I’m not sure I want to know all the things my daughters tried when I was away from home and they were old enough to stay by themselves…but also found creative ways to entertain themselves. Like the time Caitlin wanted to see how many Gummi bears fit into her younger sister, Courtney’s, mouth.

What is it with kids trying to shove as much as possible into their mouths? Ever been challenged to fit as many marshmallows as possible? What about chewing crackers and trying to whistle? My husband once filled his younger brother’s mouth with small wads of paper to pass time in church. His brother had fallen asleep, so his head was back and his mouth open. Way too tempting. The closing song started, and Jeff just about choked.

I’d heard the Gummi bear story several times over the years, but I was curious. I asked Caitlin how many Gummi bears she actually fit in Courtney’s mouth. “I don’t know. She did it herself. I just told her to.”

She did it herself. I just told her to. That’s about like my husband saying he wouldn’t have stuffed Jeff’s mouth with paper if he wouldn’t have been sleeping in church. Or saying we wouldn’t talk with our mouths full if someone didn’t ask us a question while we’re eating!

Even when we know what makes sense or what’s courteous, we make small choices that sound okay – and even fun – at the time but look back and say “what was I thinking?” Many of those things are trivial and not life-changing, but what about the small choices, made one at a time, that end up taking us somewhere we didn’t expect to end up and is definitely not where God would prefer us to be?

The big choices can consume a lot of our time and energy, but we have a lot more small choices to make every day, and they can have just as powerful of an impact.

Put a dozen paper clips in your pocket or purse in the morning. Each time you make a small choice – even if it seems trivial – clip one paper clip to the next even if you don’t see a connection between two choices. How early in the day have you strung all your paper clips together?

Keep the strand of paper clips connected to your purse as a reminder of how the small choices you make string together quickly.

The heart of the wise leads to right, but the heart of a fool leads to wrong. Ecclesiastes 10:2