mini-me's

Last night we went on a bike ride and Hailey was really having a hard time keeping up. That in itself isn't a huge surprise, but then I saw that she was dragging her foot every once in a while, which was kind of curious...but, then I noticed that I dragged my foot every once in a while, in an attempt to slow down and wait for her without riding the brake the whole time. She just copied exactly what I was doing- without even knowing why! Later, Korey's chain fell off his bike and he got off and walked his bike home...without even missing a beat, Hailey got off her bike and started walking it home. Our kids copying us is absolutely precious to watch, but kind of scary in reality! It's so fun to see them do the nice and cute things that we do. I love to see Hailey and Jack rock the babies or try to give them their sippy cups. It's adorable to hear them play, "Miss Jenni and Mr Korey", as they are right now. It's sweet when they sing to their baby dolls or "work on stuff" like Daddy. What's not quite so endearing is when they yell, scream, "bark" or talk meanly to one another. It's not so precious when I hear Hailey saying, "no Allie, go away, you're irritating me" or say to Jackson, "go to bed, right now, no more talking and no more smiling" :) Or to say to Korey, "I don't get Hailey, she's perfectly happy and cheerful until she doesn't get what she wants, then she's off to her room pouting and throwing a little fit" and to just have him look at me....and realizing that that's how I respond when I don't get my way! (eeeh!)

 I know we're not responsible for all the bad things our kids do and they have little sin natures of their own, so they're more than capable of coming up with bad things to do or say on their own, but it's very humbling to see and hear your own sin being lived out in your kids!  

That is one of the biggest reasons why I'm so thankful for the verse, Philippians 1:6, that says, 

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"

I know that we aren't going to be perfect parent's, I'm not going to be a perfect wife or have perfect children- we are all going to screw up and make mistakes- the goal is that we don't stay there. We want to keep growing and maturing and striving towards the goal of being made perfect and complete in Christ. Hopefully, as we grow in our relationship with the Lord and our kids grow into a relationship with the Lord, we can all spur one another on- in the right direction!!