I brought Caleb to the playground 2 days ago and met some other Singaporean mothers with older kids (ard 2-5 years older than Caleb). Caleb was given a boundary at the playground and he was instructed not to cross that boundary. The boundary is set to be within a slope and a fence. He had been punished previously for stepping out of the fence.
Well, older kids do not observed such boundaries in the playground so they are running around freely. And Caleb loves to play with these big kor kors. They were playing happily at the playground when the big kor kors decided to go down the slope. Caleb ran to the edge of the slope and came to a brake when he realised he was about to cross his boundary. He looked at my direction and was inching towards the big kor kors who were having lots of fun down at the bottom of the slope. But then he stopped. He kept looking at me for approval but I didn't react. He took a step forward, and then backward, and forward and backward and this went on for a few times.
By now, the big kor kors are calling out to him to join them. But he stood at the same spot. After around 10 mins (or more), he called out to me. I calmly walked over to him and asked him what he wanted, he said, "Mama, can I go down pls?" I told him he couldn't go down on his own but I could bring him down for a while. I let him play for a while with the big boys and brought up again. On the way up, I told him I was pleased that he obeyed.
Honestly, I am more than pleased. I am overjoyed when I see my Caleb remembering my command and obeying it. Because the slope is dangerous and I will not be able to see him once he is at the bottom so I gave him a command not to cross that boundary. But his act of obedience touches me and pleases me so so much. I understand truly from God's point of view how He felt when we choose to obey Him, when we choose to die to our flesh to act on His way. And I can also feel how God must have felt when we choose to disobey and end up getting hurt or getting lost. Like any parents, God gave instruction for a reason which we may not see or understand, and the bottom line, do we choose to obey?
Caleb had taught me a lesson on obeying God that day.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing. That's a beautiful parallel!
Caleb's behaviour really remind me of how we are like before God. Even though we teach our kids to be good and obedient, how often are we like that to God... Haha... after this short stint of staying at home, i also learnt not to be angry when caleb is naughty or difficult cos i guess we are all like that. And learn to see things through our Father's eyes.
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