Transition

I think for the first time in my life I am learning to enjoy being young. As a kid, you just are. It isn't a conscious thought to be young. To play and not worry. It's just who you are. A blissful ignorance some might say.

But at some point, we all "grow up." For a lot of us, it comes too soon. And for most of us, we embrace it and jump into it fully ignorant of what adulthood is all about.

I know this well. At 12-years-old my mom insisted it was time I got a job. Now this wasn't like a sweat-shop type of it's time you learn how to support the family situation. Rather, she wanted to prepare me for life so we called the Alliance Defense Fund. Or rather, I, a 12-year-old called and set up an interview with Scott Phillips. Of course, it wasn't a paid position. (As an organization run by lawyers they were not interested in breaking child labor laws.) But you couldn't have convinced me of anything less.

I took this job so seriously that I would get a migraine by the end of every afternoon. Of course, now I look back and smile at the little girl sitting in the big chair in her brown cardigan and khaki pants. (I remember my mom's frustration in finding me office-appropriate attire in the juniors department. It was almost as if most 12-year-olds were not working in an office at that time.) It was a priceless experience that I owe so much to. My mom was always light years ahead of her time and I am so grateful that by 15 I knew how to interview, file papers and dress for success. Not to mention, I learned that hiking was the perfect way to eliminate work-place migraines.

By 16, I was student body president--of the local community college. I remember trying to hide from fellow students while waiting in the pick-up area for my mom to pick me up from student government meetings when I was just 15. I was always a go-getter. Ahead of the status quo. And I never even knew it. I kept wanting more, pressing on for more.

And now at 25, I think I am enjoying being young for the first time in my life. I have so much experience and knowledge to stand on that now I can wait in peace. I don't know where we are headed, my husband and I. Not specifically. His job has redirected him into a new path. I am in the middle of pursuing a few new things. We own our own house and don't have children. This is a unique transition time for us where we just get to be young and free. We get to play and (hopefully) not worry. The world is our oyster, so to speak.

Part of it is scary. But so much of it excites us. We feel that we are on the verge something new together. We are so close to the edge but know that God has to lead us there. And it's exciting. And fun to be young. The experiences I had as a child and teenager were stressful and not always easy. But if it was those that allow me to now step back and own my future in a sense, then I am very grateful. I am grateful that there is very little I am afraid of now. I owe that to my mom and to God who constantly catches me, stops me, redirects me, pushes me, guides me and leads to the quiet waters.

Here's to the future!