We are all faced with many decisions, some harder than others, so how do we know we are making the right decisions? It's impossible for us to know what the future holds and there are no guarantees. As much as I have struggled with making decisions in my life, I am happy that I have had so many choices offered to me. Yes, I've made some poor choices, but along with those choices came challenges and opportunities that I would not have experienced otherwise. Out of all those decisions presented, my family was recently faced with a difficult decision and a crossroad in our lives.
It has been nearly two years since my husband and I were forced to leave our home of six years due to job loss. We were faced with a difficult decision even then...where do we go from here? Do we stay near and keep searching for a job or do we turn our sights toward our family over 400 miles away? We had been praying for years to be closer to our family so our children could experience the family life we never knew. When the opportunity presented itself, we responded in our weakest moment, our breaking point (definitely not the type of situation we had hoped). We had a lot to think about, including leaving a place we had been established in for six years. We had made good friends, loved our church family, loved our son's school and made a life together, but down deep we knew we were lacking something...family.
I still remember that cool, windy day in March. Loading the last box onto the truck, saying goodbye to an empty house that was full of memories. We shed many tears that day, said goodbyes to close friends and watched the life we knew shrink smaller into the distance as we drove away. Although we knew we where we were going, it was terrifying thinking of starting over (literally). As we headed north to our destination, I'll never forget my son's excitement in knowing that he would finally get to be with his entire family. Through my tears, I smiled and found comfort that God was leading us in the right direction, though hard as it was to move.
It was a tough first year, new schools, sharing a home with family, living in an unfamiliar area, and meeting new friends. Everyone was adjusting, except me. I had many nights when I would cry myself to sleep questioning God about how things turned out. How I longed for my friends, my church family, but I felt I had to be strong for my children and my husband. I was amazed to discover the comforting arms of my family wrapping themselves tightly around me and my fears at the perfect moment. A comfort I haven't experienced for some time. It wasn't until just a few weeks ago that I realized that God had given my family a blessing in this move and answered years of prayer.
My husband was offered a job to take us back down south...back to a life we left..where we belong, I thought. Wow, we were here again? This was truly the most difficult and most important decision we as a family had to make. Instead of my desires and wants, I had to consider the needs of my family and how this decision would impact the entire family. I have to admit, I was a bit excited a first returning to a life I have missed for two years. Somehow the thought of picking up where we left off was something I longed for some time. When it came down to really making the decision, we realized that God had already answered our prayer. Though it was a difficult decision, we felt so much comfort and joy to know that this was where we belong.
With all of this being said, I don't believe there are wrong or right choices. As the opportunities are presented to us in our lives, we will grow our spirits and in our priorities. During our decision making, the scripture of James 1:5,6 surfaced several times in front of me. It says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." I could also find comfort in 1 Peter 5:7 where we were told to "cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." This includes anxiety about making the right decisions. In His scripture, God has promised repeatedly that He cares about our well-being, and He will certainly answer our prayer requests for help in making decisions about such things as jobs, colleges, careers, homes, churches, marriages, families, ministries, finances and whatever else demands our decisions, but He wants us to pray! Even though God knows all about us and the decisions we should make, he still wants us to communicate our thoughts and feelings to Him and our dependence upon Him for making these decisions.
So back to Frost's poem that leaves one guessing on how he chose the path...with prayer, God helps us decide which road to take. As in my choice, I had the unique opportunity to live this choice thanks to God's unveiling blessing.
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