Thirty ONEderful flavors, and three questions.

My Granny tells the story of coming to visit my family and taking my sister and I to get ice cream when we were very small... probably 2 and 4 or so.
It goes something like this...

"We would walk down to the ice cream shop for a treat with both you girls about once a week. We would walk in the doors and Melissa would point and say "bubblegum!" or "pink!" almost immediately. But NOT Chrissy! Oh no sir! Chrissy was having a come apart trying to decide what flavor to get! 'I don't KNOOOOOWWW which one to GET! I can't decideeeeee!!!!"
(In my defense... they have like 15 different types of chocolate.)

The story gets more dramatic depending on who is retelling it... but it almost always ends with me crying and throwing myself on the ground in an apparent fit of utter confusion and indecisiveness.

This is not an uncommon theme in my life.

Paper or plastic? (Kill a tree or choke a dolphin??? How do I choose between those two?? Where are all those reusable bags I have?? I know I have them... oh, wait... that's where I keep the unmatched socks! Grr! I hate matching socks....ughhh.... fine...PLASTIC!)

Naming our children was always a major months-long conversation where as my hubby would have just gone all George Foreman on them and named everyone Paul.

What's for breakfast? What's for lunch? I don't know, what do YOU want?

I tend towards indecisiveness.

So, one day in a rare clouds-parting, angels singing the hallelujah chorus kind of a moment...
I decided that there HAD to be a way to weigh out those important decisions in life.
You know... the ones that actually matter??
Adoption comes to mind... but then, that's me.

One day a few years ago when we were seriously trying to make a decision about a major change I was just about begging God for an email or even an Priority Overnight delivered letter just spelling it out for us!!

That's when the cloud-parting experience took place.

And I believe He gave me a fool-proof check list... just for me... but that I will share with you!

1. Can you back it up with Scripture.
     Now, I'm not saying it's okay to go through the Bible and pull out one little verse and say you have Scripture backing your plans up. That's just wrong on a LOT of levels. But if your decision would mesh with a theme in scripture - say, loving your neighbor, giving to others, caring for people, taking care of your family... then you can check this one off with a YES.

2. When you pray about the situation, do you feel peace with your decision?
    Again, this has to be between you and Him because you KNOW if you are feeling at peace about something and no one else is going to be able to determine this one for you. However, if you are honestly seeking to make the most wise choice for yourself and your family, you will earnestly seek wisdom from the Lord and listen for the peace He gives you in your circumstance.

3.  Would it please Jesus?
     This is the fail-safe in the plan. You know what would please the Lord and what would not. You know in your heart because you feel it and you just know that you know.

Here's the reason why I think these questions work:
It involves each aspect of the Trinity.
God the Father through His Word, The Holy Spirit through prayer and waiting for peace (fruit of the spirit), and Jesus - by seeking to please Him!

It's not a magic trick... but it really helps my hubby and I to decipher Good from BEST in our family and in our decisions.

Try it some time...
you may be surprised!