life decisions

I was thinking a lot today about the decisions we make in life. For our own lives me make hundreds of decisions every week. What we will wear, what we eat, the things we will watch on TV and the places we will go. However, the decisions I have been thinking a lot about are the decisions that we have to make for other people who are either unable or unwilling to make the decisions for themselves.

For instance for a child, making the decision of what they will wear and eat for the day because they are unable to choose wisely for themselves. Another decision would be for elderly, deciding to put them in a nursing home because they can no longer take care of themselves. One of the most heart breaking would be deciding to take someone off of life support because it is the only thing keeping them alive.

When I think about making tough decisions, it makes me feel tingly and anxious, but when I think about making tough decisions for other people it makes me feel nauseous. Having the responsibility of deciding something that could affect or change a life for another person it terrifying. I mean sure I can handle making small decisions for people like where to go eat and what they should wear, but it's the life impacting one's that scare me.

What got me thinking about all this was a text conversation I had with a friend of mine today. We were talking about having to make the decision for a child whether their birth father should remain in their lives or not. She was asking my opinion about the decisions my mother made for myself and how it affected my life. I've always recognized and respected that the decisions my mother made for me when I was first born were incredibly hard. And because of that I have always had an immense amount of respect for my mother and her ability to make those decisions.

I mean, yeah, I might give her a hard time now about how hard it is for her to decide if she's going to buy an outfit or not when we go shopping :), BUT the big, life-changing decisions she made for me when I was born have no room for ridicule or joking.....they have my ultimate respect and gratitude.

I told my friend that I have no advice for how to make those decisions and I can't imagine how hard it must be. However, I did tell her that I know the Lord has a plan and that he is in control of all. And that no matter the decisions you make, as long as you trust in him and seek to follow his will, the decisions won't matter whether they are "right" or "wrong", because the Lord will be in control of all.

So the next time you choose a pair of shoes or grab a bite to eat, praise God for his guidance in all decisions we make in life for both ourselves and those we love.