God Never Blinks: Lesson 2

WHEN IN DOUBT, JUST TAKE THE NEXT RIGHT STEP

Quotable Quote: "It's scary to make major changes, but we usually have enough courage to take the next right step. One small step and then another. That's what it takes to raise a child, to get a degree, to write a book, to do whatever it is your heart desires."

The author talks about how sometimes we find ourselves in a place where we're stuck between two or more choices, and we're worried about making the wrong decision. The problem is, if we stand still for too long, that's our decision.

Our family faced this issue over six months ago when we had to choose whether we should stay in the church we had been married in, our children had grown up in, and where we had developed strong friendships, or whether we should begin the process of looking for a new church home. We knew we wanted to leave long before we actually left, but the fear of making the wrong decision, and the uncertainty of what lay ahead, paralyzed us for a while. We stood still for so long that "doing nothing" became our decision. We weren't embracing the church we were in, but we weren't leaving it either. And that gray area was worse than either choice. So we finally bit the bullet and took the next right step.

And now here we are in an eerily similar situation, these 6-plus months later. Continuing to visit church after church because we're afraid of making the wrong choice. Just what is the next right step now when we don't know which church is "The One"? To avoid being stuck in that gray area that leaves our family spiritually and emotionally drifting, we need to just pick what feels "most right" regardless of the fact that there is no consensus. And so we've made a deadline for ourselves. We'll be in our new church home by the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Even if we're not 100% sure. Because "the secret to success, to parenting, to life, is to not count up the cost. Don't focus on all the steps it will take. Don't stare into the abyss at the giant leap it will take." Just take the next right step. Or in our case, seat yourself in the next right pew.