By Doug Peterson

Trinity Lutheran Church

How do you know when you’ve made the right decision? Did the Seahawks make the right decision last week when they traded for an unproven, third-string quarterback? If it is the wrong decision, will it be the demise of the franchise, or just a bump in the road? And if is the right decision, will it be enough to lead them to victory, or will this right decision be undone by some other bad decision?

We make choices all the time. Last time I counted, I found 17 kinds of Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies at the store. How do you choose the right cookie? The right spouse or school? How do you know when it’s time for a change?

After seven years in Enumclaw, our family (Brenda, the kids, the dog) is moving to Hamilton, Mont., next month. For those of you keeping score at home, no, we did not get the director gig at Holden Village on Lake Chelan, a fact our daughter, Hannah, still laments. But we get to keep the dog, so there you go. We are leaving a beautiful place, a comfortable home, a dear congregation, a secure income, a wonderful community, great pastoral colleagues and innumerable friends and neighbors. Why are we leaving?

I heard no deep, resonating voice from heaven telling me to “Go, therefore…” The best I got from Almighty God was a Divine Shoulder Shrug. A dear friend shook his head and told me frankly he believed God had more pressing issues on his plate than whether I should stay or go.

“God’s not worried about you,” my friend told me. “You’ll serve him no matter where you are.”

He was right. God is at work all over the place. The kingdom doesn’t depend on me always making “the right decision.” Thank God! The next thing may be everything we ever hoped for. It may be a nightmare. A million things could go well. A million things could go wrong. That’s life. Christians follow a man who ended up dying on a cross. Go figure.

We have choices to make all the time. Some choices are better than others, to be sure. But I am learning these days that figuring out the right thing to do is not so much a destination as a way of life. It is an approach to life described in the Bible (Colossians 3:12-17) that has become an important guide for Brenda and me. Here are the highlights:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity…And be thankful…And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Thank you, Trinity, and thank you, Enumclaw, for the privilege of spending the last seven years with you. Brenda and I wish you all the best. To God be the glory. Amen.