Today is Veteran's Day. A day to honor our veterans of the United States Armed Forces who served to protect their beloved country, the United States of America, either domestically or on foreign soil. I have quite a few family members as well as friends who have served in the military. My father-in-law was a Marine at the tail end of WWII. Daddy was in the Army serving in foreign lands just at the tail end of the Korean War.
It is on days such as today and Memorial Day that I often wonder what my life would've been like had I successfully enlisted in the US Army in 1986 after graduation. I expect I might've somehow been involved in the Gulf War/Desert Storm a few short years later and who knows how much longer. I passed the ASVAB with "flying colors" (as I'm sure most have) and was presented with a choice of specialty training. The computer-technology industry was experiencing a huge boom at the time, and that was one of the things I thought to get into. However, my heart was not quite into that - Daddy strongly encouraged me to get into that, though, since I was a quick study with computers at the time. What I thought would be fascinating is if I were to learn to become a language interpreter. I had a couple of years of Latin under my belt, and at the time I was recognizing the Latin base in various "romance languages", and I figured that if given proper training, I would be a relatively quick study and be successful at it. I was ready to sign the dotted line, but I needed one more thing to qualify...a physical. For baseline, I was successful in every test they gave me. Except I have burn scars. The Army doctor at the time denied me enlistment. He and his colleagues figured that the burn scars would've been unbearable with the physical activity I would have had to endure. Of course I understood, but I was otherwise crushed.
What would my life be like had I successfully enlisted? Would I still be alive, even? Would I have been successful with communications or computer technology today? Would I have gotten training to become a language interpreter? What kind of an impact would the US Army have on me? What kind of an impact would I have had on anyone else? Would I have been thankful/grateful? Would something have happened that I would've resented my service? Who would I have fallen in love with and possibly married? What children would I have? Where would I be living? Would I have become a Christian while in service?
Yes, this is all coming from a very shy and rather introverted person. That said, I always enjoyed doing something and especially learning things, and if I happened to be helping a team, so be it. I was a rather lousy student in school but always loved learning on my own. I was the weird kid who did not socially concern herself much with what to do on Friday nights or the weekends. I read books. I read encyclopedias, and I read dictionaries.
I enjoy typing (even tho I'm not a fast typist by any stretch of the imagination!). I enjoy learning new things. I enjoy researching things of interest to me. I am fascinated by language! At one point I thought to be a teacher or even a doctor or nurse. I'm not good with smells, though, so scratch that!
So today, I am a medical transcriptionist. I listen to what doctors say and I create a medical record. The medical language is just as fascinating as any layman language to me. I get to research medical terms, and I get to learn about anything related to it. My sense of computer literacy has been drastically reduced to turning on the computer and praying it keeps on working! What do they say? "Use it or lose it"? Yeah, true story.
Today I am married to a wonderful gentleman and have been for 23 years, although we've been together 25. We have two sons, ages 20 and almost 15. We are not rich people, but we are doing all right. Our needs are met as needed. I have been a Christian for 23 years, and the impact of Christ on my life and that of my family is immeasurable, including directing my path no matter my plans. I must say I could not be happier.
So what would my life have been like had I successfully enlisted in the US Army? God only knows, and I daresay that's the best way to leave it.
~~"A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Proverbs 16:9~~
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Proverbs 16:9 says it all. We may not always understand the Lord's plans for us, but those who walk with Him know that His path is the very best for us. He had a plan for you before you were ever born, a perfect plan for your life, and even if your wants did not match His wants at the time, there will be a time when He will tell you why He chose as He did because He sees the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. Lovely post. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading, and thank you for your kind words. I've seen the Lord's Hands on my life for many things, even before I became a Christian. He does have a plan for each and every one of us. He gives us the desires of our hearts and sometimes has unusual means of getting us there, but so far it's a good plan! :)
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