Title
The Happy Reflection
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The Happy Reflection

Sometimes we look at our children and wonder how they could be so strange.  Other times we recognize exactly where they get it from.

There are not many things that I can claim great mastery in.  There is one thing, however, in which I will admit that I have great skill.  I am amazing at sleeping!  Most often I am blessed with the ability to zonk out within minutes of closing my eyes.  I then do not have any knowledge of what is going on until I awake.  There may be times that I thrash around in my sleep, toss blankets, or roll about the bed, but this is all done while I am fully unconscious.  When I sleep, I sleep hard!

The downside of this ability is that I do not wake up well.  I officially claim that I am not responsible for anything I say or do within the first fifteen minutes of getting out of bed.  Those first moments of the day I am groggy and grumpy.  I do not respond well to anything.  The worst thing for me to deal with in the mornings is other human beings.  I need at least fifteen minutes to wake up after I have woken up!

I snuck into Tadpole’s room the other day to wake her up a little early.  I was greeted with a very familiar scene.  I pulled her our of her dreamland and she was NOT happy about it.  She grumpily made her way to the table for breakfast.  A few minutes later she was complaining quite loudly!  I asked her if she was done eating, and she said she was.  I told her she did not need to finish eating her cereal.  This did not help, it just caused her to begin crying.  Her reason for crying, her brother was going to eat all of the cereal.  It didn’t matter that she wasn’t even hungry!

I shook my head, then I smiled.  I smiled because I realized that this is my daughter.  She is taking after me.  There ain’t no denying it, this is my little girl.  I know exactly how she felt.  It had nothing to do with her hunger, her brother, or the lack or cereal.  It all had to do with the fact that some meany-head had come into her room and ripped her from that nice comfy bed.  Nothing in the world was going to be right for at least a little while.  She is a grumpy butt in the mornings, but I know where she gets it from!

For your enjoyment, here are some pictures throughout the years of our sleepy-head Tadpole:

When I see my own attributes coming out in my daughter it makes me smile.  I enjoy it because it reminds me that she is mine.  I like that reminder.  I like seeing myself in my children.  It is one of the blessings of being a father.

How it must make God smile when he sees His attributes coming out in His children!  Thankfully our God does not pass on poor attributes like I have given my children.  He instead plants within us attributes of virtue.  When we live out love, joy, peace and the like; it highlights whose we are.  It shows others who our Heavenly Father is.  It reminds Him that we are His as well.  It makes our Father smile when He sees Himself in the way we live.

That is the goal after all!  As Christians, we are to learn how to be more like our Heavenly Father.  That is what He desires from us!  He wants us to learn how to be longsuffering as He is.  To be gentle as He is gentle.  To live out His virtues.  May we all put a smile of our Fathers face today by reflecting His virtues.

godliness

Do you ever wonder how you are supposed to please God in everyday life? How do you make God happy when you are just going to work, taking care of the family, or mowing the yard? What is it that God wants from us? I believe that what He desires from us most is to see Himself reflected in us. What do you think? Do you believe that this is how we are to please God with our lives? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Sure, you can send this article to anybody you want. And, if you’re REAL awesome, you’ll even tell them where it came from!

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