Happy weekend!
I hope you all had a blessed Easter! As we peer over the edge into a new month, I pray that April will be an ongoing reminder of resurrection and new life.
If you’re new to Five Minute Friday, welcome! Learn more about this fabulous, big-hearted community here!
This week we’re writing on the prompt:
[Tweet “Got five minutes? Join us for a five-minute free write on the prompt, DECIDE! #amwriting”]
Set a timer for five minutes, take a deep breath, and let’s …
GO.
One obvious difference about living in South Africa versus America is the amount of choice. In my ten years living in Cape Town, on every visit back to Michigan, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices thrust in my face.
One September in Cape Town, a black South African couple visited my husband and me for the weekend. When the husband woke up on Saturday morning and shuffled, sleepy-eyed into the kitchen, I bombarded him with questions. “Would you like coffee or tea? Milk and sugar? Eggs? Toast? Do you want porridge? Weetbix?”
The poor guy stared at me, eyes glazed over. Silent. “Kate!” my husband chided. “Just give the man some coffee and bread!”
He was unaccustomed to choice.
Sometimes I see myself in the same way — paralyzed by the options laid before me. I stand at a crossroads, and both paths reveal equal joy and disappointment. My feet are planted, unmoving. I glance left and right, unable to decide.
I wish God would just point a finger, “Go this way.”
Choice is not always a blessing.
The good news is, no matter which way I go, as long as it’s not contrary to His Word, my God goes right along with me. His sovereignty sustains me, covering over my missteps and turning them into my good.
STOP.
[Tweet “Can’t DECIDE what to #write about? Look no further! Five Minute Friday has you covered …”]
Thanks for being here! Leave your own five minutes of writing below! And don’t forget to click on over to the blog linked up before yours to leave some comment love!
Loading InLinkz ...
Thank you Kate…..for hosting and for the beautiful words!
I’ll be back tmrw to read a few of the others’ posts.
God bless!
Thanks for being here, Chris!
Kate, such a good choice. As Americans, we forget how very many choices we have. What to pull out from our closet, what to eat for a given meal, to go to the gym or not go to the gym (actually this one isn’t a choice for me—the answer is no. 😉 ) . . . It’s easy to forget most of the world doesn’t live with this many choices.
I loved how you wrapped up your post. Thank goodness God gives us good choices within His sovereign will, and lets us choose. I loved this: :His sovereignty sustains me, covering over my missteps and turning them into my good.” Such reassurance! Have a great weekend, Kate!
Thank you, Jeanne! You are always such an encouragement! I appreciate you! How is the recovery going?
i love your post:) i still remember our return from Jamaica in 1977 after 7 years there. when i would go grocery shopping, i was overwhelmed with all the choices. the last few years in JA, we had a lot of shortages…sugar, flour, etc. coming back to the US was the opposite extreme. it wasn’t just a matter of finding beans or peas in the store, but did i want them plain or with onion, mushrooms, etc.? i became paralyzed with the decisions at times!
Exactly! I had a similar experience once when my mom sent me to the store for rice. In South Africa, my choices were white rice or brown. In the U.S., there were about 50 different varieties! Craziness! I just grabbed a bag and got outta there .. 😉
Wheetbix! I was at a convention for 10 days this summer and the booth next to us served free Wheetbix and Wheetbix products every morning (and gave away cereal bowls with Wheetbix on the sides, too!). But that’s totally off topic ;). My husband often accuses me of having too many options. Sometimes, when I barrage him wtih a list of things, he’ll just answer ‘Yes.’
Ha! So funny, Anita! Both to the Weetbix, and your husband saying, “Yes” when you give him too many choices. 🙂 I’m guilty of the same thing. 🙂
Kate, it is so true. We have more decisions to make each day than we realize.I am so grateful for God’s grace which has covered my life even when I have made a wrong decision. Blessings!
Amen! Praise God for His grace always, and especially when we make poor choices. I shudder to think where I’d be without it!
We are on choice overload in America, aren’t we? Even God gives us free choice…o! for grace to always decide correctly! xo
It is choice overload, Susan! Such an abundance — and yet we can still be so ungrateful! Shame on us …
Had to laugh at what you shared here, Kate. I felt like that when we visited a supermarket in the States: I had never seen an entire aisle just for just cereal!
Love what you share at the end: so true. I had that same paralysis this week, as I had so many options to serve and yet was battling a cold and lost sleep. And then, I let go of my control and listened…it’s then I was able to move forward into little ways of serving in deepened joy.
It can get ridiculous, hey? All the choices … Sometimes I think the multitude can make us discontent, as we’re more likely to be unhappy when we don’t get what we want. Or maybe that’s just me .. 🙂 Thanks for sharing again in this space, Anna! I always enjoy reading what you have to say! Blessings on your weekend!
“Choice isn’t always a blessing.”
I’m the queen of indecisiveness – I need to put that quote over my bed! 🙂 I’m constantly begging God to just point the way already, but I’m beginning to think He gives us choices on occasion to make us better at choosing. I’d still rather He just tell me already!
I can relate, Andrea! I’ve been known to say to my husband, “I don’t care what you decide, just tell me so I can know what I have to do.” Often, I’m torn between decisions and just want the way shown to me so I can get on with what I’m supposed to be doing on that path. 🙂 But yes, God uses even our choices and our indecisiveness to His glory!
This story is stuck in my brain. A great thing. Offering coffee and toast to everyone (especially myself), moving into the decisions with action. Thanks, Kate.
Coming from Zimbabwe and now living in Australia, I so get the overwhelmed by choice thing! I can remember my mother barely getting through our first grocery shopping experience in tears from all the choices. I also wish that God would put a big sign up sometimes. I am learning to trust the gentle leading and the lack of a STOP as guidance. Thanks for hosting again this week.
This is lovely! And so challenging! To remember that sometimes simple is best. It is good to remember that when we are with Him, living according to His word, it can be that simple.