Life and Consequences

 As I sit here at my computer my mind goes back to life and choices.  Sometimes you might hear people express their feelings by saying "I wonder what my life would be like if I had done this or hadn't done that" and then I think that life does have choices and they all have consequences either they are good ones or they might not be so good, but they are yours and once they are made a consequence follows.

The other day I was talking to my oldest daughter and we got on the subject of life and where the choices she has made have taken her.  She was just eighteen when she came to us and told us she was engage and wanted to get married. Now forty plus years later she knows she made a very wise choice and the years that followed have been good ones with lots of growing and adventures, some ups and downs but good ones with eternal blessings.

I think about myself and the choice I made when I was seventeen.  I too was very young, engage and wanted to marry.  Life then took me on a journey, that as I look at it, I never would have imagine that now sixty plus years later, the adventures I have had, the experiences that came my way, the places I have lived, the people I have met and have touched my life and the posterity that is mine all because of that choice I made many years ago and that one choice was also on eternal one.

I always told my children that the choices they make would take them down a path and every choice had a consequence, that's the way life is.  Its like when you are little and you don't follow the rules, you might be sent to your room for time outs, or in school when you don't do your homework you will not receive a good grade, or if you break the law you might find a policeman pulling you over in your car, yes be careful life has consequences.

When one is young and the future is way out there and you are looking through rose color glasses, its not always easy to be in control of your emotions, to really look at the situation and make the right choice, that is why I always told my children to make their franklin list.  A (franklin list" is the pros on one side of a paper and the cons on the other side with the line down the center) this helps no matter how old one is in making a good decision, after all we all want life to be good and we all want to be happy, to be loved and to be successful.

Now as I sit here writing this post, again I'm looking at my past, counting my blessing and thinking about the path I chose to take, knowing that it was through prayer and devotion to my faith that my life has been richly blessed, with the love of a good husband, wonderful children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren that surround me, yes life has been good.

If I can leave one suggestion to my family is that to always remember that every choice you will make in this life will have a consequence, that choice will bring you joy and happiness or will bring you pain and unhappiness, so be careful, stay on the righteous path, use prayer in making your choice and follow the Lords teachings and happiness and eternal blessing will be yours, yes you might have some ups and downs and a struggle here and there but keep your faith, do what you know is right and true, then when you are my age you will look back through the years and know that life was good and full of many eternal blessings.