Here’s the thing…
Now when I start a post with “here’s the thing” you know I’m about to say something I’ve been thinking about for a while.
Here’s the thing.
There are going to be times in your life that you make decisions that seem wildly inappropriate or obscenely stupid. They won’t make ANY sense to outsiders. At all. You will even have conversations with yourself where the logical and the heart diverge, and you are going to have to choose one over the other. Can’t you just picture them there? The heart and the head? Going toe to toe on a situation that they cannot compromise on? You ask advice of those around you knowing full well which friend or mentor is going to say what. The logical ones side with the head and the emotional ones side with the heart.
But in the end you have to decide.
You have to draw a line in the sand and lay out on the line what is important for you.
One time my husband and I decided to move to Washington State from Northern Michigan in two weeks. Everyone around us was mad, upset or sad. Except of course to two sisters and one brother who lived out in Washington State. They were thrilled.
We sold our house to my Dad for a dollar so he could try to sell it.
My husband quite his job.
We sold a bunch of stuff.
We loaded a huge trailer with our stuff.
Slapped the good ol’ minivan on the back of the truck( The LAST minivan I will ever own BTW).
Bought the boys and I some plane tickets and said our goodbyes.
Did I mention I was 20 weeks pregnant? We didn’t have housing lined up. My husband didn’t have a job lined up. We didn’t know where we were going to live.
Did I mention I was 20 weeks pregnant?
To this day my Grandmother calls that decision, “a situation.” My sister, who still lives in Washington, replied, “Grandma. Washington is NOT a situation.”
Here’s the thing.
There are going to be times in your life that you make choices that people will call “situations.”
You will abruptly move out of state.
You will leave a job.
You will sell a house and move into a van down by the river.
You will walk away from a friendship.
You will buy a house that needs 100,000 dollar’s worth of work.
You will marry your ex-boyfriend.
You will chop your hair off.
You will get a pet.
You will leave a marriage.
You will leave a church.
You will change majors and colleges.
You will ___________ ( Fill in your own blank).
But guess what?
It’s O.K.
Because it is not their decision to make. Whatsoever. We are all entitled to make eye popping choices.
Because without taking risks or being true to ourselves, we stop living.
In the Christian faith we talk about the law verses grace a LOT. Like it’s straight up ridiculous why we are still debating this issue. If you thought republican verses Dems was big than you have clearly not been involved in this debate in your lifetime.
Here is where I stand. The law has it’s place. There are many laws mentioned in the Bible that are wise and applicable to our current lives.
BUT. We have grace. And grace says make the dumb decisions. Leave your steady dependable fishing job to chase a dream. Grace says take some fish and bread and see what you can do. Grace says take your hipster Clean Canteen of water and see what you can turn it into.
There are times to act logically and pursue a career in carpentry.
And then there are other times you walk away from your parents in a public place and leave them hangin’ for a few days while you hang with your wise crackin’ homeboys in frocks.
This post isn’t a “get out of responsibility free” post.
No. Take heed. Bills still need to be paid. People still need to be fed. You still have to wake up tomorrow and be a Mom. You still need to take care of what has been given to your protection.
But if you can still do all that and also make a dumb ass choice that makes people’s faces resemble googly eyed puppets… then go for it.
We moved back from Washington.
Our house didn’t sell.
Washington was completely unaffordable and takes an obscene amount of money to live there especially for two social workers.
We missed the lakes.
One traffic jam on I-5 was one purgatory too many.
But you know what?
We got closer to my sister and her family. We made good memories with them.
We delivered our third child out there and the doctors involved in my delivery quite literally saved my life.
We had some really fun experiences.
We grew together as a couple and as a family.
The choices and events we experienced through that “situation” still positively impact our marriage to this day.
We discovered really great donuts out there.
Some still call our move a situation.
Some think it was a failure.
But it was one of the greatest things we have ever done.
And who says we won’t do something like that again…
Who says we already haven’t?
Who says life has to be logical and follow the law all the time?
Go ahead. Take up with 12 fishermen. Find your peace in the most wildly inappropriate or obscenely stupid choices.
See what happens.
You could turn water into wine.
Andie.ink 
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