Thursday, July 11, 2013

Finish the Sentence: No Regrets?



I haven't been on the Finish the Sentence Friday blog hop in a long time. I was spending a month writing like a mad woman. But I've finally finished the first draft of my next novel, a followup to the award-winning Christian suspense novel The Beloved Daughter. Sign up on the right for my newsletter if you want to know when it's released! I look forward to getting connected again with all my Friday blogging buds!

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     What would it be like to live a totally regret-free life? Have you ever stopped to think about it? When this week's Finish the Sentence Friday prompt was announced, it got me thinking. If I could go back and do something over, what would it be?

     There are so many choices. Would I have done something different when I was delivering my son Silas? Asked for a C-section? Noticed sooner that he had stopped breathing? My little miracle child isn't defined by his birth event five years ago, but his condition has certainly shaped nearly every aspect of his life, to the point where just this weekend he got giggled at during his first week in the elementary-age Sunday school class because he talks differently.

     And Silas isn't the only child I think about when it comes to regrets. When my oldest son Nate was a baby I was such a nervous wreck. I spent about two years being an uptight mother who was terrified to make a mistake. Even today, I wonder if some of my anxiety transferred over to my son. Wouldn't I love to go back and be more relaxed about the whole motherhood thing?

     What about regrets that don't have anything to do with my family? What if I hadn't wasted three years in college studying to become a doctor? I always knew I wanted to be an author. Why did I allow life to take me on that huge (expensive) detour?

     I'm a huge fan of Romans 8:28, which tells us that God works all things together for a purpose. That old adage, "Everything happens for a reason," really is true. Take my son, for example. All of our life goals changed the day Silas was born. And do you know what? I'm really happy where we are right now. If I could have spared my son so much suffering, I would have. But I don't regret that his medical history led us to where we are today.

     I remember going to a youth retreat where the theme was NO REGRETS. Live your life as a teen in such a way that you don't regret anything when you're an adult. An empowering message for today's kids, don't you think?

     Well, I failed. I made a lot of mistakes. And a lot of things happened that at the time I wished hadn't. My writing career took a three-year hiatus after I published an untimely article about some unfortunate family history. At the time, did I regret my choices? Sure did. But since I got kicked off the train of Christian journalism in my early writing days, I eventually got into novel writing - the track I wanted to ride more than anything in the first place. 

     I regret a lot of things I've done and a few things that have happened to me. But I don't regret the outcome. Which, I suppose, only goes to prove that God truly does work all things together for good. I sure am happy that the end results are in his hands.

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Random Fact: I once attended a youth event where a flash flood left thousands of us kids all stranded without power in a college basketball gym for the entire night.

Check It Out: My novel, The Beloved Daughter, just won first place from The Book Club Network's Book of the Month contest. Enter the Goodreads giveaway on the right sidebar or buy the ebook today!

Blog Love: Thanks to Finish the Sentence Friday Hosts: Kate of Can I Get Another Bottle of Whine…, Janine of Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic, Stephanie of Mommy, for Real and Dawn of Dawn's Disaster!
    

11 comments:

  1. Oh Alana love how you summed this up and think you are very right that God does know better, but you aren' the only mom who has made her fair share of mistakes and believe me I can very much relate. Thank you for sharing and for also linking up with us again!! :)

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  2. Alana I'm so pleased you published that verse. I knew it was something like that, and couldn't remember where it was! Thank you :) This is a wonderful take on FTSF and very touching.

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    1. That's funny you were looking for that verse! Glad you came across the post, then!

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  3. Congrats on getting some writing done. That's major! I love the way you answered your FTSF and I'm getting ready to enter your giveaway.

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  4. "God truly does work all things together for good" - Amen.

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  5. Alana,
    Welcome back and congrats on getting so much writing done! I love how you finished the sentence and you're so right - everything, even our biggest mistakes and regrets, lead us here. It's amazing where life takes us. Exactly where it's supposed to.

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    1. Yup - seems like we were on the same wavelength for this post!

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  6. ReGi was here. This'd be more fun to talk about in person.

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