Why yes, I am almost 25, and yes- I did just move in with my parents.
If I think about where my life is right now in the same fashion that most of our society thinks about life, I am a little behind, and kinda moving backwards.
I, like probably most everyone else reading this, have grown up in a society and a family that all tend to follow a life timeline similar to this:
1. Go to high school
2. Go to college: play sports, join clubs, find your calling, make friends,
change your major 7 times, date, meet yourself, meet your Savior,
study abroad, party hard, accrue a ton of student loan debt, make dean's list..
3. Graduate from college, get a job
4. Get married
5. Start your career, or go to grad school (because what else do you do when you can't find a job?)
6. Have babies!
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6, only this time in the passenger seat as a parent.
What's wrong with this? Well, absolutely nothing, if that is the life that God is calling you to live! The hard part for me has been figuring out where God wants me, because I have been trying SO hard to shape my life into that model above. Here's the catch- after graduating college, the rest of that stuff hasn't happened for me (just yet). God has other plans for me at this point in my life, which might seem obvious to others, but I have only recently come to terms with this 🙂 Not to say that I don't still desire those things, but I am content with them happening if, when, how, and with whomever God wants.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 & 12
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
This entire chapter is actually awesome. God really does have a time for everything, and I know with my whole heart that by following him, everything will happen just how he wants it to- which must be the best way since he already has it all planned out.
So, even as I move back in with my parents, and even as I opt not for grad school but for a year-long mission trip, I am choosing not to feel like I am moving backward. I know that as I embark on this trip, that it will be monumental and a life-changing experience. As I move forward to fulfill the reason for my being- loving and serving others in Jesus’ name as he as loved me- I won’t let “moving back in with my parents” define me. (Besides, I am actually happy to have time with my brother who I haven’t lived with in 6 years, and grow closer with my parents) I pray that the experiences I will have on this trip will change my heart and how I live in crazy ways. I pray that people I tell about my trip will be able to understand that this is not a vacation, or me “travelling”- this is me serving my God and following what I know his plan is for me.
There are days when I miss my apartment, paydays I spend missing my old job and the money I made, and weekends when I miss my friends. I constantly have to remind myself of Romans 12:2, where God calls us not to conform to the ways of this world, because for so long I felt pretty comfortable doing just that, believing that I would eventually get what and to where I wanted- but my life was empty and full of disappointment. This route that I am taking isn’t easy all the time and is not without it’s struggles, but now the struggle seems worth it because I know what lies ahead. I know that my days are not filled with work that only rewards monetarily, but with work that is part of a grander plan. For this, I am thankful, and I know I am moving forward.
