Decisions

I’ve been thinking about decisions lately and how when making a big purchase I really try and search it out to make sure that I’m making the right one. This week I had to make 2 decisions. To a lot of you reading it will seem very minute and you may even get a good chuckle out of this and in the big scheme of things, I realize it’s not 
hu-ge life altering problems I'm faced with. However, when it’s dealing with money, a big sum of money for us, I always count it a big decision because I want to be wise in our choices. Especially when there's so many pressing things in life that need our income.

Decision number 1 came last Friday when I stumbled upon a vintage sofa. I have wanted an old sofa for awhile and I have a certain one in my head that I can just picture anywhere really, in my house. I picture it in the front room, my bedroom, or even in my craft room. I mean I would even squeeze one into the bathroom if I could. I can see using it for picture sessions with my kids indoors_ outdoors_ cute yellow pillows all propped up on top of it. But it’s a couple hundred dollars and I ask myself all these questions about me really needing it? I talk it over with my hubs & we talk it over some more, and then I do what all smart peeps do, I post it on Insta-gram and ask for help with my decision of should I or shouldn’t I, from my people who know a good thing when they see it. I wrestle these decisions, I pray about them, I sleep on them, and I try to not fall prey to making a quick decision of just buying it NOW. In the immediate of the moment.

A dog has been a topic in our household for years. Basically ever since 3 years ago we purchased a Shih Tzu from a Pet Store, got it home and after taking her to her first vet visit found out she was really sick. We thought something was wrong with her from the beginning because she would cough like she was trying to get a hair ball up. She sounded more like a cat than a dog. It was our first animal, other than a fish, and she was precious… a cute little ball of fur. After nursing her for 2 weeks with 3 meds we finally made the hard decision to return her to the pet store. Thankfully, there was a store policy that whenever an animal was sold and sickly you were able to get a full refund. So we did. The kids recovered after about a day of missing her and we’ve been very careful about pursuing the next animal that will become part of our family.

Currently, we're faced with making a decision on getting an adorable golden doodle puppy. And once again, I’ve wrestled, prayed, slept on it, talked it over with jode like 400 times or every time I've gotten a new thought of “what if ______” that pops into my brain, and we’ve sought advice from friends who own dogs. I’m so thankful for those friends who bare the truth. Like my besty from back home. When I called to talk to her she told me about the constant dog smell in her laundry room, the puppy that she had to teach not to eat her own poop, and about the scratches that are on her wood floors. She didn’t just tell me of the negatives she told me of all the positives too but I needed to hear the hard things because as I talk I process and it helps bring clarity.

Or I started thinking what if I just let go of some of the tight grip that I have on trying to be right with every little decision. Stopped being so afraid that I'm going to mess up. I'm not talking about being irresponsible with finances but this carries over into deeper areas too. Not just the small ones like whether or not to purchase a new couch. What if I fully trusted myself with a decision, be it right or be it wrong. If I could give myself some slack that even if it turned out to be wrong that it would be ok. It would totally be ok. I probably would find myself enjoying the process a little more. I know there is so much to be learned from every decision that we're faced with, be it wrong or be it right. And obviously some of the greatest lessons I've learned in life have come from making a not so great decision about something. That's why I'm so thankful for a loving God that covers over all my silly mistakes and forgives never to remember. So I think I should do the same for myself, give myself some slack and trust that He who lives inside of me is bigger. I’m curious, how do you make decisions on the biggies in your life? Do you have anything that helps bring clarity when crunch time comes?
heather.