Over labor day weekend Gabriel went to a birthday party, which involved water games and running around outside barefoot. Having remembered what happened to me during my early teen years, while running around outside barefoot (stepped on a rusty nail); I specifically sent Gabriel to the party with shoes he could keep on WHILE being wet. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there (home with a sick baby), so it was just Daddy and Gabriel. I reiterated to Daddy my insistence for the shoes to stay on and got a head-nod as they went out the door.
About an hour later I get a phone call from Patrick that he is taking Gabriel to the ER because he has a really deep cut at the bottom of his foot due to stepping on a RUSTY NAIL! They spent the next few hours at the ER where they had to numb, irrigate and stitch the foot. Gabriel was a trooper through it all, however his foot was so sore and he was so exhausted that he could barely walk on it. He stayed home from school the next day, and slept most of the time. They were able to remove the sutures after ten days.
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| Sleeping off all the trauma drama |
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| Time for suture removal (he was pretty nervous) |
Through it all I kept thinking, "If they only would have listened..." Patrick admited he thought I was being over-the-top and didn't give much weight to my warning, so he didn't enforce Gabriel wearing his shoes.
While this was all an innocent and careless mistake, for some reason I started to see a parallel between parenting a child and Heavenly Father's hand in our own lives.
I didn't know FOR SURE that something like that would happen to Gabriel, but I knew of the possible consequences that could occur if he chose to run barefoot outside. I knew of my love for Gabriel and my desire to protect him. I prepared and I warned and I even sent someone to help. However, it all came down to agency - choosing to ignore my guidance and choosing to remove his shoes.
I've heard people comment, "if God is all-knowing then how come He allows for bad things to happen?" But, I don't think He allows them to happen. He allows us our free agency, and gives us the tools, guidance, help and support that we need to make the best choice - the choice that will keep us safe and bring us the most happiness. He knows all of the possible outcomes and our possible potential, but since He has given us the gift of agency He cannot keep us in a perfect, painless bubble of happiness. It is up to us to make the choice, and if we will turn to Him for guidance and actually "listen" and apply it in our lives; then even the most simple decisions in our lives will add up to contribute to our overall happiness.
I'm so thankful for our free agency and for a loving Heavenly Father that wants nothing more than to guide us back to a place where we can find eternal happiness. I know that part of the purpose to our lives here on earth is to learn, and that mistakes are a vital part of us learning and becoming a better version of ourselves. Gabriel has learned that he should wear shoes while playing outside, but things would have been a lot easier (and less painful) if he had simply chosen to listen in the first place. We live and we learn, and if we choose to listen and follow the guidance of our Heavenly Father life's lessons can be a little more bearable.
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