Chocolate Cake Nights

When I was younger we used to call them chocolate cake nights.  Those were the evenings when good friends would come over with their children.  The kids would play until late and then we'd lay them all down--ours in their own beds, theirs in our bed.  Then the adults would grab a big piece of homemade chocolate cake and a big steaming cup of hot coffee and go sit out on the front porch and talk.  We'd talk until the wee hours of the morning--sometimes 2:00 or 3:00 o'clock.  How we did that is beyond me now, I can do it just fine but my husband falls asleep (wherever he is) by 10:00 pm.   Those were the good old days for me.  Chocolate cake night with friends.  And even though the friends might have changed over time as well as the dessert, oh and as well as the time--the love of conversation has not.  We still have friends over, we still have a little something to eat, and maybe some decaf, but we end the evening usually around 11:00 pm.  I'll admit it--they are getting old.

On one such evening with friends, a couple of years ago our conversation turned to regrets--more specifically did we have any?  And I, as usual, opened my big mouth and said very assuredly--no, I have no regrets.  That proclamation opened up a can of worms.  Right then and there I should have brought out a great big old chocolate cake.  We were going to need one!

I had to back up my statement.  I somehow had to justify it.  I had to try to make sense of the thought that was rattling around in my brain.  How was I to let others know that even though things have not always gone smoothly in my life and even though I had made some dumb choices, I still had no regrets?  You see, without those stupid mistakes, without the hiccups of life--I wouldn't be who I am today.  And I wouldn't be the person that I believe God has been shaping me into.  It's a hard concept to grasp, but in my head it makes sense.  I'm not perfect, I make mistakes, I say and do dumb things all the time.  And although I'd like to reach out and grab some of those things back--didn't I learn something in the process?  Like--don't ever do that again!


Regrets?  No.  I don't have any.  I appreciate all the good and the bad that has happened in my life.  I make the choice to learn, to grow, to embrace each circumstance that happens.  Even those that make me look or feel foolish.  I think I need them--the mistakes and the foolish things that I've said and done.  I've needed them to become a more mature person and to become who God wants me to be.  I'm not excusing my failures, not at all.  I'm acknowledging them.  But, I do not regret those failings.
How can I regret the life that God has chosen for me?  I can't.


I live a life without regrets, without lame excuses, without fear--I look forward to my future and all that God has for me.  Regrets?  No, none at all.  And I'm always ready for chocolate cake.