A Pondering of Time After Time

I am 21.

I am one year away from graduating college.
I am one year away from the entering the "real world."
My heart sinks and leaps at thinking of these two facts.

I am growing.
I am living.
However, time is not stopping.

Lately, I have been reminded of past high school memories. I remember the people that have made up the years gone by. I remember the crushes. The love I thought I felt. The deep conversations. The short moments of my life I shared with someone I may never see again. I wonder what their face looks like now. The next dance. Next Friday's game. The innocence. The guilt. The regret. The forgiveness. The jammed lockers. The dreams.The passion and drive. The hopes of making life the best it could be. The drama. The gossip. The wonder of tomorrow. Pain was right around the corner as it is today. Hope was always tomorrows tendency. I wonder where those people are now.

Would they recognize me?
Would I recognize them?

We all felt those things. We fought for them. We lost the fight. Our parents were always right.

Friend -- wherever you are -- I hope you're doing great and the life you are living is everything you want it to be. I pray for you tonight. I pray God breathes fresh air into your lungs. I pray you see Him tomorrow when you run your errands. I pray you see Him when you look at your kid. I pray you look at the life you see before you and be the change you hope to see in the world. I hope you're not scared of running the opposite way. I hope you see the light that shines on the open road. I hope you know God is always with you.

I guess what brings these thoughts and feelings lately is the sense that I'm growing up. I've never felt more like a grown up these past few months. Traveling to NYC by myself began these feelings. Now, I am wrestling with an opportunity I have been given this summer. I have entered into a new world that is unfamiliar. I am not surrounded by the people that have surrounded my life for the years leading up to this moment. I am finding new faces and new hands to shake. I am asking new people the question, "How are you?"

Kinda weird...
Kinda exciting...

Life is in the rear view mirror.
Tomorrow is waiting for me
My alarm is going off.
I'm awake.