ARE WE THERE YET?

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

I have one year left of college. One year. So that means, in one year, I will be paying my own bills and beginning a career. That’s kind of scary to think about. When I was a kid I always dreamed of what the future would be like. I always hoped high school would be full of an abundance of friendships and success and that college would be like a dream because it would be full of fun and total independence. So many times, I caught myself thinking well, if I could just make it to (fill in the blank) then everything is going to be perfect. In elementary school, I used to dream of being 17 and when I turned 17, all I wanted to do was turn 18. Things just never seemed to be good enough.

There are so many times in life when we set goals or have ideals that we think that if we can achieve we will be set. I was recently confronted with the idea that we have already arrived. Life does not get magically better as soon as you reach your ideals. Now don’t get me wrong there is joy in everything. However, we cannot live our lives thinking that life will begin when we finally get what we want. So often I hear people say things like, “Well, when I graduate college/high school, I’ll do that.”, “When I get married, that will change” or “When I have kids, I’ll do it”. We cannot keep waiting to start living when things seem to have fallen into place. Now is the time to start living. Now is the time to start loving others, volunteering, chasing your dreams, getting closer to God, saving money, etc.

You are you. You are not your social status. You are not your significant other. Your worth is not dependent on anything. You are you despite everything and every one else. We run into problems when we gauge our worth by whether or not we have attained what we think we need. God has chosen you. We must live as if today is the day, not wondering if we have gotten there yet. God has you here in this moment for a reason. God created you for this day, not just for your wedding day, graduation, or your retirement. You will still be you when you get there. Prepare and plan for the future but don’t get so caught up thinking that you haven’t made it yet because you haven’t reached your goal. Things take time, we must let God use us now. God is giving us himself now.

*Here’s an old picture of me laughing to hopefully encourage you to smile a little more 🙂