What Would You Rather?

Our youngest son, Carson, doesn't like to read. If fact, I'd go as far to say that he actually hates reading. As a mom, this breaks my heart because I know how important fundamental reading is when it comes to Carson's educational development.

I read once that children who read a lot are more likely to score higher on tests and have higher grade point averages than children who don't. This really concerned me so I needed to take action and get real creative on ways to make reading fun.

Just last week, I found a new game at my local Target store called, "You Gotta Be Kidding!, The Crazy Game of Would You Rather..?" It's made by Zobmondo and looked like a great family game. After reading through the brief description on the back of the box, I decided it would be a fun way for Carson to practice his reading, plus, it would create a special interaction time for our family.

Here's how the game works:

Each person picks a card, reads aloud one of the four choices available, then gives time for each player to make their own selection as to which answer they would choose. I'll give you an example below. This was one of the cards Carson picked last night while we were playing.

Would you rather...
Choice #1. Be stuck on an island for 2 years with 20 friends of your choice.
or
Choice #2. Be stuck on an island for 2 years with 20 famous people of your choice.

My choice was #1 and Carson's choice was #2. When I asked him to name three famous people that he'd like to be stuck on an island with he said:

" the famous chef, Emeril, so he can cook my meals."
" Lebron James, so he can play basketball with me"
" Beyonce, because she can dance really good"

Let me tell you what, you can learn a lot about what your kids are thinking by playing this game!
After the game was over, we headed up to Carson's room, and I tucked him into bed. We talked about how fun the game was and Carson said he couldn't wait to play it again, but next time he wanted Keith and Brody to play too.

As Carson dosed off to sleep, I started to think about how my life is full of choices. Everyday I'm faced with situations where I need to make a decision when given two or more options.

Sometimes I'm faced with a really good vs. really bad option so the choice is obvious and easy to make. Other times, I'm faced with two good options or even two bad options so the process of choosing is much more difficult.

Sometimes, other people in my life make choices and then I'm forced to live out those choices, whether good or bad, which ultimately effect my reality, not to mention my already busy schedule.

In fact, just yesterday Brody's teacher made a choice to hold his class 20 extra minutes after school ended because the pick up line traffic was really bad. My son rides a transportation service van home each day. The van has 14 other students that were eager to leave (along with the driver) so the van left without him. Because of that teacher's choice, I was forced to leave work, go pick up my son, and bring him home which ended up taking over an hour and a half. I wasn't able to finish the project I was working on which really frustrated me.

Life has so many choices and my decisions to these choices impact not only my life but others around me.

The key is to choose wisely.

Even though I know this, I often find myself rushing through my decision making. I've learned the hard way that it's never good to make a decision in a hurry. Hasty decisions almost always result in not so good choices which leave me faced with unfavorable circumstances to deal with.

Sometimes my choices are based on pleasing others. Oh, this is a big one and I could write a week's worth of blog posts about being a people pleaser! A low self esteem and desire for others' approval can often times skew my thought process and result in bad choices that are based not on what's best for me and my situation but what I think will make other people happy.

If only I would pause, place, and pray.

Pause:
Pause and really think through my choices. Ask myself what would be the best decision based on the facts, current circumstances, and how this decision will effect me and the people that I love.

Place:
Take my choices to God and place them before Him. Tell Him what I'm thinking and how I feel about the choices I have to make. Let Him know what I believe would be the best decision and why.

Pray:
Then pray and ask God to reveal His will in my situation. He knows my past, present, and future. He knows my personality, weaknesses, and strengths. He knows what ultimately would be the best choice for me.

Yes, if only I would pause, place, and pray before making my choices. Then I believe that the God of the Universe would pause, even in the midst of all His creation, just for me, and place His desire, for me and my circumstances, in my heart. And, if I quiet myself and listen to His voice, then act on what He tells me to do, I can make the right choice with confidence.

What about you? Do you struggle like me? Do you have trouble when it comes to making the right choice? Do you hurry through your decision making then end up with messy circumstances that need to be dealt with? Do you make choices in hopes of getting someone's approval?

If only we would pause, place, and pray.