In My Footsteps

Project 365 – #059

When I was younger, I had many different dreams of what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Everything revolved around animals.  I adored animals – especially dogs.  I was one of those kids who would go up to any dog – stray or not – and try to pet it.  This didn’t go away as I got older.  Even after having been bit, I had no fear of dogs.  I thought it would be great to be a vet and take care of animals.

As time went along, I found that I wasn’t all that fond of the idea of being in school for many years to become a vet.  While I was a good student, I didn’t want to be hitting the books for that long.  My focus began to shift to computers, numbers, and business.  I had a knack for computer related things and numbers.  Issues with migraines once I started my computer studies in college lead to a slight change of plans.  I shifted from a major involving computers to one that revolved around numbers.

The funny thing in all of this is that I knew that I probably wouldn’t use my degree in the work force after getting married.  I planned on being a housewife and later a stay-at-home mom.  That’s what D and I envisioned for ourselves.  After getting married, D worked full time and went to school full time.  I went to school full time.  That was a crazy time in our lives, but we got through it.  Towards the end of my schooling, Munchkin arrived and finishing up my program of study was put on hold.  (I did get my degree several years later once Munchkin was older.  It felt good finishing up that which I hadn’t completed earlier.)

It was with Munchkin’s arrival that I found my true passion – being a stay-at-home mom.  It was not easy.  We were an active duty military family, so we weren’t living near family except for the first few months after Munchkin’s birth.  D was gone on and off, but we were a family.  We made it work with a large dose of help from the Lord as I know – especially looking back now – that we didn’t do it on our own.

Fast forward a few years….  Munchkin shares my passion for animals.  I find myself reminding her that it’s not a good idea to go up to dogs we don’t know – yet, I’m still drawn to them, and I don’t always follow that same piece of advice.  Oooops!  She talks of becoming a vet, but she’s not sure that she likes all that is involved with that line of work.  She also talks of being a paleontologist as that is something that intrigues her.

Ultimately, she says that whatever she decides to do, she wants to make sure that it’s something that involves her family.  She wants to be a wife and mom.  She wants to be there for them.  She wants to follow my example.  **gulp**

Munchkin has been watching me.  She looks at me to guide her in the right direction.  Whew!  Sometimes, the idea of her following in my footsteps is a bit overwhelming because I know my own shortcomings.  I see myself fail in so many ways.  I pray that the Lord allows her to become a better woman – a better wife – a better mother.  I pray that she follows the path that the Lord lays out for her.  I pray that someday (way in the future **wink**) a good Godly man will come into her life.  I pray for that young man even now.

Just as she studies me and how I handle things, she studies her Daddy.  She watches him to see how he treats me, how he treats her.  She watches how he spends time in the Word.  She sees how we interact with each other.  She learns how we respect each other and work out problems.  She’s filing away qualities that she will one day look for in her own spouse.

We are her teachers.  Yes, we teach her math, science, history… but more importantly, we instruct her in both life and eternal lessons.  She is following in our footsteps, so we must be very careful where we lead her.