Graduates: Choosing the Best


The school counselor’s office was at the end of a long hallway lined with lockers. Hundreds of teenaged feet had worn a pathway in the aged linoleum—right to his door. He nodded for me to enter and even though I shut the door behind me, I could still hear the echoes of student voices as they waited for the final bell.

At a time when teens generally feel uncertain, my world seemed particularly so. Discussions about divorce were taking place at home, and even though we’d recently moved to a terrific home and I’d decorated my room with hanging beads and posters, remaining there wasn’t an option—the home would be sold.

Deciding whether to stay with my dad or move away with my mom brought me to the chair in the school counselor’s office. Since I lived in a small town, he already knew about the pending divorce. His wife was my piano teacher, and I’d babysat their kids.

But rather than talk about which parent I preferred or what school I should attend, he wisely talked about a good choice and the best one.  So often we look at things as good or bad. He encouraged me to see that my decision wasn’t like that. Either way I’d do fine. Certainly either situation would have a different outcome, but it wasn’t a good or bad life—it was which life would be best for me.

A few months later I made my choice and the counselor was right. I didn’t choose the good choice; I chose the best one.



We do this routinely in life. It’s not like all our choices are good versus bad. Instead, we face good choices and the best ones. 

And the best choice isn’t always the easy one. Good or best….how can we know the difference?








Recently actor Denzel Washington told college graduates: Put God first in everything you do. Ask God for wisdom to do what’s right and thank him for his love and grace when you mess up.








I agree. So graduates, in all your choices, God's the best and you can trust Him with all the rest.







For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 
                                           Jeremiah 29:11


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