If it weren’t for decisions, my life would be perfect. After all these years, I still wrestle with making them. Honestly, I admit I don’t always make the best choices.
Now, I’m not entirely sure, so don’t quote me on this but I think The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage knows this and quietly uses it to her advantage. How? I don’t exactly know. But let’s just say she’s the primary force behind most of my decision-making.
I’ve never liked choosing between two good things. Why must life make us choose one joy over another? Why can’t everything just be simple?
Even driving across town is a mini decision-making session. Should I turn left or right? Thankfully, those decisions are easy, I know where I’m going, and the right turn gets me there.
But not all decisions are that straightforward.
Take mornings, for example. My wife will sometimes ask, “What do you want for supper?” I haven’t even had lunch yet, and now I’m expected to make a supper decision? That’s pressure I’m not prepared for.
My default answer is usually, “Whatever you’d like to make will be fine with me.” I even smile when I say it, though deep down, I know I’m stepping into unknown territory. After 53 years of her cooking supper, I’ve never had a complaint. Her choices have always been more than fine.
Still, I sometimes try to be brave and say, “Anything but broccoli.” But I have to tread carefully; she’s a passionate vegetable enthusiast. If it’s green and grows in the ground, it’s on her menu. And when it comes to vegetables, she doesn’t leave room for debate.
At this point in my life, you’d think I’d have mastered the art of making decisions. But then a new challenge shows up and proves me wrong.
Just the other day, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage was baking pies for a family gathering. The aroma drifted all the way back to my office and wrapped itself around my senses.
She popped into my office and asked, “Would you like a piece of pie?”
Pumpkin pieOf course I wanted pie, that wasn’t even a real question. So I said, “Absolutely.”
Then came the real test: “Which pie would you like? You can only have one piece.”
She listed them off like a dessert symphony: apple, lemon meringue, peach, coconut cream, and chocolate. All homemade. All favorites. And I had to choose just one.
That, my friends, is not a fair decision-making environment. I knew whichever pie I picked, I’d enjoy it but I’d also mourn the ones I didn’t choose.
So I looked at her and said, “I’m not sure… what would you recommend?”
With a sly grin, she replied, “I’m not sure which one I’d pick, they’re all very delicious, so it doesn’t really matter.”
But it did matter to me.
That’s the problem with decisions: when you choose one, you eliminate all the others. And that’s not easy for someone like me.
As she turned to leave, I finally said, “You choose one for me and bring it here.” Then I smiled, thinking I’d outsmarted the decision dilemma.
I waited. And waited. No pie arrived.
Eventually, curiosity got the best of me. I walked to the kitchen and there she was, calmly sitting at the table, enjoying a slice of pie.
I looked at her. She looked back and grinned.
“So… where’s my pie?” I asked.
She laughed and said, “Since you couldn’t decide, I figured you didn’t want any.”
Let me just say I did not find that funny. I went to the counter and examined the pies myself. Each one tempted me with its unique aroma. I stood there, torn all over again.
Making decisions is hard especially when it comes to dessert. No matter which pie I picked, I’d love it, but I’d still wonder about the ones I didn’t choose.
Such is life. Full of ups and downs… and decisions.
But when I’m stuck, one Bible verse always comes to mind: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” – Proverbs 3:5–6.
Whenever I rely on my own understanding, I end up second-guessing myself. But when I let go and trust the Lord, I find peace, even if I still don’t get a slice of every pie.
The Reverend James L. Snyder is an award winning author whose writings have appeared in more than eighty periodicals including GUIDEPOSTS. In Pursuit of God: The Life of A. W. Tozer, Snyder�s first book, won the Reader�s Choice Award in 1992 by Christianity Today. Snyder has authored 15 books altogether. Rev. James L. Snyder has a knack for making fun of daily frustrations and will increase the humor aptitude of your readers so they too can discover that life is less stressful when you�re laughing. Through more than thirty-five years of ministry, he and his wife Martha have been involved in three church-planting projects prior to their current ministry at the Family of God Fellowship in Ocala, Florida. The Snyders have three children and seven grandchildren.
