man returned and gave each child who had not eaten theirs yet a second marshmallow.)This made me think about the ways that each of us react to temptations. Each person handles things in their own unique way - each person has a harder time with some things and an easier time with other things. But how do we react when temptation is facing us - are we like the kid who quickly snatches up the chance without even thinking, do we pick at it just a little at a time and before we realize it we're right in the middle of it, or do we push it away and look in the other direction? Each of these kids showed us how we could respond to temptations via a marshmallow - how do you think you'd respond if it were a temptation of something else?