Phew....the things I would "do over" if I was ever given the opportunity are endless. I don't live with regrets but at the same time I do have things, moments, actions in my life that I would "do over" if I was ever given a magic wand. I would wave that wand over that day and change the course of history for myself. It's not that I'm not happy with myself or where I am but looking back I know that this choice or that decision affects a particular part of my life now.
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For example....I would have paid more attention in class and actually studied instead of doing just enough to get by for that six weeks. I made As and Bs and few Cs along the way in high school but I know if I would have applied myself just a little bit more and retained alot more knowledge then I would actually be able to help my children with their homework instead of having to Google everything.
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I would wave that magic wand on the day I got pregnant with Kristina and just simply move that up a few years. Oh, I love that child. She is my pride and joy and I just can't imagine my life without her in it. But, if I was given a "do over" I would replant her in my life in my 20s. Being a teenage mom is hard. It is hard at 18 and 19 and 25 and 30 and 34. It doesn't get any easier. I'm not saying raising a child at any age is easy but once you are a teenage mom you always stay a teenage mom. Just because I'm 34 and she is 16 doesn't mean that every day I'm not right back to that scared 18 year old girl not having a clue what she is doing.
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I would most definitely take the chance to use a "do over" on the day Gabe broke his arm. I knew something wasn't right about that day. Call it mother's intuition but I just had a feeling. Earlier in the day I had told him to stop playing so rough because the hospitals were closed since it was the 4th of July and if he got hurt I couldn't take him to the doctor. Well, low and behold, not more than two hours later I was on my way to Children's Hospital with a 3 year old and a broken arm. I knew better than letting him play on that jungle gym because it was way too big for him but I let him go anyway and he broke his arm. To watch him go through x-ray after x-ray and cast after cast week after week I would most definitely jump at the chance to "do over" that day.
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But, I do have days that I would not want a "do over." Even though they were chaotic and crazy I would want to keep them just the way they are. My wedding day for example. I would leave it just like it is. The day Gabe and Kristina were born is absolutely perfect to me. Watching my Daddy graduate with his doctorate degree was better than a perfect day. Seeing my Mom seeing her first grandchild on sonor was breath taking. The day I was saved! I would most definitely leave that day alone! It was perfect from beginning to end.
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But, you know, I wonder if Eve was given a "do over" if she would still eat that fruit. I wonder if Sampson would jump at the opportunity for a "do over" when he told Delila that his strength came from his hair. I bet Moses would "do over" the day he struck the rock with the rod instead of speaking to it.
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Have you ever thought about if Jesus would want a "do over?" As Jesus was facing death he prayed to his Father saying "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want? ... My Father, if there is no other way than this...I'm ready. Do it your way." Matthew 26:39 & 42. Jesus, being a man, knew how painful hanging on that cross would be. But, no matter what his feelings were he followed the Father's way. He never questioned it. He never tried to come up with another way. He never argued. He simply said "I'm ready."
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Life is full of choices and decisions, hills and valleys, good days and bad days. Some days you look back and wish you were granted a "do over" and then some days are like a picture perfect memory forever etched in your mind. But, when you come to that choice, that decision, that moment that you reach around to your back pocket hoping there is a "do over" wand back there for you to wave and make right a wrong decision of yours, please remember that Jesus would never "do over" hanging on that cross for your sins, for you! He hung on that cross so you wouldn't have to have a "do over." He hung on that cross so that when you realize you have failed, he can reach down with his nail scared hand and forgive you! There is no better "do over" than that!
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