What If?

What if I had never become "pregnant outside of wedlock"?  I would have gone to Library School in Vancouver, come back to Saskatchewan and been employed by the Regina Public Library.  I would have moved in an entirely different circle of friends and lived a totally different life.  I would have travelled, might never have married and would have become a writer in my spare time.

I would never have met some of the most important people in my life, would not have had the children, the grand children and great grand children I have, would not have been exposed to the United Church of Canada or its ideas and would not have become a Chartered Accountant.  Life would have been more peaceful, more predictable and healthier but I would have missed many interesting and thought provoking experiences.  I would not today be the person that I am. 

I would not have chosen the life I have lived and I would not change it, if I could.  Romans 5:3-5  "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."  God's guidance and care has continually surprised me.  My future lies in God's care even though I don't really understand the nature or meaning of "God".