TOO MANY CHOICES

I was reading this book about praying for your child and I really could identify myself with this mum. She felt that life is moving too fast and she is racing from one event to another. There are just so many options for ways in which the kids can spend their time! Is the best mum the one whose kids are the busiest? Most of the time the choices are all good so it makes decision-making even more difficult. There is a subtle pressure that seems to imply whose child is the most involved is the best parent.

Of course this isn't true! Yet it's so easy to fall into the trap of overcommitting our time. And it just makes parents feel more stressed. In the long run, it may be better to say no to many of these things. It's our job to help our kids draw the line and make good decisions. All these activities only earn us trophies that will one day collect dust on shelves. God will want us to focus our energies on things that will last a lifetime like family relationships.

We need God's help in making such decisions. Show us what activities to say yes to and what to say no to. Speak Your will about all my options so that I may know what is good and right for our family. Free us from the burden of all the 'shoulds' and 'coulds'. Sometimes we feel 'kiasu' or that we will lose out if we do not enrol our kids in this enrichment class or that school activity. But I am always unwilling to trade our precious family time in the weekends for such activities. Hence I will pray and ask God if we really should sign up for this activity or that.

Like the other time we were seeking God for direction to enrol Joshua in Chinese tuition class. I was very selective about such tuition classes and it was really out of necessity that I considered this last resort. Whenever possible I would try to coach him in his studies but I totally was helpless when it came to Chinese! Eventually God led us to a good tuition centre and Joshua seemed to enjoy these classes. God also worked things out for our good as Heng and I were able to do our couple quiet time during the two hours. It was something we have done before we had Joshua but didn't quite have the opportunity after.

I thank God for showing me that there are seasons in life. We don't have to do it all in one season. We could save certain things for other seasons. I thank God for giving us a long range perspective as we make difficult decisions. We want to hear from God rather than to follow the crowd or join the rat race. I want to be intentional about how I live my life and how our family live our lives. God cares about small things like activities and opportunities. He also gives us wisdom to decide when we ask Him. God is so good to us.