Were you born for today?

When I was young, I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" books and desperately wanted to live in pioneer days.  About the same time, mom was writing a story about the three of us kids and set it in those days, using the cabin and surrounding area as the location.  She told stories that were true about this region, such as the stories regarding the grist mill on the Boone river, the church revivals that happened in our meadow (yup, they did), and so many others.

I remember saying to her over and over that I wish I would have been born back in that day, it would have been so much fun.  She didn't give me much room to dream about it, telling me that with the heart condition I had as a child, I would have been dead by the age of eight.  Now, that's a story squasher right there.  I quit dreaming about pioneer days because I knew that realistically I would never have lived.

As I grew, I began reading science fiction novels and began dreaming of space travel, utopian societies, amazing spaceships, aliens.  I knew that I'd live through that - if they had the medical technology to keep me alive in the 1960s, they would certainly have it in the far future.  I'd lay awake at night thinking about what I would do if aliens landed in my back yard, asking me to travel with them.  Oh, I'd go, alright ... without a question.  I didn't even think I needed to say goodbye to anyone, I'd just drop 'em a message once we were off-planet!  No one would stop me.

Paranormal fiction right now tends to offer long life.  All of the fun stuff I read (ok, trash, I know it), offers a human the chance to live forever with a perfectly healthy body - all they have to do is be prepared to give up their immediate family after a few years.  Because it will become obvious that they haven't aged, right?  Oh ... and any good vampire story ensures that the body becomes perfect - right about the age of 25, with excellent health, gorgeous hair, sparkling eyes, and of course a set of six pack abs.

Max always says that he should have grown up in the 40s and 50s.  He loves the music, the sports, the people of that era.

When I really think about it, I sometimes wish I'd been born about 20 years later than I was - I'm loving this technological age and I would have had a blast being a lot younger through much of it.

But, then I think about one of my favorite verses - taken from the Old Testament book of Esther.  Mordecai says to Esther when she was trying to figure out how to approach the king, "...And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"  (Esther 4:14b)

I can wish away my life wondering what would have happened if I'd been born at any other point in time.  I can dream about the possibilities, but that won't make time change for me.  What I can do is to make the most of the time that I am here.  In 1959  (yikes), God placed me in the arms of my parents.  That was the beginning of my time on earth.  That was the moment that my life started.

Here I am, right in the middle of my future.  The world is changing rapidly around me, life moves faster and faster every day.  There are spaceships out there - just not for me yet.  I am alive because medical technology in the 60s was exactly what I needed.

And as for being a pioneer girl - I'm moving across my own pioneer.  Because this is the time God gave me.