Grown Up?

What, in your opinion, defines “grown up”? I think about this quite a bit, as there are many days when I don’t know if I have even grown up yet! Does it mean that we have evolved past high school issues, or is that even possible? So many times I find myself overwhelmed with grown up decisions that I need to make. I also have to live with the grown up choices that I made when I was really young. Dealing with the consequences of these choices is what I think being a grown up is. Seeing them, and the choices we have to make, define us…and make us grow as human beings.

There are many days when I want to avoid being a grown up. Unfortunately I can’t wallow in that for long. On the flip side I should say “fortunately”, as wallowing doesn’t help anyone, certainly doesn’t help deal with my issues. It just makes them bigger and often too big to overcome. I have made choices, and the biggest ones are 1) who I married and 2) those that I brought into this world. Because of these responsibilities I don’t have the luxury of behaving like a non-grown up. Life can be hard.

Sometimes we don’t have physical choices that we can make. But we can choose to look into ourselves and see what we are doing to contribute to the issue. Do we look for the silver linings, or do we just see the dark clouds? Do we see the rainbows, or the rain? Do we see the dimples in our children, or do we just see a burden? Do we see work as a huge barrier to the life we want, or do we see it as an opportunity to make new friends and be the light of Christ in this dark world?

We aren’t promised an easy life. But we are promised help in times of trouble. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you…”. He does care…we just don’t believe it, and we want someone to blame for our issues. When we understand that life is a journey for growing up, then we can see it each step of the way. We can rest in Him. Talking to Him just occasionally doesn’t make any difference in the long term. Taking every day to pursue His presence and asking Him for strength for just one more day, this is what I find works.

Every day with Jesus by your side will make the world of difference…and will help you make those grown up decisions, even when you don’t have the strength or the ability to do it on your own.