What If...

Today Caitlin, over at Healthy Tipping Point posted a really cool post on her blog....and it got me thinking about the cycle of life and how God works in our lives and how everything is totally, 100%, perfectly planned out before our little feet ever hit this earth.

I had a high school boyfriend who came from a great Knoxville family and was super hot and funny and drove a cool truck and had tons of friends. We fell in love my senior year, and he made the decision to go to Old Miss in the fall. My parents wouldn't let me go to Old Miss, so I was trying to decide between Auburn and Alabama. On April 1, 2001 I made the announcement that Alabama was the place for me.

If he had not already decided to go to Ole Miss, I may have not gone to Alabama. But I did, because it sounded fun, had a good football team, and was closer to him than Auburn was.

The summer after our Senior year of high school he broke my heart and I cried and cried and cried over him but eventually dusted myself off and decided I'd had enough of these games and decided to move on....

That fall there was a girl at the Chi-O house who was snobby to me during rush, so I decided to join Pi Phi instead. The Pi Phi house at the University of Alabama was where I would meet some of my most treasured girlfriends. And if I hadn't gone Pi Phi and spent that hot August afternoon in the house basement meeting the rest of my pledge class, then little Kathleen wouldn't have piped up and said, "I'M FROM KNOXVILLE, TOO!" when I introduced myself sitting Indian-style on the cold basement floor.

And if she hadn't said that, we wouldn't have grown to be best friends and roommates our Junior and Senior year. And if we hadn't been roommates our Junior and Senior year she wouldn't have said to me, "You wanna move to Nashville after graduation?"

And if we hadn't moved to Nashville after graduation I wouldn't have taken my job at the Opryland Resort Sales Office. And if I hadn't taken that job I would never have met someone who turned out to be one of the most important people in my life. Myra Withers.

And if I hadn't met Myra then I would never have met Tom. My life would be changed forever when the high school boyfriend re-entered my life right around the time I met Tom. High school boyfriend made me realize why, in the first place, he wasn't good for me and then...there was Tom. Perfect-handsome-successful-polite-adorable-250-miles-away-Tom.And if I hadn't met Tom I would have stayed in Nashville and probably continued in the destructive lifestyle and relationship I had grown to think was okay. But I didn't. We got married and I moved to Tunica and got a dog and a house and a niece and community and a church and a lot of other things, intangible things, that I would never have had if I hadn't decided to go to Tuscaloosa all to be closer to a boy that wouldn't even really matter in the end. And it's just so crazy to think that all of this was set to happen in a long, wonderful, crazy, Divine plan. Isn't it? I find a little bit of comfort knowing that when something seems so bad/crazy/sad/life-altering at the time, turns out to be the best thing that could ever happen to you.

*****

Yall are probably thinking...whoa, deep stuff Laura!

But I just love looking back and thinking about all the little ways that my life could have changed and wondering "Where would I be if fill-in-the-blank...hadn't happened." But at the same time feeling so thankful that things have turned out the way they have...so far. Still so much more to look forward to!

Anyway, moving on to what Wednesdays are all about these days...

Weight Watchers Update:

I stayed the same this week. Just chillin' at 163 pounds. I am kind of okay with that after all the fun I had eating delicious American celebratory delicacies all weekend (i.e., American Flag cake, ribs, beans, corn on the cob, watermelon, beer, etc.).

I am obviously not going to make my goal of getting down to 155 by beach time (which is a mere 10 days away!!!!) but no biggie there either. I am feelin' good and have a tan, and you know what I always say....TAN FAT LOOKS BETTER THAN WHITE FAT!! :)

Have a great week everyone....