Parenting Prodigals - Part 2

I have been fascinated by the concept that no parent is perfect, neither is any child perfect.  If we break this down to it's most basic level, I wonder if it would be safe to say that the first Parent/Child relationship would be that of God and Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Here was the Perfect Parent in a Perfect Environment - God says' "You are naked, go have lots of babies" and yet Adam - who was as close to the Perfect Son as was ever possible - still found a way to mess it up.

Why then do we as parents, who are far from perfect ourselves, beat ourselves up when our children fail or fall short of our expectations?  Our environment is just as far from perfect as we are.

Nobody ever dreams of having messed up kids, and yet messed up kids are a reality of life.  When we experience messed up kids - we need to love them, be patient with them, and pray for them.  All the while trusting our Perfect Father and His perfect wisdom and love.