without regrets

Today I was chatting on the phone with a dear friend of mine. We were discussing hurts from the past and how much it stinks to work through them and how they can continue to affect life in the present. I was reminded of a conversation that I had with my husband years ago. I didn't realize it at the time, but it profoundly impacted my perspective on life.

We dated in our late college years so much of our teens has passed by that point. I remember asking him if he ever regretted anything he had done in his past. Without hesitation he said, "No."  I was a bit shocked because I knew there were things I had done and said that I wish I hadn't. But then he explained further. 

You see, all the choices he had made in the past, good or bad, had shaped him into the man he was. You learn from bad decisions just as much as (or maybe even more than) from your good decisions. (Wise man!)

We all do dumb things. And we all say stupid things! I know I'm not the only one who has asked a non-pregnant lady how far along she was! But I will never, ever ask that question again, even if she looks like she's going to pop! 

But it's what we do after our choices that make a difference in our future. Even people who have made horrible decisions have turned around to become advocates against their terrible choices. 

I don't want to live a life of regrets.

And I'm not convinced that God is a God of condemnation. 

John 12:47b - "for I did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save it."

(Now, lest you think that I believe God is okay with anything that makes me happy, let me just explain that there is a difference between "condemnation" and "conviction." There has been pleeeeeeentyyyyyyy of "conviction" in my life from my all-loving God who desires the good results that comes from good decisions, let me just tell you! But I have had to learn that the "condemnation" I felt was not from God, but from people. But that is a whole different topic for a whole other day.)

I try not to wallow in my past. I try to learn from it and use it shape my future.

So if you are pregnant, please forgive me for not asking how far along you are...

KC