FMF ‘Regret’

Write five minutes on one word.
Go…
“Regret”.
What a word.
Truly so much and yet so hard. The past few years there has been a lot of instances of regret in my life. Two unexpected deaths, one my only brother and my mother. Being the baby of the family by over a decade meant that I never really got to know my brother when he was growing up. And then he was out of the house when I was old enough to even be remotely interesting other than the kid sister to tease. But getting together for his memorial opened up so much I missed. And even once I was an adult, busy with my own life and he busy with his. And still the baby sister so much younger… there was just never those moments to hang out.
And the loss of my mom certainly kicked in regret. Feeling like time was never there for time with her.
But in all of that, God is still so good and so gracious. He is The Comforter. He is Jehovah Shalom. Peace. I can’t bring them back. I can’t fix the past. And I’ve learned that while I have regrets, I can’t wallow in them. Regret can be very much like anger and unforgiveness. If you wallow in it, if you don’t try to move forward, it can simmer and eventually harden your heart.
And I dare say, turn to bitterness.
That is not how God wants you to live.
So grieve the loss. Cherish the memories. Release the weight of regrets to the Lord.

End.