Regrets, I've had a few....

Good ol' Frank Sinatra. He could sure belt out a tune couldn't he? One of his most popular songs would probably be "My Way".  Although I'm not a big fan of Old Blue Eyes, I am pretty familiar with this song.

For some reason, that line of the second verse came to mind the other day. "Regrets, I've had a few..." Boy, isn't THAT the truth!! In my case, though, it's a little more than a few...ok a LOT more than a few. As I was thinking along this line, scenes from my life started playing in my head. It wasn't a very good movie. Every event was something I really regretted. Decisions I made in regards to my family and my first marriage. Yeah. There were LOTS of regrets there! Choices I made in relation to my girls. Oh man! SO many times I screwed up over the years where my girls are concerned. The list kept getting longer and longer! I started to get pretty bummed out! I said to myself, "GEEZ Kim!! Have you done ANYTHING you don't regret??" Immediately, two things popped into my head.
Yep! Marrying Roger. NO regrets there. He's the greatest gift I have ever been given. Even though the last six years have not been total wedded bliss, even in the tough times, I have never regretted making the decision to marry him. But the other thing that came to mind was the most important one.
My decision when I was six years old to become a follower of Christ, a Christian.
This past Sunday, a precious lady made that decision at our church. I don't know her. I've seen her at church, and I've talked to her maybe once, but I don't really know her. But as she was at the altar, asking Jesus to be the Lord of her life, I was thinking, "My sister, you will NEVER regret this decision."

So many relationships that we have, even the really great ones, can at times, lead to regrets.  I don't know of anyone who goes into a marriage planning on getting divorced. Or when you first hold that new baby, you don't plan for him or her to break your heart eighteen years in the future. It's just the way it is. Because we are human, we screw up. Sometimes pretty badly. Those screw ups typically carry with them, regrets. But I can tell you in ALL honesty, when you make the decision to give your life to Christ, you will never regret it. Now please don't misunderstand me here. I'm NOT saying that your life instantly becomes a bed of roses when you become a Christian. That is for SURE not the case. In this demented world in which we live, it is becoming harder and harder for Christians.  For example, I am 100%, completely, adamantly opposed to homosexual relationships. The fact that my stepson has chosen to embrace that lifestyle does not change my beliefs one iota. I believe homosexuality is a sin. You know WHY I believe that? Because it says so in the Bible...and I believe the Bible.  Well, if I take a stand on that issue, my more liberal thinking friends start bashing me for being "closed minded". They call me a homophobe, and most of them try to throw out Bible verses (which they take TOTALLY out of context) to refute my stand. All of these "free thinkers" get downright ugly because I choose to take a stand against them on this particular issue. The same thing is true with pretty much ANY "social" issue. Any time I choose to take a stand on an issue because of my personal, religious convictions, I run the risk of being ridiculed by the "equal rights" activists. But I have no regrets. Is it easy to take being made fun of because of my choices? Well...no. I don't like it. But I have absolutely NO regrets about the fact that I'm a Christian.

One more thing here...let me be VERY clear about this. I. AM. NOT. PERFECT. I went through a period of time in my life that I totally turned away from God. In my warped way of thinking, I KNEW I had screwed up pretty bad, and I was quite sure God didn't want anything to do with me. I was an embarrassment to Him. I had done things that I KNEW were contrary to His word. My life was a total mess! But...I was the one who walked away. HE didn't. HE was there all the time, like the old song says, waiting patiently in line. And when I finally figured out that I was tired of wallering in the pig pen (look up the story in Luke 15), He was there to welcome me back home. 

So do I have regrets regarding my Christian life? Yes... I regret I brought shame to my Lord because of the STUPID choices I made. I regret I have not lived EVERY day sold out to Him. I regret that I have let other people and other things get in the way of my relationship with my heavenly Father. But do I regret BEING a Christian. NEVER. EVER.

A relationship with Jesus is the ONE relationship that you can be 100% SURE will NEVER cause you to have regrets.

I pray that one day, when I stand before Him, He will be able to say to me, "Well done, Kim. I'm proud of you for doing it My way."