Loving your loved ones

I read this on the Focus on the Family website (family.org) and the words really moved me. I have definitely been guilty of saying hurtful things during conflict with my parents, sister and husband. I also have a hard time "letting go" of past fights. Keep on reading if you have too . . .

From family.org:
Let me share one more suggestion with you and others who have been angry at their parents. Given the brevity of life and the temporary nature of all human relationships, can you find it within your hearts to forgive them? Maybe my own experience will be relevant to you. My mother closed her eyes for the last time on June 26, 1988, and went to be with the Lord. She had been so vibrant — so important to each member of our family. I couldn't imagine life without her just a few years earlier. But time passed so quickly, and before we knew it, she had grown old and sick and incompetent. This human experience is like that. In just a brief moment, it seems, our fleeting days are gone, and as King David said, "The place thereof shall know it no more" (Psalm 103:16, KJV).

As I sat at the memorial service for my good mother, I was flooded with memories and a profound sense of loss. But there was not the slightest hint of regret, remorse, or guilt. There were no hurtful words I wished I could have taken back. There were no brawls — no prolonged conflicts — that remained unresolved between my parents and me. Why not? Was I a perfect son born to flawless parents? Of course not. But in 1962, when Shirley and I had been married two years and I was 26 years old, I remember saying to Shirley, "Our parents will not always be with us. I see now the incredible brevity of life that will someday take them from us. We must keep that in mind as we live out our daily lives. I want to respond to both sets of parents in such a way that we will have no regrets after they are gone. This is what I believe the Lord wants of us."

Again, to those of you who are in need of this advice, I urge you not to throw away these good, healthy times. Your parents will not always be there for you. Please think about what I have written and be careful not to create bitter memories that will hang above you when the record is in the books. No conflict is worth letting that happen.