Old desires and new lessons

The picture above hangs in my tiny "Victorian" bathroom. It is a Mary Engelbreit "poster" (cut from her magazine) with the words "It Is Never Too Late to Be What You Might Have Been". I remember cutting out the poster a couple years ago, very soon after reading the magazine (and finding an extra frame I had "put back" to frame it) so I could look at the words every day.

When my husband and I were first married, it was the 1970s and the "back to the land" movement was just beginning... brought about by an economic crisis meeting an energy crisis (hmmm... sound familiar?). He had just returned from Viet Nam and finished his Bachelor's degree when we met and was working on his Master's by the time we married.

We thought we would end up living in North Carolina, him working in a furniture company and me staying at home raising a garden and children, perhaps playing a dulcimer and weaving my own fabric (really, honest). What is that old saying... if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans?

He did go to work for a furniture company but we ended up living near Lake Michigan (can we say tons of snow each year?) and I had to go to work full time for awhile. However, because of my earlier plans... I always understood those who wanted to save the planet, go organic, etc. I didn't know lots of other Conservatives felt the same until I read Crunchy Con.

I truly believe one of the lies the enemy of our souls tells us is that it is "too late" to become anything other than what we are. It doesn't matter if we are twenty and we're told it is too late to take ballet lessons or learn a musical instrument... or if we're ninety and we're told it is too late to learn anything!

I've decided I'm going to take the advice on the poster to heart. This is the year to attempt fresh projects and learn new skills I've wanted to know for a very long time. Yes, I will get quite fatigued at times as (barring a miracle) I will have to forge through the exhaustion caused by a chronic illness. Finances are always an issue but if a skill is a God given desire... He provides.

So... since this is the week I plan to do some serious study and pondering... I will add to the many lists being made those things I would like to learn more about. I will stop the unhealthy thoughts that enter my brain, those which tell me it is too late for... anything.

Well, perhaps it is too late to learn gymnastics. :)

Photo: Mary Engelbreit's "It's Never Too Late": available at prints.com