The Price of Disobedience

     This week, Marcus got his first big, yucky scrape on his head.  As we returned home one day, I took him out of his car seat and began to unload the car.  He usually walks to the steps and I follow close behind as he crawls up himself.  This time, however, he wanted to go down the hill to see the dogs across the creek.  I put down my bags and said, "Marcus STOP!"  Rather than listen to my warning, he began to run from me.  He can hardly walk downhill, much less run, so I knew this wasn't going to be good.  I began to run over to him, which just caused him to go faster, and then he started to totter and fall over.  It could've been MUCH worse, but he fell and scraped the side of his forehead on the pavement.  Needless to say, he was quite upset for a while about it, as was I, but before too long, he was back to playing like normal. 
     I say all this because he taught ME a lesson.  It's so similar to how the Lord warns us and doesn't want us to hurt.  He warns us of danger but when we disobey, we're choosing that path of disobedience.  James MacDonald is a pastor from Canada who now lives in Chicago and preaches all over the U.S.  One of our favorite quotes of his is, "Choose to sin - Choose to suffer."  When we choose that path of our own way, we're CHOOSING the repercussions that come with it.  God's not necessarily punishing us...we did it to ourselves. 
     But then again, despite our stupidity, he can scoop us up, comfort us during the pain, and try again to lead us down the right path.  He bandages our wounds, kisses our foreheads, and gives us a little pat on the tush as we try to walk again.  What a mighty Father we have in Heaven, who teaches us lessons in many different ways (even through parenthood of a toddler). 
     Finally, I'm adding a video of Marcus and his new favorite toy.  Balls are obviously his favorite thing of all time, but this machine is a great tool for him to play with on his own.  For whatever reason, he really loves the purple ball and will try until he gets a hold on it.  He doesn't mind watching the rest of the balls pop through it, but he wants to HOLD the purple one.  Either way, we hope you get a kick out of watching him and his new, fun toy.