Transformation

Today marked the first day of summer Bible study, and we opened up with an icebreaker on how we are the same and different from our high school selves. I thought about it after, on the way home, and realized I've come pretty far from my original goal of wanting to be a doctor (this was the long-standing dream from childhood). I had ALWAYS wanted to be a pediatrician, and started at Baylor pre-med. I think I switched to the pre-PA (physician's assistant) track with a major in Nutrition during my first semester. I knew I wanted to have kids eventually, years down the road, so I knew med school didn't fit that dream well enough. But PA - that I could do! And then I hit organic chemistry, and opted to just focus on nutrition - I was going to be a dietitian, still helping people, still in the medical field, and I could still focus on pediatrics. And then I had a crisis after college graduation because of a snafu with placement in the dietetic internships, and somehow I eventually ended up at culinary school.

In summary, the process:

Doctor (help kids, lots of money, prestige) --> PA (sort-of a doctor, help kids, decent money, prestige) --> Dietitian (at least still in the medical field, worked REALLY hard at this route taking on extra work in summers for experience in the field, help kids, some money, some prestige) --> Pastry Chef (make kids fatter, not in the medical field at all, it's a novelty to people, I'm in a ton of school debt) --> Mom (left the job to raise the kids, negative money, poop and puke, but I'm also: in the medical field, I'm helping kids, Avery thinks I'm awesome).

How did I get here?!

So, I kid, really, because I see where God has worked in my life and it's been such an encouragement to me to see his hand guiding me and shaping me to be the best version of my self (still a long continual process because I am way off mark even yet). He's taken the initial interests and tweaked them, some a lot, some just a little. The money was never a deciding factor for me, it was just interesting to see the downward spiral of my potential income. He could have led me down any number of paths, but this is the one I'm on, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride. It was a slow process in changing my mindset, dealing with the "why" and "what went wrong", and changing it into joy in the moment, a calling to be a mom and a godly example to my children and to enjoy it. He took the decision out of my control and blessed us with Avery a few years into the marriage (as a surprise). And looking back on this, and looking at where I am now, I've never felt more at peace with who I am and where I am.

Though, if we're talking seriously...God, a bigger home would be nice, preferably one where I don't share walls with a neighbor! :)