Where do they get this stuff from?

Caleb and Alisia are so very different.
Alisia:
-will usually do anything to please us.
-will say what is on her heart in sometimes a very convicting way.
-will take the lead when playing with other kids.
-will spend the night with Grammy any time. She'd live there if we let her!
Caleb:
-will do anything to get out of obeying. He's really good at this and has a lot of excuses.
-will copy phrases he hears so we really have to be careful what we say and what he watches.
-will follow others when playing with other kids.
-will not spend the night with Grammy unless there's a good reason to (bribe!).

This evening, Angel was at worship practice and it was one of those nights of balancing supper, homework, baths and bedtime. At supper, after Caleb ate a little bit of his food, he said he was done eating and asked me if he could play his game. I told him he needs to finnish eating. A few minutes later, I noticed he still hadn’t touched any more of his food. Yes, I’m one of those mothers, the kids have to eat their food...or at least make an attempt to. At this point I just wanted him to obey and told him again, “Caleb please eat your food.” He looked at me with a very serious face and said, “I gotta use the pot, woman.” I tried as hard as I could to keep a serious face, but I couldn’t. I lost it. I think I just really needed to laugh, and that did it. I couldn’t stop laughing. But then, he just kept saying it over and over and thought he was so funny! And he would laugh at himself. “What has he been watching?” I thought to myself. Then Alisia says, “Mommy, he gets that from you!”
Finally, I could tell he ate most of his food and I asked him to start getting ready for a bath. I went into the bathroom to start the water. He started taking off his clothes, but then stopped looked at me with his sweet, innocent, big brown eyes and said, “But Mommy, I didn’t finnish my food.” I said nothing, pulled off his shirt and pants, and sat him in the bath.

As I was laying him down to bed, I asked him to lay down quietly while I pray with Alisia since she didn’t feel well. He was bouncing on his bed saying “I’m sick too! Pray with me first.”

Ok, so I’ve heard kids become mirrors of their parents. If you have kids, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about (or you'll find out soon). It slips out of their mouth or they do something and you know exactly where it must have come from. But why can’t he pick up the “good stuff”? I do know that he does have a very sensitive heart and loves learning about God and His Word. Maybe I do use words like “pot.” But do I really try to come up with excuses not to obey my heavenly father? Do I try to put it off till later? When the Lord calls me to obedience, what stands in the way of me obeying his call? I can be an example by falling to my knees.

I'm reminded of the Hymn I grew-up singing:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.



Just look at these sweet,
innocent, big brown eyes!
They get me every time!
In this picture he's only 2!