Gò0dNews for Everyone
Decisions, Decisions
M
by Monica Gambrell
y childhood was punctuated with a mixture of
The scene must have looked cartoonish from the point
momentary fear and ongoing tension and dread.
of view of an onlooker. I was facing the sink and caught
It’s funny how hindsight can give one a clearer
something big moving along the floor out of the corner
picture of reality than what seems to be true at the moment.
of my eye. It was a rat! You probably think I mean to
I have to give a bit of background here in order to present a
say a mouse, but no. Without the tail, it was around six
fuller representation of the event portrayed.
inches long! I had never moved so fast in my life as I did
I was a latchkey kid. My mother had finally moved up the food chain at her job and had begun working the day
at that moment. I screamed as I jumped literally straight up with both feet, which landed right on the edge of the sink. The rat was barely lumbering along; it must have previously gotten into some poison. From my perch, I reached across to grab a huge domed lid for a roasting pan and dropped it straight down to entrap the rat. It worked! I don’t even remember how we got that thing out of the house, but I can tell you I was a bundle of nerves! My mother’s decision to be a hoarder caused the rat problem. If only one lesson was learned that day it was this: every word and every action have consequences. In this case, the fallout was minimal, but some decisions have serious and eternal consequences. Nothing in life is
shift. This allowed her to be home sometime around 5:30
completely neutral. Even the lack of a decision is in and of
p.m. while I and my younger sister, Sheila, arrived home
itself a decision.
around 3:30 p.m. We were eleven and ten, respectively, and
“The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one
the expectation was that we would have dinner cooked and
who does not gather with Me scatters” (Matthew 12:30).
ready for our mother when she arrived home. We had three
“So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor
older siblings who had all moved out by then. My mother kept the façade of a clean home, but she was a hoarder. The
cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16). Father God, You know us so well. We are so comfortable
unfinished basement and a dilapidated old car in the yard
in the middle—not rocking the boat but also not rocking
were filled to the brim with junk. This caused a problem that
the world for the sake of the gospel. We need to make a
I had not previously considered.
concerted decision to throw off the blankets of complacency
On one fine day, Sheila and I were in the kitchen preparing the evening meal when the unthinkable occurred.
26 // February 2022
and live a life grounded in Your Word and on fire for You. Please instill within us a sense of urgency to see Your Kingdom come!
