Is it a mother's curse or God teaching us a lesson?

I am sure every parent has heard this phrase when they were a child from a parent: "One of these days you are going to have a child just like you."  Until I had a child of my own, I thought my mom was only kidding with me. Now I am dealing with it full force with my five year old spunky child. During a recent conversation with my mother, I begged and pleaded with her to remove this curse. She couldn't help but laugh and promptly stated that there is no curse. This lead me to wonder Is it a mother's curse or God teaching me a lesson?

All joking a side, I know that my spunky five year old, along will all of my children, that God, in His own way, is trying to teach me a lesson. I know that I am not Biblical smart by any means and I am far from perfect as a father or husband but I try my best.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:6 " in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love." So I thought that I would break each portion of this verse down a little in hopes of identifying the ways that best describe my spunky little girl and what God is teaching me.

"In purity": my spunky little girl can be a pure terror when it comes to things. But is that what it really means. Not hardly! She is doing what is pure and natural to her. It is my job as a parent to teach her the right and wrong ways to do things. That is the job that God has intended me to do when he put this little girl in my life.

"In knowledge": She craves knowledge and it is again my job to teach her. If I don't teach her, someone else will. And that goes for all five of my children when it comes to knowledge. If I do not teach them the right way of life, someone else will teach them and it just maybe the wrong way of life. Not everyone in society looks at views the same way. In fact, we are open to our own interpretation and views. My view may not be the same as yours. I simply want to give them the best knowledge I have based on my own experiences with the hopes that they do not make the same mistakes I made.

"In patience": This is one that I lack a LOT of and need to have a LOT more of. Maybe that is one thing that God is trying to teach me is that I need to be patient with my children and looking at them as a blessing from God. My children know that I love them with all of my heart and soul. They know that I want what is best for them. In turn, their job it to seek out my knowledge and wisdom but at the same time to see how far they can push my limits. It is kind of their test and sometimes I think I fail more than pass.  They see it as their job to help God to teach me some patience.

"In kindness": One of things that we learn growing up is that we should be kind to each other. I think the most important thing that I can teach my kids would be to treat people how you want to be treated. If you don't want to be treated with harshness, don't treat someone that way. I know that this is a struggle for every child to understand and especially with my oldest girl. When I see her harshness, I remind her of how she felt when she was in public school and she felt that she was being bullied. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling. Sometimes that reminder puts her back on the straight and narrow.

"In the Holy Spirit": I need to teach my children to love God more than anything else in the world. I remember a Bill Cosby comment during one of his stand-up routines that went something like this:"I brought you into this world and I can take you right back out." I heard this when I was a child and feared that if I got too far out of line that I would be gone. This was just a naive attempt to get a child to behave. When it is all said and done, God has brought us into this world for His purpose and it is our job as parents to help nurture that through loving guidance and prayer. 

"In genuine love": We can't teach our children to love someone without teaching them a genuine love for God first. True happiness does not come without that love for God and that is what I want for all my children especially my girls. One of my girls is getting to the age of showing interest in boys. A time that I am dreading but I know I cannot control. I know that I must do what I can to teach her that God must be first and foremost in her life and that God will lead the right man into her life. That is what I want for each of my girls. And I know that my son is to love God just as much and that he seeks out the right woman through God.

As I mentioned, I am not Biblical smart by any means but I am smart enough to know that I need to seek His love and guidance just as I must lead my family and teach my children. Through all these trials and tribulations, I have learned that each one of my children are God's children but they are also God's way of teaching me a lesson. Are you ready to starting learning? Just remember, you may be getting more than you bargained for but what I have learned so far has made the journey well worth it.