All growed up....

I remember when a good Saturday morning entailed nothing more than waking up, grabbing a bowl of Cap'n Crunch, curling up on the couch and watching a rousing half hour of power rangers, followed by Rugrats, then Doug, then Hey Arnold, then Catdog, and my PBS favorite Arthur. It was in those times I was convinced Heaven invaded earth through a tv screen. Nothing could ever get better then me, my tv, my cereal and my couch. That was until the chore bell rang. And when the first words out of my mothers mouth was "Who didn't clean their room?" I suddenly knew that Heaven had came and slipped so easily through my fingertips with the turning on and off of a little button that my parents controlled. And it was then that reality set in for a little 10 year old girl. There were bigger things to be dealt with then what to watch during commercial break. There were things like cleaning your room, feeding the dog, finishing homework and maintaining peace amongst my age group of kids in the neighborhood. It was a large world when I was just 10 and the beauty of it all was that I still believed that I could do something to change it.

Now Saturdays are a little more complicated. 10 short years later and I find myself all "growed up". Now on Saturday mornings I worry about waking up early, not for cartoons but for a 600am shift at work. I no longer have Cap'n Crunch, just four shots of coffee to get me going. I do chores still but cleaning my room is at the bottom of a very long list. I still do home work, but college is a little harder than lifepacs. And the one relief is I don't have to worry about neighborhood peace anymore as all my little buddies moved away, now I just have to worry about peace in everyones lives, all around me, everyday. And tomorrow, well tomorrow one of my best friends gets married. Only ten short years ago we were afraid of boys...running away screaming "Cooties, Cooties!!!" And now we are running towards them singing "Cuties, Cuties!" Well Elise is getting married and I am officially feeling like my cartoon watching days are over. Its a sad day when you realize those are gone. I may, in my stubborness, try to hold on to them until I get married and absolutely HAVE to lay them down...we will see. :) But when you see a chidhood friend, a best friend, marry another guy, well it just makes me realize that times goes fast. Seasons in our life go really fast. Friendships come and go and change. People are added, people are taken away. Desires and dreams change. Responsibilities change. But even with all of that...life just gets better. I think I am happier now than when I was 10. I was definitely innocent back then but now I am just happy to be living this life. I am happy to be surrounded with all the people I am surrounded with. I am happy for my friends..and those few who have been with me through it all and those few who I know who will be with me forever. I am grateful for all the experiences. I am grateful for what is yet to come. I am only twenty. Two decades old. I have got a long ways left to go. I have a family of my own to begin one day, a dream to fulfill and hundreds of lives to breathe Gods breath into. I know one thing for sure...I am more excited about life nowthen I was when I was ten. I have a great anticipation and expectation for the rest of the journey. And you know what? I still believe I can do something to change this world.