Today’s Post By: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
My husband and I decided to transfer our VHS home videos to DVD. We got the idea from my parents who had also transferred their old 8mm home video films.
While we were gathering our VHS tapes together, we discovered some unmarked videos. The only way to know what they were was to pop them into the recorder to determine the year they were made. It was mesmerizing watching our now grown children laugh and play when they were so small. I felt like I was walking back in time. They were so sweet—their lives carefree. I suddenly felt a pang in my heart for what used to be.
Where did the time go?
My mind took a stroll down memory lane, and all at once, I became sad. The mistakes we had made as parents slowly crept into the forefront of my mind, causing feelings of guilt to surface.
Unfortunately, children do not come with an instruction manual when they arrive. Parenting sometimes consists of trial and error. Mistakes are part of the process. Even so, I wished that I could turn back the hands of time and do some things over again.
If I had only known then, what I know today.
God gently reminded me that He was always there to fill in the gaps when we came up short as parents; our mistakes became teaching tools in the future. Every blunder was filtered through God’s sovereign hands. If He allowed it, He had a greater purpose in mind for it.
Perhaps you’re feeling some similar regret concerning mistakes you’ve made in the past. Remember… nothing is wasted in God’s economy. He uses every bit of the good, bad, and ugly in our lives. No damage done is so great that God can’t ultimately bring good from it.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” (Isaiah 43:18)
I made the choice to surrender the past to God. Instead of wasting precious time worrying about the things I did wrong in years gone by, I made the choice to focus on what I’m doing right today.
Maybe it’s time you did the same.
“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…” (Philippians 3:13b)
