Ten Years

It is a crazy thing to realize that ten years has passed since I first left home. Ten years ago this August, I was off on an adventure, heading to Colorado for an exciting year of Bible College. I was scared to death, but also fiercely independent and determined to be out on my own. I had my whole life ahead of me, and the future was a blank canvas – I had no idea where I would end up or who I would become. It was a thrilling and nerve-wracking time in my life.

It is strange to now look back on that time in my life…it feels like an eternity ago. So much has happened since then. In some ways, ten years feels like such a long time…but in other ways, I still feel like life is just beginning. I still look forward with excitement, wondering how the story is going to turn out.

One of my old roommates from Bible College found me on Facebook this week, and this has put me in a very contemplative kind of mood. It has been interesting to reflect back on that time in my life and to see where I have come since then. I’ve realized that there are a few things I have learned since then (with many more to still learn I’m sure):

• Life does not always turn out how you hope or expect…and that is okay. I have learned how to hold more tightly to God than to my dreams.

• I hate camping. That is so random, but I think it is one way that I am learning to be okay with who I am. For years and years, I said (and tried to convince myself) that I was a camper. I really wanted to be a camper…but alas, I am not! I hate camping with a passion and would rather do almost anything else in the world!

• Everybody has fears and insecurities. The older I get, the more I realize that people are just like me, trying to hide these things. I am learning how to be real with people and it is so freeing.

• Family is so important. I didn’t realize just how important they were to me ten years ago. I just couldn’t wait to be out on my own. Since then I have come to see how lost I would be without them. My Mom, Dad, and sisters have been there for me through the good, the bad, and the ugly. They are a part of who I am and I am so thankful for them.

• Marriage is way better but different than I expected. It is so wonderful to get to live with my best friend, and to know someone so deeply and be known by them is…amazing. And it just gets better all the time!

• I have a lot to be thankful for. I have been to some places in the last ten years that have shown me just how much I truly have. I have walked among a garbage dump in Guatemala and seen people who live there every single day trying to survive. I have held little babies in an orphanage in Uganda who are HIV positive and do not have a mom or dad to take care of them. I have had a lot of eye opening experiences that have left me humbled and grateful for everything I have.

• God is good, even when life is not. He has been faithful to me in every moment of the last ten years and has changed me in ways I could not imagine back then. This makes me look forward to the next ten years with anticipation, wondering what He is going to do in my life. It’s still an adventure!