breaking out of the box

The list of traits for sibling position is interesting. I can see how the traits for the oldest child could pertain to our oldest, but the traits for middle and youngest, I'm not as sure of. I know what T would say about a list like this, he thinks that generalizations like that should be taken very, very, very lightly. I guess that's always good to be reminded of, so that we don't put people into a box. But at the same time I think it's good to keep them in mind, because for them to be noted, there must be enough people saying yes, to the generalization for there to be a ring of truth to it.

Do your children remind you of the traits?

As a parent I am always reviewing what I am doing and how I am doing it. I come to the same conclusion over, and over, and that is, ... stop reviewing so much! I feel that I make it more complicated than it should be. At the same time I can't seem to help myself, and so continue to review. I seem to let the yuck linger longer than the fun. I still so badly want each day to be a perfect 10, and when it's not (which it technically never is) I'm dissapointed. But this is life. Life is hard. And that is okay. It is. So why do I put so much pressure on myself and T to attain perfection with the boys (and once N is bigger, her too). Ug.

I feel that I am constantly saying to myself, "well I'll try again tomorrow". And I feel I should keep trying to grow in patience, and gentleness, and love. But I guess I'm realizing as I process this out, that the main thing is to rely on His forgiving GRACE. I'm not perfect, and no day is going to be a perfect 10, not only will I screw up every day, my children will too. Not to be negative, but more realistic, and I guess Biblical, we all sin and fall short of His glory. It's that glory that I want, and can strive for, but I need to realize we are all going to fall. And this isn't the end of the world, it's okay, and not only that, it's more than okay, because His strength is made perfect in our weakness. How the heck that happens, I'm not sure, but He's God and He's amazing in how He's ordered things.

WOW, that is really reassuring. How AWESOME is He? Not to be trite, but TOTALLY, He is totally awesome. God is the one who breaks all moulds, there is no box that could ever sum Him up, and that is one of the traits I love most about Him.