M.F.E.O.

I tried to leave Lake Wales after graduation. In fact, I moved away without having a job elsewhere. I was not going to get "stuck here" like other Warner graduates. But, the only job I could get "elsewhere" was at a daycare and I was offered a teaching position at a high school here, so I had to come back. A few years later, I applied to grad school. I was definitely getting out this time! But, again, no job prospects. And, to be perfectly honest, I didn't try too hard to get a job. By the time I got my grad school acceptance letter, I had decided Lake Wales was an okay place, to "bloom where I was planted," so to speak. I deferred grad school, got excited to teach another year, and decided to take tae kwon do. How many 26-year-old women do you know who just suddenly take up martial arts? Especially ones who are pretty sedentary and klutzy, not athletic at all? Yeah, me neither. But I did it and it was embarrassing to be the only adult with a bunch of kids and the uniform felt stupid and there were all these moves that just didn't seem natural. Still, I stuck with it. I'm telling you this not to make myself look good, but to show you how God intervened in my life. In my early 20s, there were 3 lives I wanted to live and I couldn't decide which one was best. 1. I wanted to live with my roommates, who were like sisters to me, teach high school, and "play" on the weekends. 2. I wanted to move far away where I didn't know anyone, go to grad school, live alone (because I'm kind of a loner by nature anyway), smoke clove cigarettes, and scrounge for rent money every month. 3. I wanted to be a wife and mother. #3 scared me the most. However, it's obviously what God wanted and He definitely has the best plan. 6 months into tae kwon do the kicks and blocks were becoming more natural, but most importantly, I was in a serious relationship with a steady, handsome, intelligent, giving man. You know the rest of the story - marriage, 2 boys, etc. It's not that unusual of a story. Yet I am regularly amazed by how God worked to bring us together. Ladies, I married up. My husband is so thoughtful - he usually gets up with the baby so I can sleep in and for Christmas he bought me a book I really enjoyed and the other day he went to the bookstore just to buy me another book by the same author. I don't deserve the blessings God has put in my life. Sometimes I wonder, "Why am I so lucky?" I'm really not that great of a Christian. I definitely don't deserve my husband and sons, my husband most of all. My parents' marriage - well, it was iffy at best. I know that just having stability in a marriage is a blessing. But He has given me more than just stability. God has given me a soulmate, someone who shares many of the same interests as me and loves me for who I am, as well as for who I could be. We are truly M.F.E.O. - made for each other.