Have you ever wondered what life would have been like if you had followed the dreams you had as a little child?
In sixth grade, our teacher asked us to write a report about what we wanted to be when we grew up. A typical question for that age, intended to plant "seeds" and cause us to begin thinking about the future. I remember as a senior in high school, one night as I lay in bed, meditating back on that question asked so long ago. So much of "life" had passed by throughout those six long years. Having grown from childhood to being an adult, my much more "mature" (lol!) thoughts at that time ran along the lines of: I've lived at home all of my life, how can I possibly know what there is out there to do? There's so very much out there, how can I really know what I want to be? There's so much to try, how do I know what I really like? Will I enjoy my work? Where will I end up? And on and on. I fell asleep as my mind whirled in typical tornado fashion over the prospects that lay ahead.
The confusion I felt at that moment somehow superceeded the confidence I felt as a sixth-grader. Back then, I knew what I wanted to be. I had much more of a grip on my future as a child, than I did as a "mature" senior! And I was headed in that direction! I wanted to be a nurse. A "feminine" profession, you say? Typical for little girls to dream of? Maybe so. But in those days there was not as much stereo-typing going on as there seems to be today. Girls wanted what they wanted, just as did little boys. And I wanted to be a nurse. I guess even back then a desire to help others was inbred into the very core of my being. Until that fateful assignment, that is.
The classroom filled with students, we all sat on the edge of our chairs as we listened to each report. Some of our classmates were filled with goals and dreams that reached all the way to the sky. Some were a bit more realistic. Some took the assignment as a joke. Others shared their hearts. One student in particular affected my life forever. He'll never know how my life changed that day. His report went something like this: He wanted to be a surgeon. When asked why, he said "because I want to cut a man's leg off and watch it roll into the basket."
Ewwwwwwwww ... all of a sudden, my life-time goal of becoming a nurse changed. I wanted no part of it! I tore up my report (which I hadn't yet given before the class). My new life-time goal became flying. I wanted to become an airline stewardess. (They were not called flight attendants until many years later, as the typical stereo-typing progressed.) As it turned out, I never got to engage in that profession either. At the time, requirements for the profession prohibited marriage, and I got married right out of college.
I look back on those days now with a smile on my face. But there has also been a question in my heart ... what would life have been like had I followed my original dream? You see, now I know what God has called me to do. I will be building and operating assisted living facility/ranches. (See http://www.gentlespringsofhope.org/ourvision.html). Assisted living requires some amount of medical care. While I do have a certain amount of medical common sense, I was never trained and disciplined in the field as I now believe that God had wanted me to be. Because of this direction that He has headed me in, I am convinced that God's plans and purposes for my life cannot and will not be thwarted. But I must admit that I've wondered if I had "cooperated" with what was originally planted in my heart, would that cooperation have in some way altered His plans for the better.
What about you? What would your life be like if you had followed your original dreams and goals? Be encouraged ... it's never too late! Take your life-time experiences and turn them in the direction you had originally planned to go. Trust me ... God can take all your hopes, dreams, desires, experiences and skills gained along the way, and work them together for good!
