I was sharing a while ago that I have been growing bonsai trees for many years. Earlier in the year I bought a couple of English Box (Boxus) shrubs for outside my office. These have been cut in an upright topiary style.
Now I must admit I don’t know much about their upkeep and care. So, I was looking at them and noting that they have new growth. Now I am not sure what to do, do I maintain their size or allow the new growth and then trim them?
It started me thinking about life, often we are exposed to new opportunities, and we must make similar decisions. Do I take this opportunity on? Is it really an opportunity or a distraction from what I believe I am supposed to be doing? Will this bring life or confusion? These are real questions, and they are good questions. Is this an: allow to develop moment, or is it a: prune now moment?
Sometimes the wait and see option is a good decision, maybe we just don’t have enough information to make a good decision right now. We can wait to see if it comes clearer, however mind what I am saying; that is, waiting for new information for guidance, not just plough on and hoping.
I guess the questions I would ask both myself and you, are how do we make significant decisions in our lives? Who do we consult in these situations? What research do we do? What part does God play in our big and small decisions?
Recently a friend of mine had just done a course and he suggested that he felt it might be a good fit for me to do. So, I checked it out online and I must say that it looked right in my wheelhouse as far as interesting content, coupled with my giftings, skill set and fitting with my previous learning. The question remains is this, what am I supposed to be doing? Is this a distraction from what I am supposed to be doing right now, no matter what it feels like, knowing feelings are not facts. Strangely one of the graduates of the course happens to be another friend of mine I have lost touch with, but we were close for several years. So, I have reached out to him to gain more information. Now I am sitting with a this is interesting but not now mentality, but I am open. I will continue to gather information and endeavour to gain a God perspective before I make a final decision. At the very least I will hopefully gain a chance to catch up with an old friend.
It takes me back to an email topic I wrote at the beginning of the year stating it’s not really about New Year resolutions, but about knowing who you are going to do life with this year to make all these important decisions with. [Click here to read “Not what but who”.] For me I realised that I had drifted apart a little from one of the men I had chosen to do that journey with. God’s timing is always perfect, and I ran into him unexpectedly and I reconnected with him just a few days before I wrote this. God is good and I don’t believe in coincidences.
So, if you are making important decisions you may need to grab those close friends to help you do that. (Don’t forget to talk it over with your Heavenly Father.) If you haven’t got people in your life like that, maybe it is time to start looking around and intentionally deepen some relationships. I know that I am going to be much more intentional in my relationships, it is too important to be left to chance.
Blessings
Paul Monahan