Its In the Genes

The sweetest time to really appreciate your children is when they are asleep.  I don’t say that because they are not appreciated when they are awake.  But in sleep, they are still and quiet.  Lincoln usually falls asleep between Lacy and I in our bed before we move him to his crib.  He is one year old.  And when he is awake, he is running everywhere non stop.  But in his slumber, I take into account my little miracle.  Last night as Lacy and Lincoln lay sleeping beside me, I leaned over and gently kissed his little cheek.  I studied his facial features.  He has Lacys smile, but he has my nose.  He has Lacys energy, but he has my eyes.  He has Lacys facial structure, but he has my height.  He is truly a little miracle from God.

 I held his little hand as he slept and studied every finger and thumb.  I have a slightly crooked pinky finger on my left hand.  I noticed last night that Lincoln has the same crooked finger on the same hand.  My fingers are extremely long.  My mom said they resembled alien tentacles when I was born.  Lincoln has the same long appendages.  I notice more and more daily how much he looks and acts like me. My three year old son Andy is a work of art as well.  Tall and skinny, just like I was at his age. Although he has his mother’s contagious personality, he favors me more than Lincoln does in appearance.  Even in the little things.  Things that I find so amazing that can be passed down through generations.  I have this bump on my right ear.  It is where the cartilage just goes upward more than a normal ear would.  Andy has the same unique bump on his ear in the same place.  He also has my creative spirit.  His imagination is endless as was mine growing up.  Everything in the house is a prop for his crime fighting adventures. 

 I also have a small circular birth mark on my right side.  Lincoln got the same birth mark twice over.  Once on the left side of his little bottom and once on his lower back.  I was kissed by the angels only once, but he was kissed twice.  It goes even deeper into our likes and dislikes.  I used to love horror movies.  I still do, but I’ve cut them out as of late.  Nothing praises Jesus more than watching blood thirsty killers on the loose, right?  But Andy has the same tastes as his father.  He loves Scooby Doo cartoons because of all the ghost and goblins in each episode.  He also loves Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons.  He chases monsters all around the house, unless one of the rooms is too dark.

 And the older I get, the more I realize how much I look like my dad.  I never noticed it before, but people will come into our gym that I have never met and tell me I’m the spitting image of my dad, whom they know from somewhere.  We walk the same, and have the same facial expressions…or so I’m told. 

 Just like our physical father, we are made in the very image of our Heavenly father.  How awesome is that!  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27. The next time you are down on yourself remember that you were made in the image of God.  But how much you truly resemble your maker is up to you.  One of my favorite books is Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado.  In the book he challenges us to strive to be just like our savior.  It’s in our attitudes and how we react to situations.  And how we treat each other. 

 How much do you resemble your Heavenly Father?