I have many regrets, but the one that I really can’t shake is not living my life as a Christian sooner. I think about the lost time I spent chasing after the all-American dream and it makes me sad. I think about not taking our children to church or praying for loved ones, and I feel empty. I think about where our family would be today if only I’d come to Christ 20 years earlier, and I feel lost.

But these are just feelings. I put my trust in God, and I know his timing is perfect. Not my timing—His. And there is certainly a plan in place that I don’t necessarily have to understand. In Ephesians 5:15-16, the Bible says, “Look therefore carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The translation for redeeming in this passage means to buy up, ransom, to rescue from loss. I don’t know about you, but I need to rescue my time from loss because I’ve already “lost” enough time.

And if I think about my time rather than feel, I know the timing was perfect. I have so much to share with other women…I’ve made so many mistakes, I can relate to women on so many levels. And perhaps that’s my ministry. My ability to talk and empathize with women. If the price I paid for this was 20 years, then it was well worth it.

I look at my children, and I’m so proud of the adults they’ve become in spite of me. And I have God to thank for that, too.

From this day forward, I’ll be rescuing my time from loss. I plan to do the work God has planned for me, and trust that he knows my heart and my passions. I hope he uses my time and talents for His work, and at the same time fulfill some of my own personal desires.

Deuteronomy 6:5 says it best, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Words to live by, right?