Choices by Annie Try

Today’s the day! We can’t ignore the fact that the whole country is going to be voting. The politicians have tried to convince us to vote for them and many people are fed up with politics and exhausted by it all. Yet as the results roll in we will be looking at our future, maybe some of us with excitement and others with dread.

Everyday we make choices – some of them we don’t even think about as we stumble sleepy-headed into the shower or reach for our usual morning coffee. Other choices are neatly made with logical lists, plenty of thought and prayer but then completely overturned by our emotions. For me, house buying goes into that category. When we found our present house, my husband, Ken, had a checklist of must-haves for the garden and I had one for the house – houses were rejected one after the other for failing to meet our criteria then we saw this one and I fell for the garden and he raved about the house. Checklists disappeared. The outcome? We live in a place we love that is difficult to maintain and rather impractical, is too big for us, but has been used by God.

With writing, I am one of those people who has several WiP’s requiring my attention at the same time. I need to choose which one takes priority considering not just what I want to write but which one is likely to be published, will sell, will take the least time to promote and will allow me time with my family. That’s logical, isn’t it? But what does God want?

At present, moving forward with any writing choice is halted while my attention turns fully to the needs of one of my sons, following his difficult health diagnosis. Ken and I know our priority is our son and his daughter. We know that God will be there, showing us the way and guiding us. Helping our son, it is humbling to see his faith becoming stronger as he becomes weaker. A few years ago he made the biggest choice of his life at an Alpha course. Now he says, ‘I know God has His plans for me,’ recognising that God will never leave him.

So today the United Kingdom makes a collective choice. We are part of that and can allow our God to guide us in our individual choice, knowing that He has a plan for each of us and for our country.

May God guide you as you prayerfully make your choice.

Annie Try is the pen-name of Angela Hobday, Chair of the Association of Christian Writers. She is co-author of four books on creative therapy and has written four novels. Her latest novel, published by Instant Apostle in September 2019, is the third Dr Mike Lewis story.