When I grow up...

I just watched the American Idol season finale and it took me back to when I was eleven years old. As a pre-teen I wanted to be a "star". I wanted to sign autographs, do interviews, and be on the cover of magazines. American Idol would have been my wildest dream. Through my teenage years I realized the impracticality of becoming famous. Instead, I decided that when I grew up I wanted to be a wife and mother. After high school I went to BYU, my one clear objective through my high school years, where I met and married my sweet David. From then on my one aspirations has been to be a good wife and mother. Unlike a lot of people I don't have grand visions of things I want to accomplish or become. My goals include things like run a 10K, finish Summer's scrapbook, decorate the girls' bathroom, and landscape our yard. Daily my main objective is to get through the day and hopefully grow as a person in the process. In a recent conversation with my sister, Audra, she pointed out that we are now what we wanted to be when we grew up. We are living our dream!! The world would probably frown on the fact that I let go of my dream to be "somebody." They would say I am wasting my talents and education by being a stay-at-home mom. But I know some things the world doesn't know. I know peace. I know satisfactions. I know serenity. As a pre-teen American Idol would have excited me, but it also would have made me sad and anxious. It would have been a reminder of what I wanted and did not have. But now as an adult I know my purpose. I have accomplished my main earthly goals and now I am working on my eternal goals. Now when I consider what I want to be when I "grow up" I think not in terms of earthly accomplishments, but in terms of what I want eternally. I can look around satisfied that I am on the path I should be on and that each day, however mundane, is one day closer to the eternity I seek.