Practical Application

We are less than a week into the new school year, and I am finding myself frustrated trying to explain rounding to my 4th grade son. An idea that you and I probably take for granted, but it was really taking a toll on him. Thinking the problem might be that he doesn't understand the broad concept I tried to give him a real life scenario in which we might round a number: How many people are coming to the party? About 50. I'm still not sure if it helped him.

I've been thinking about all the lessons I've learned (and even taught) about life, my faith, and all the things that come between them. There are so many cliches that come to my mind. The other day a song from 15+ years ago popped in my head. As a teenager when I heard it, I thought it was a good piece of advice:

Take the cross-road,
It's your best bet.
The road might be a little rugged,
But it will get you there.

As an adult, I wonder just what this means. Yes, I understand that the idea is to cling to my beliefs when times get hard, but what does the cross-road look like when you are suffering? What do we do when there seems to be no right choice?

I'm wondering if what is missing in our teaching is practical application. We need to to be taught things like:
- When you are mad at someone, talk to them about it until you can reach forgiveness.
- When you feel far away from God, read the Bible.
- When you don't have enough money, stop getting your hair colored before you stop giving to God.
-When your marriage is on the rocks, fight for it instead of for yourself.

God help me to see Your will in the little choices I make because I know the big stuff of life is just a compilation of smaller decisions. Amen.