You know what they say about hindsight...

This past weekend (Sept. 4, 2011), our church (FBC Summit, MS) made the decision to not have church due to inclement weather predicted. Tropical Storm Lee was peppering our area with heavy rain, flash floods, and tornadoes. All of this had produced power outages and trees down in roadways. As a church staff, we communicated with each other throughout the day Saturday and decided to cancel Sunday activities at the church. When we awoke Sunday morning...you guessed it. The weather was not so bad.

Did we make a mistake? Should we have had church?

The old saying, "Hindsight is 20/20", certianly held true here, but I don't believe we made a mistake.

Given the information we had Saturday afternoon, we made a decision. So, I am glad the weather was not as bad as predicted. I am sad that we missed an opportunity to worship together. All to say, given the same information in the future, I will vote to cancel services.

In our lifetime, we will all make decisions that we look back on and think, "Why did I do that?" But given the circumstances and information at hand, we must make decisions and move forward. When you look back and recount the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" you are doing so with a whole set of information that was not available before the incident. Most would agree that that is not a fair comparison. Whether it is a decision to cancel church services or whether to take a new job or whatever, make a decision based  on the current information and move forward.

Side bar: Utilize any and all information available to influence your decision. We consulted the Emergency Management Agency, National Weather Service as well as personal observation before making the call to cancel services.  

News Flash! When you are involved in ministry, you will probably never please everyone.

So making a "big" decision is as simple as PEAS:

1. Pray about it. (Can be a simple "Lord help me make wise decsions")
2. Evaluate it. (From as many angles as possible)
3. Announce your decision.  (Let others know what you've decided)
4. Stick to your decision. (Defend your decision but don't dwell on it)

Beating yourself up over what could have been probably accounts for more heartburn than bad pizza. Learn from your past. Remember what you've learned. Move on!