Developing Character As A Mom

I have always admired my grandmother as a person, but especially as a mother and grandmother. She is generous, caring, and hardworking, and has the ability to maintain a calm, sufficient strength through all of life's storms.
Her guidance is so natural, her goodness so sincere, and her most valuable lessons seem so effortlessly passed down to her children and to us, her grandchildren.
Growing up I was certain these wonderful qualities and character strengths would naturally activate in my DNA when I decided to have children of my own. I was absolutely positive this gene merely hibernated, quietly dormant in my blood until, of course, the day I became a mother.
But after my son arrived and the idyllic, tranquil woman (I naturally assumed was part of my genetic make-up) never made her appearance, I panicked. Surely, this meant I was adopted and therefore not programmed for perfection.
After my family re-assured me I was theirs, tried and true, genetic make-up and all, I began looking for other things to blame for my shortcomings. My inadequacy, compared to my grandmother whom I adore, must be the result of the gaping generation gap and extreme demoralization of our society. (I mean, she never had to deal with either one of the Spear's sisters, rap music, or the constant bombardment of explicit sexuality in the media, right?)
Recently, however, while reading the book of Proverbs in the Bible, I got my answer. My grandmother's strength and spiritual devotion have nothing to do with external factors and everything to do with her inner virtue and faith in God. Fortunately through His grace, our Heavenly Father has given us the same tools as every generation before us, including our mothers, and their mothers.
And no, she didn't have to deal with MTV or the Internet, but temptation has been around since the beginning of time. (Remember the snake in the garden?) Even though it has evolved greatly and taken many shapes through the generations, the battle of right and wrong remains the same.
"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. . .Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." (Proverbs 31:28 & 30)