This life of mine

Recently I was thinking of a paper I wrote when I was a child. I remember sitting in a classroom with a writing assignment that was something to the tune of "What Will You Be Doing In The Year 2000?" I was about ten years old at the time. It took me a moment, maybe even two moments to do the huge math on that and calculate that I would be thirty-four years old in the year 2000. Practically dead. My ten year old brain surmised that was so many years off in the far and distant future, my paper would practically be a work of science fiction!

Then my ten year old brain went back to contemplating how I could score the position of line leader two days in a row. You've got to have priorities.

Thinking back when my life was laid out before me on a silver platter with all the hopes, dreams and aspirations that anyone can fathom, I wondered what I would have thought then if I could see where I am now.

If I had my way when I was ten, I would now be Mrs. Donny Osmond and would wear purple socks every day, until he ruined what we had between us by marrying someone else. Once I got over him I turned my goal toward becoming Mrs. Leif Garrett. Praise the Lord, He does not always give us what we think we want! I would live in Hollywood, California and I would drive a convertible like Barbie. Red. I would have very long fingernails and always weigh 100 pounds. I would never have wrinkles and I would always be asked for my autograph in the grocery store line. I would have loads of dogs and three children. Two boys and a girl and the girl's name was to be Cheryl Ann. I also thought I would change my name to Shannon. Don't ask me why.

If I had my way when I was sixteen I would now be married to my high school sweetheart. We would have a condo on the beach and he would provide my every need. He would fawn over me day and night. I would be a powerful corporate executive and we would have a beautiful mansion. I would wear only designer clothes. I would always weigh 110 pounds and never have gray hair. We would have two children, a boy and a girl. We would be the envy of all our friends. I would drive a Porsche. Yes, in red.

If I had my way when I was twenty-one, I would have earned mountains of money as a chemist (my dream was to be a chemist), had two babies and then gone back to work teaching chemistry in high school... so I could be with the children, of course. We would have a beautiful home in the suburbs with wonderful friends and lots of neighborhood barbeques. My girlfriends and I would have playdates with our babies. I would play tennis. My husband would take me on romantic vacations at least every year and we would have a weekly date night somewhere fancy and expensive. We would be the envy of all our friends. I would always weigh 120 pounds and I would never have age spots on my hands. I would always have abs of steel. I would drive an SUV with a "Baby on Board" sign in the back window. Red.

So, how did my life turn out? Nothing like I imagined way back then.

I dumped the high school sweetheart and married a rebellious Jeep driving, boot wearing cowboy. He was not what my father had in mind. I did earn two college degrees but not in chemistry. I never became a high powered corporate executive. Somehow that didn't seem very appealing to me as adulthood inched closer and closer. I have six beautiful, gorgeous, incredible children! I homeschool all of them. My dreams no longer consist of glitz and glamour. Now my dreams consist of cows, gardens and sustainable agriculture... with llamas. I grind my own wheat and bake my own bread. I make my own laundry detergent, for Pete's sake! Most of my clothes are bought second-hand and not from a designer. I live in an average suburban home. The only person who recognizes me in the check-out line at the grocery store is my favorite checker, Audrey, who always asks me about my baby. I love Audrey! My fingernails are often sporting garden dirt and I have not gone on a romantic vacation since I started having children eighteen years ago. My sweet husband and I do go out on dates from time to time either to Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped cone or to a restaurant with a Buy One/Get One Entree Free coupon. I do not have abs of steel and I have not played tennis since high school. I weigh more than 100 pounds, I have a few gray hairs, a few wrinkles laugh lines and an age spot. OK, maybe two age spots.

Do you want to hear a secret?

I wouldn't trade this life of mine for all the McMansions in the Hamptons, for all the vacations in all the waterfront villas on the Mediterranean Sea, for all the money and glamour, for all the 'anything' you want to offer. This life of mine is the most wonderful, fulfilling, rewarding, thrilling and thoroughly satisfying life there is. I was born to be the wife of this incredible man, to be the mother of these children, to be the keeper of this home, to be the Lord's handmaiden. These things are 'the good life', and then some.

I had no idea way back then as to the wonder and beauty the Lord had in store for me. Every day I wake up and love the life I'm going to live today. The Lord is the Giver of good gifts, and this life of mine is one of the greatest!

Oh, just in case you're wondering, I drive a Dodge Caravan. White.