Our church’s lesson for this quarter centers on choices. As I started reading through it, it talked about how many choices we make. From the moment that we wake up we are constantly making choices, some more obvious than others; and some that have more lasting effects than others.
At the last moment, I made a choice to stay home from church. I was physically tired and couldn’t seem to muster the energy to get the two of us ready.
As I was already tired, I was moving slowly, but my daughter still wanted every bit of me. I decided to go in the bathroom and lock the door to enjoy a few moments of peace and quiet. Her habit is when I go in, she follows and takes a seat. I just needed a moment to be by myself.
When she realized I had locked the door – a rare occurrence – and there was no way she was getting in. She started threatening from the other side.
Her favorite meal is a Nutella sandwich with a scoop of Nutella on the side. She was threatening that she was going to get a spoon and eat all the remaining Nutella. I carefully explained that was totally her choice. However, she might end up with a belly ache and on top of that she wouldn’t have any Nutella the following day. I think it was the prospect of not having any more Nutella that changed her mind.
I can laugh at this little analogy now. But how often do we make choices, with far greater negative consequences and we still choose to follow through on them? Some choices don’t have significant consequences and other choices have far reaching effects.
Heavenly Father, help us to choose wisely. Sometimes when we are in the moment, we cannot see the longer term consequences. Help us to look not only at the immediate satisfaction, but potentially some of the lasting impact – both positive and negative.