Generally speaking, I don't spend alot of time fretting over mistakes. Hopefully, each time I make one (and I do make them!), I learn from them and move on. Regrets are little different.
A regret is when my mistake involves other people. That time when I should have shared more of my faith with someone, or that time when my words came out too harshly, or that time I made an excuse to avoid a time of fellowship. These are the things I regret.
Several years ago, a woman I know became stricken with cancer. It was a real nasty type, but I won't go into details here. She was someone I consider a friend although we never saw each other frequently due to the distance that seperates her home from mine. No, it isn't hundreds of miles - it was just over an hour to drive. When I heard she had become ill, I sent an email offering my help. She replied that everything was going well.
Months passed and she attended a bible study that I was also attending. We talked about her illness and treatment. Things were going well - the word remission was used. Conversation turned to husbands and kids and homeschooling, etc. It was like she had never been sick! We said goodbye that day and it turned out to be goodbye forever. That was two years ago. She died at the end of January.
Two years! Two years gone and I had never checked in with her. Two years and she went through a relapse with her cancer and fought a losing battle without my ever contacting her. I had known that relapse occurred and I had always said, "I must get hold of Miriam!" It never happened. I talked with mutual friends about taking a trip up to see her - I talked too long. Get this...she was even writing a blog about her experience and I (a blogger!) knew nothing about it until after she died.
There is no doubt in my mind that she has met her Saviour; that she certainly isn't wondering about me. This world is a distant memory for her in glory. She has no more pain, no more regrets. Yet, I had one more lesson to learn from her - don't procrastinate with the people in my life.
If your interested in reading her story (here), it is an amazing testimony for the Lord. Both in life and in death she glorifies Him. If nothing else, read the last post done by her oldest daughter. May God give my daughter the strength in faith that this young woman expresses.
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1 comment:
Thank you for your willingness to be honest in sharing your own regret in order to give all of us such a powerful reminder that people can't be put off. I read the last entry of your friend's blog, the one written by her daughter. It made me cry. What a beautiful example of faith. I'll pray for Miriam's family.
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