going on 30
I thought I would have a lot figured out by the time I turned 30. 30 is about a month away from now, and let’s just say, there are many things still not figured out.
In my 20s I did quite a bit of angsting over the usual: what will I be when I grow up? Will I ever find that special (non-Chinese) guy who likes the same things I do? How can I help save the world? Cue the Michael W. Smith.
Well, I still don’t know what I’ll be when I grow up, and as you know, I did in fact, marry a Chinese guy. Which goes to show, who of us really knows anything about what we want? Which I admit, means that my current “Do we have to have children?” attitude is also subject to change. This is very scary to me right now. As for the saving of the world, yes—I’d still like to know how I can help.
I can’t tell you how many thirty-something women have told me that their 30s have been SO much better than their 20s. In my mid-20s, I smiled at these women pleasantly and assumed they all had a case of the sour-grapes. But with 30 just around the corner, and with some long-standing ambitions, hopes and plans still waiting--—I’m casting my lot in with these women after all. The best is yet to come!
Jin said today that maybe the idea of 30 being a big milestone in life is just a cultural construct. Maybe. But it still feels like kind of a big deal.
Here’s the deal: I will not draw up a 5 or 10-year plan. I can barely see 5 months into the future. But I’ll keep trying to do this, which I have been (in fits and starts) aiming for since I was 14:
“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
And then I need to move away from being mostly talk to mostly action on this:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
And as we make more money, or at least have the potential to in this brave new decade, we need to not forget this:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20
And finally, as often as I can remember:
"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8
In my 20s I did quite a bit of angsting over the usual: what will I be when I grow up? Will I ever find that special (non-Chinese) guy who likes the same things I do? How can I help save the world? Cue the Michael W. Smith.
Well, I still don’t know what I’ll be when I grow up, and as you know, I did in fact, marry a Chinese guy. Which goes to show, who of us really knows anything about what we want? Which I admit, means that my current “Do we have to have children?” attitude is also subject to change. This is very scary to me right now. As for the saving of the world, yes—I’d still like to know how I can help.
I can’t tell you how many thirty-something women have told me that their 30s have been SO much better than their 20s. In my mid-20s, I smiled at these women pleasantly and assumed they all had a case of the sour-grapes. But with 30 just around the corner, and with some long-standing ambitions, hopes and plans still waiting--—I’m casting my lot in with these women after all. The best is yet to come!
Jin said today that maybe the idea of 30 being a big milestone in life is just a cultural construct. Maybe. But it still feels like kind of a big deal.
Here’s the deal: I will not draw up a 5 or 10-year plan. I can barely see 5 months into the future. But I’ll keep trying to do this, which I have been (in fits and starts) aiming for since I was 14:
“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
And then I need to move away from being mostly talk to mostly action on this:
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
And as we make more money, or at least have the potential to in this brave new decade, we need to not forget this:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20
And finally, as often as I can remember:
"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8
posted by Duncan and Jen | 10:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home