Life is a strange mix of geography, circumstances, and choices. I often wondered what my life would have been if I had been born at a different time or in a different place. Would I have been one of those who saw and rejected Jesus when He lived on earth? Would I have been a starving African or someone killed in the war in Ukraine? Who would I be if my mother had married someone else? Who would I have married if I had lived in another state?
Those questions have no answers. I can only believe the time and place I was born was not by chance but determined by God for a reason and thank Him that I am here now.
The other variable is the choices our parents and we have made in life. When I was five years old my parents were asked by their home congregation to help start a small mission outreach in Berks County. After commuting back and forth for many years, they decided to move closer to the church. My dad left a good job and lost the possibility of a large pension in making the move. My mother said many times it was not the best decision financially but the best for the family spiritually. Their home church had become more liberal and continued to slide until today it is barely surviving. Mom often asked, "Where would our family be if we had stayed there?" Good question. Would we have had the backbone to stand alone when the church started sliding? Were we doing what we did because we believed in it or because that's what was expected? Was our belief strong enough to resist peer pressure? The choice to be part of a conservative church removed the peer pressure of the liberal trend in the home church.
Sometimes when I see the choices some young people are making, I wish I could make the choices for them. But then, I wasn't much different at that age. I thought about the here and now instead of where that choice might lead. I've seen so many people start making small changes that led to more and bigger changes. They left their church for something more liberal and kept on going until, in some cases, they completely lost out spiritually.
The most important choice in my life was choosing to accept and follow Jesus. I have not been perfect, but that choice has spared me a lot of trouble and sorrow. The second most important choice in my life was who I married. I was too young and foolish to make a good choice myself. It was God who led my husband and I together. We balance each other out and work well together. Either one without the other would be severely handicapped.
We have made some choices in life that were not so good, like making a poor purchase or missing an opportunity. We made plenty of parenting mistakes and personal failures. But underneath we had a solid foundation on the Word of God to help us correct the course and try again. I'm glad I have a God who allows second chances when I make poor choices.
