Kids Bring Out The Best In Us...And The Worst

It occured to me as I was tucking the girls in tonight, that our kids tend to bring out our best features, as well as our worst. By this I simply mean that all of our attributes are laid out right there in our kids. In our kids we can see our wit, our humor, our best physical features, our temperment, our temper, our anger traits, our physicalness; on and on it goes. Our kids can also bring out some of these traits, either by accentuating them, or creating them. For instance, Kenzie tends to bring out some of the frustration that was not known previously to have existed in my brain. Abbi tends to exasperate everyone she knows, both positively and negatively. JohnMark hasn't really added much to the mix other then stress, which every parent has enough of already. Even though all three kids tend to have the negative brought out in some form or fashion, they also have brought out some positives. For example, Abbi shows her humor by her complete abandon to randomness (a trait I fear she gained from me....yes, bassets DO jump on beds...), Kenzie has her beautiful blue eyes that she uses (or tries to) to get her way, or convey that she is hurt, happy, excited, etcetera; and JohnMark uses his smile to break the ice at any given time. All three have come at various times in our lives, which I am sure have helped shape their attributes as well. Abbi came to us while we were still in college (and her ability to remember things is scary at times) and three weeks before our first anniversary. Kenzie came to us right before my birthday, but as a gift of love and congratulations of college ending. JohnMark came because we just were ready for another one, yet after a hard pregnancy arrived shortly before Mothers Day. How can these things help shape who a person is? Easy. Abbi was born one week to the day before Independance Day...and she really is independant in all she does. Kenzie was born just shy of two weeks before Valentines Day, and she likewise is very loving and compasionate towards others (almost to a fault). JohnMark, as previously stated, was born four days before Mothers Day...and loves his mom very much (too much so). All three of these kids are still unsaved. What a difference knowing Christ will make in thier lives...of this I am sure. We are all born into a sin nature, and especially with the two oldest it shows. Looking at their lives, I cant help but be thankful that God doesnt go off the deep end with us. We are forever sinning, yet time and time again He brings us to Himself and forgives us, just as we do with our children. One exception...no matter how bad we are, no matter how angry we must make Him, or hurt we must make Him, He never really shows it to us when He corrects us. He corrects in love, and it hurts most of the time (how else do we learn??), but its never in anger or frustration. Oh that we may learn how to do the same likewise, especially when that child does the same thing over and over and it gets on our nerves. I am not saying this as one completely innocent, as I have had my times of frustration get to me, and my voice raise a few decibles, but to stop and think that I act similarly towards God (my Father), and He still forgives and loves me...and doesnt ever yell in correction amazes me and drives me to become a better parent. With this I end my ramblings of random thinking.