Decisions that shape

Unlike my beautiful wife, I did not grow up knowing exactly what I was going to be when I grew up. Jen not only knew what she was going to be, she went out and accomplished it. Amazing. If my very bad memory serves me, I would say that while I was growing up I wanted to be either a fighter pilot, a doctor, or a professional golfer. Looking back on these possible occupations and the decisions that I made in search of them in quite interesting, at least to me. Especially in light of the various paths and choices that led to who and where I am today.

 Fighter pilot. This was possibly inspired by the movie Top Gun which came out in 1986. I and most other young males thought that it would be very cool to fly fighter jets. I liked to go fast as my teenage driving record indicates, and I looked good in a leather jacket. It just so happened that my golf coach at Lewisville High School told me that a recruiter from the Air Force Academy had inquired about me. They were looking for golfers who also wanted to be pilots and had good grades and test scores (which I did at the time). Sounded like a perfect combination to me. So, I started the process. I took tests, wrote letters to Congressman and the Vice President, went to interviews, and then took some more tests. Everything was going along great and it looked like I was headed to the AFA. Then I got a phone call from the recruiter. He stated there was a problem with my last eye exam. My peripheral vision did not meet the minimum requirements to be a pilot. The only thing I wanted to do was to fly. He stated that it was most likely a mistake by the examiner since every other aspect of my vision was perfect. However, there was not enough time to take another test and still get into the current class. He wanted me to go to the the AFA prep school for a year and then enter the next class. I decided that I did not want to wait a year and withdrew my application. At the time it was a big decision, but I had no idea how big.

 I did not have a fall back plan. I had not applied to any other schools or universities. So I started looking to see who was still accepting applications. That list was not very long, since it was early summer after my graduation from high school. Texas Tech was still accepting applications. I requested one, filled it out, and was granted admission to the school on the plains. This had some unintended consequences. The biggest being, Heather (my on-again off- again senior year girlfriend) and I decided to try to stay together since I would still be in Texas. We were going to part ways if I went to the AFA since I would be in Colorado and would not able to come home very often. Deciding to stay together with Heather proved to be life changing. (Lots of jokes could be inserted here) Heather went to Texas and got involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. She met the director of the Texas Tech chapter of Campus Crusade while at the Crusade Christmas Conference in Dallas after our first semester at school. When I returned to Tech after the Christmas break, the Crusade director contacted me. We met at the student center and he shared the plan of salvation with me. I prayed to accept Christ into my life and started my Christian walk.

 Heather was a speech pathology major at Texas. During our long distance phone conversations, she told me numerous times about this cute girl she had met in her classes. In the spring of 1991, this cute girl ended up pledging the Alpha Phi sorority and became Heather's sorority sister. At the Alpha Phi Formal that Spring, I was introduced to the cute girl. She became "the cute girl in the green dress" in my conversations with Heather. I am terrible with names. Soon enough I would remember her name, which was Jennifer. On many occasions I drove Jennifer back to her dorm from the Alpha Phi house, which was across the 40 acres. Usually it was late at night after studying at the urging of Heather since she did not want Jennifer to walk across campus by herself. Sometimes we stopped at Taco Bell on the way back to her dorm, Kinsolving. I got to know Jennifer during these short drives and told Heather many times that I would like to date Jennifer if Heather and I ever broke up. Well, thank God, Heather and I did finally break up.

 I remember this lunch like it was yesterday. One Sunday after church, Heather, Scott, and I were eating at Tres Amigos. Jennifer had graduated a semester early (shocking) and was in town for the weekend. She happened to come eat at Tres Amigos after church as well. After lunch I approached her and asked her for her phone number. She thought that I needed a friend to talk to after breaking up with Heather. We started dating a few weeks later. That was 16 1/2 years ago and we have been madly in love ever since.

 So, a botched eye exam followed by my decision to not attend the AFA prep school started a chain of events that led to me becoming a Christian and meeting my wife. It is interesting to look back and be able to pinpoint a single choice that changed and shaped the rest of your life. I am very thankful that my decision turned out be a great decision.

Posted via email from will7079's posterous