Parenthood

In the past day, I have had a traumatic (for me) time of motherhood while dealing with a child and his escalating dishonesty and theft. Many parents would say these are just parts of being a child, but I take these things so seriously because I know his background and the situation he was in for the first seven years of his life, and have seen what both sides of his genes have created, and it terrifies me. I know what his earliest role models were during those soooo important formative years, and when he starts walking down that path, it terrifies me, especially now that he's getting older and past the age of accountability. As we've been dealing with it, I've been so moved that this must be how Heavenly Father feels about us. He's given us all the tools to be good and is constantly telling us if we would just listen, and instead we bang out heads against the wall in ignorance (as in ignoring, not as in not knowing), and I just feel a renewed desire to be good and follow His commandments. I have always thought that parenthood is about growing good children, but it's also our next step in becoming more like Heavenly Father, isn't it? By having a similar, albiet much smaller, role as he has in being a father and mother. Now if I can understand and adopt the same parenting style as Him...