I’ve been reading this book for the last week and it is rocking my world. Its’ wisdom combined with practical application make it a must read for everyone who struggles with knowing when to say “yes” or “no”. So, basically that’s me and ALL of you!
We flop about between pleasing ourselves or others, whether we have the mental/physical time or energy to take on something else, the guilt of doing too little and the guilt of doing too much. Many wear their busyness like a badge of honor all the while crying inside for some room to breath.
Or we wonder if we are doing what God put us here to do. Are we fulfilling His purpose for our lives? Is this all there is? Am I doing too much or not enough? The mental race in our mind carries on despite all of our cries for it to stop and just give us a moment of peace.
The decisions we make dictate the schedules we keep. The schedules we keep determine the lives we live. The lives we live determine how we spend our souls. So, this isn’t just about finding time. This is about honoring God with the time we have. Lisa Terkeurst
The power of this book is the direct connection it has to our lives. Whether we are thinking about our life purpose, how we parent, what we do at work or how we spend those precious few minutes that are ours to decide how to use, the hinge it all hangs on is decision making. Our purposes will not be fulfilled, we won’t be the parents we want to be, our work lives will be different, our free time will be wasted if we are not masters at making decisions.
While the demands on our lives feel endless, our obligations are not. It’s a matter of having the wisdom about when to say YES and when to say NO. Terkeurst points out that this is not as complicated as it may seem. She, through the use of scripture and story, lays out principles that we can use to help us know what our answers should be.
I slap purpose across the face and stomp calling into the ground as I blindly live at the mercy of the requests of others that come my way each day. Every assignment feels like my assignment…Yet we must not confuse the command to love with the disease to please…a Best Yes is YOU playing YOUR part. Lisa Terkeurst
I know you…the fact that you may be running bleary eyed through each day…you may not love to read…you may love to read but just don’t have the time or money to order a book to sit down and read. If that’s you, then keep coming back. I will share with you some of the most important information I gather to help you make wise and informed decisions that will shape your days and ultimately your life.
Does this resonate with you? Do you have a hard time saying “no”? What makes it so hard? I’d love to see your answer in the comments!
2 thoughts on “Do You Need Help Making Decisions?”
Hi Allison! My struggle comes from balancing self-care and care for my children, helping my parents, doing things for my husband, etc. It’s easy for me to give myself away 100% to my family, but then I feel guilty because I resent not having time to pursue my own interests and find out what God has in mind for me, besides the “momming”. Does that make sense?
That makes perfect sense Rebecca and she addresses this in the book in a variety of different ways. Lots of us must have that problem! 😉 I just flipped back through the book to see if I could give you a quick example (this is just one of MANY)! In Ch. 5 she encourages us to consider our resources when weighing a decision (physical, financial, spiritual). “It’s not wrong to use wisdom, knowledge and an understanding of your resource capacity to assess your decisions.” Sometimes you come up short and she reminds us, “This doesn’t make me a bad person. It makes me the wrong person for that assignment.” Ah, so much more to say…but will save it for another day! Thanks Rebecca 🙂