I went to a conference this weekend with a group of ladies from our church. I don't think this kind of conference is "my thing." And as a friend and I discussed that it wasn't "our thing," we hit upon a particular teaching at the conference that we disagreed with. The great value of our discussion wasn't what we disagreed with but our articulation of what we do believe.
There are things that have happened to me that I would never have chosen. There have been circumstances that I could not control. There are things others have done to me that I was powerless to avoid or stop. Life has many such things scattered throughout. I did not cause them, and I am not to blame for them.
What I am responsible for is my responses to those events and circumstances in my life. Am I bitter, or do I forgive? Do I hold people at a distance to protect myself and thus injure them? Am I doing the same thing to the next generation that was done to me, or am I making a conscious effort to stop those cycles?
Some of these events required a child's reaction, for I was a child when they happened. But now that I'm an adult, there is no need to continue behaving childishly. Yes, I have been hurt. I wish certain things had never happened. But I have to accept the fact that I cannot change the past. I cannot blame my current behavior on past events. That would be an effort to remove my responsibility for my own actions. I cannot use my past to make excuses for my present. I can only learn to behave with maturity and grace and keep moving forward. Onward, ho!
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