Growing Up

I just finished up my last Spring Break at home. It's all a little surreal and crazy to think that I will no longer be a student in just a couple of months. I'll be on my own. Having to take charge of my life and live by my own means. Off my parents help.

Now, in my four years of college I haven't had to rely on my parents for a ton, but they do give me a little money from time to time and buy my some groceries when I'm home. But the biggest thing that is going to be an adjustment is having to deal with "grown up things"...like health insurance, car insurance, changing my permanent address, not being claimed as a dependent and thus having to deal more with taxes, etc. Like most of you, I have been sheltered and haven't had to deal with anything like this before. Now I have managed my own money since I was sixteen and my dad has made me fill out my own taxes every year...but he's always checked them for me and walked me through the process when I've made a mistake.

Also, I've felt this a little more in the last year or two, but I'm coming to realize that Maryville is no longer my place of residence. It will always be my home, but I don't have the connection to the school and most of my old classmates and friends like I used to. This week I went to my brother's choir performance at my old high school and realized that even a bunch of the teachers have changed and I am no longer a part of that aspect of the community. The teachers have changed, the students have changed, and I have changed. I am no longer the high schooler who sat in class with my close friends and pretty much kept to herself. I am not the girl who thought that she could actually stay in Maryville for much of her life. I am not the Christian girl who thought that she had a relationship with Christ and was content just doing what she'd always been doing.

I have changed. I know what I want to do and where I want to be (for as long as I feel called to be here). I know I am a blessed child of God and that my relationship with Christ is continually growing and changing. I feel closer to Him than I was last year and I hope that next year I will be closer still. It is scary to grow up and have to do things on my own, but I am not alone and never will be. I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who love me, encourage me, and will be willing to help me: my parents, my friends (yes, that's you guys!), Denise, Jon, the Dobyns, my aunt & uncle, my grandpa, my church family here and in Maryville, and many more. I am blessed and so happy to have these people in my life!!

(So this blog turned into something totally different than when it started...but that's cool!)