Decisions – mundane or life-changing- are unavoidable. We make them from the moment we awaken until we go to sleep. Getting out of bed is a decision.
Our decisions are based on many things: our beliefs, the benefits of one decision over another, the weather, or even something as tenuous as what we feel like on any given day. Each decision we make affects us in some way; either it benefits us or it hurts us and whatever we decide, we have to live with the consequences.
The toughest decisions we may have to make are often those which we know will hurt someone we love. A parent decides against something his or her child wants, or a child decides against something a parent wants.
As parents we raise our children the best way we know how. We teach them our values, either by concrete actions or by spoken demands. Most of us invest time, effort and love in them. Then, one day, our child makes a decision which goes completely contrary to all we hold dear. And the only explanation we get is, “I had to do it.”
What do we do now?
In A Matter of Conscience, the parents of our story deal with just such a situation. Their son makes a decision which flies in the face of the parents’ beliefs. This decision is not made lightly and our hero knows he will cause much grief, but the beliefs his parents have instilled in him force him to choose. The resolution of the situation mirror, in some very small way, God’s mercy and grace.
Isn’t is wonderful to know that, no matter what decisions we make, we have a Father who is full of mercy and grace?
So make your decisions in this new year. May they all be wonderful. But, remember, whatever your choices, your heavenly Father abounds in mercy, grace and forgiveness, even if your decisions lead to hurt.
Our decisions are based on many things: our beliefs, the benefits of one decision over another, the weather, or even something as tenuous as what we feel like on any given day. Each decision we make affects us in some way; either it benefits us or it hurts us and whatever we decide, we have to live with the consequences.
The toughest decisions we may have to make are often those which we know will hurt someone we love. A parent decides against something his or her child wants, or a child decides against something a parent wants.
As parents we raise our children the best way we know how. We teach them our values, either by concrete actions or by spoken demands. Most of us invest time, effort and love in them. Then, one day, our child makes a decision which goes completely contrary to all we hold dear. And the only explanation we get is, “I had to do it.”
What do we do now?
In A Matter of Conscience, the parents of our story deal with just such a situation. Their son makes a decision which flies in the face of the parents’ beliefs. This decision is not made lightly and our hero knows he will cause much grief, but the beliefs his parents have instilled in him force him to choose. The resolution of the situation mirror, in some very small way, God’s mercy and grace.
Isn’t is wonderful to know that, no matter what decisions we make, we have a Father who is full of mercy and grace?
So make your decisions in this new year. May they all be wonderful. But, remember, whatever your choices, your heavenly Father abounds in mercy, grace and forgiveness, even if your decisions lead to hurt.