One Decision

Yesterday we mentioned about the importance of going with your gut, but Daddy and I were talking about how it's just as important to remember the value of one choice you make. Remember when I said yesterday that during the game of Survivor, just one decision effected the final outcome of the game? It's important to remember that you are responsible for every decision you make.

When you and your brother would leave for school when you were younger, I very often would shout to you a quote said by the mom played by actress Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie Freaky Friday: "Make good choices." I wanted you to think about every decision you made. I knew that one wrong choice could not only affect the rest of your day, but could possibly affect the rest of your life. How you communicate, when and how you handle any situation, where you go, who you talk to ... every decision you make during the day affects every other part of your day. And once you've made your choice, that moment is more often then not gone and cannot be changed.

Patience is a wonderful virtue to have in decision making. Taking the time to truly think through the consequences of any decision can save you much heartache, backtracking and time. Proverbs 19:2 says, "Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who makes haste with his feet errs." Ask yourself the cliche but still important question: "What would Jesus do?" Ask yourself before you speak, "Is it kind? Is it truthful? Is it helpful? Will it bring someone to Christ?" The best way, of course, to discern wisdom in decision making, is to go to the Father, as we mentioned yesterday, seeking His guidance. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your path." Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."

You will make thousands of decisions each day. And it is likely that you will make some wrong ones. So going to the Father prior to decision making is wise counsel indeed. Both Brad and I have made many poor decisions, and those decisions have affected even more decisions. The little white lie, that leads to another. The unnecessary angry outburst. But it doesn't have to be bad decisions.

Like Daddy running down the hall after he first met me to say goodnight. I wasn't entirely interested in him until that moment. Then I was intrigued. You wouldn't be here, Ayla, if your Daddy hadn't decided to take the time to do that. Anton choosing to take a math course he already had credit for in Wisconsin at Prattville High School verses going with more challenging classes out of fear he wouldn't have the correct number of credits to graduate. It was in that math class that he met Kayla. Ayla deciding to go to Rhode Island where she ended up meeting Rob. Or Rob deciding after meeting Ayla that he would never meet someone any better than her and that he'd be a fool to let her get away. Those decisions didn't affect just that time period. They have affected history for all time.

Seek the Father's counsel. Take responsibility for your choices, good and bad. Be discerning. Be patient. Understand that henceforth your decisions are more often then not "we" decisions, that affect you both. Seek each other's opinion. And if at all possible, make good choices.

Discussion: Tell about a time when one decision you made affected something major in your life. Tell about a bad choice you made.

Prayer: Lord we have countless opportunities to fail or succeed each day with the choices we make. We pray Lord will we remember to Whom we are responsible and likewise will make good decisions throughout the day, decisions that in the end bring You glory. In Jesus, Amen.