When asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, my answers went something like this:

• A nurse
• A pediatrician
• Teacher
• The first female Astronaut (Sally Ride flew with NASA when I was in first grade, so this came off my list.)
• The first woman president of the USA
• A lawyer
• A travel agent
• A stewardess

And then I stopped make a list. Because somewhere between being asked for the first time and age 10 or so, I knew what I really wanted to be. I wanted to be a wife. I wanted to be a mom.

Yes, I still wanted to be a teacher or a doctor or a nurse or a lawyer — but even more than these noble careers, I wanted the harder job too. I wanted to have a husband who loved me and who believed that I would make his life better, simply by being a part of it — just like he does mine. I wanted to be a mom — to have children and love them, make them feel safe and protected, and help them to become men (or women) of God.

Then life happened. I was 24 and had officially been called an old maid. After all, if your brother calls you that, it has to be official — doesn’t it? I decided it was time to start seriously looking for a handsome guy. So I looked and I looked and I looked. Finally, I did what I should have done in the first place and I talked to God about finding me a husband. His answer was simple, “Patience, daughter.” And so, I worked hard at waiting. That may seem like an oxymoron, but sometimes sitting and waiting is harder than working. I moved from Colorado back to New Mexico, started in a singles group at a new church and asked God to show me His will.

We had a camp out and I saw a really cute guy — reddish hair, beard, tall, great eyes, and he could sing. Several items on my list of desirable characteristics had just been checked. I flirted. He ignored me for seven months. Finally, I gave up on the cute guy. On Tuesday of the week I “gave up” on Mr. Gorgeous, he called and asked me on a date. He worked nights from 5 pm to 2 am and I worked days from 8 am to 5 pm. We “dated” on the phone during his dinner breaks at 10 pm and during my lunch break when he would bring me a picnic lunch. On the Saturdays that he was off, we went to tourist spots and got to know each other. Six weeks after our first date he asked me to marry him and six months later, I did.

Eleven months after the wedding, our oldest son, Nate, was born; seventeen months later, Phillip joined the family, and three years later we welcomed Ben.

I am exactly what I wanted to be — a wife and mom. I’ve been a wife for 27 years as of this week — and a mom for 26. It’s an amazing life; one for which I am truly grateful! I married the man of my dreams, our boys are men of character — and our daughter-in law is an amazing woman.

I am so incredibly blessed to have been given the desires of my heart.