Reading the Sunday paper one morning, I turned a page to a large advertisement with the amazing headline “Erases Ten Years in Ten Minutes!”  I think it was an attempt to sell a wrinkle remover,  not the sort of thing I’m usually interested in (too late, alas, always too late!) but the phrasing of this eye-catching banner stuck in my mind. 

Would someone really want to erase the past ten years of their life? Or any ten years, for that matter?

Could I select any ten years to eliminate from my past? Not that I don’t have plenty of unpleasant years behind me, years filled with wrong choices, unpleasant circumstances, unhealthy habits, and regrets. If I could wipe those years away, which ones would I choose?

Rather than wiping away a decade, maybe I could go back over my whole life and just eliminate the ten worst individual years, or I could be even more selective and pick the 3,650 worst days, so as to avoid erasing some good times in the process of weeding out the bad. The problem with any of these fantasy choices is that I can’t remember a single day of my life that didn’t either hold moments of joy or teach me a valuable lesson. Some of my worst moments actually led to the greatest blessings.

Even if I could tweeze out the unpleasant hours, minutes, or seconds, how could I be sure that I wouldn’t be eliminating a pivotal moment from a lifetime of experiences which made me who I am today?

I’m not perfect in either form or spirit, but I am comfortable with the woman I am becoming. I am confident that God has used, and is continuing to use, my circumstances, choices, and heartaches to mold me into the woman He wants me to be. Every moment of my existence has held both a lesson and a blessing from God.

I believe God has a purpose for my life, for each person’s life, and that He uses our experiences to prepare us to fulfill His purpose. Life is the great adventure. I wouldn’t want to miss a moment.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV /