#TheSW30 – Day 7

I regularly read The Single Woman blog and this month she is doing a 30-day blog challenge.  I knew that I wouldn’t be able to commit to blogging for all 30 days, but I wanted to at least jump on board and participate in a few of the days.  So while it’s my first day blogging during the challenge it is actually day 7.

Where you are in your life vs. where you thought you would be at this point?

Wow!  That’s a big question.  And a question I’ve definitely been thinking a lot about lately.  I think it was my 30th birthday this past March that really got me thinking about whether my life looks like I thought it would.

If you had asked the high school version of me where I would be when I was 30 I think my answer would have been pretty simple…

– I would be married and celebrating my 6th or 7th wedding anniversary

– I would have two kids

– I would have taught for four or five years and then quit to stay home with my babies

– I would be living in the same general area where I was born and raised

…but that is not where I am at in life right now.

– I am not married

– I don’t have any kids

– I taught for seven years and then quit to focus on my Thirty-One business

– I am only living about half an hour from where I was raised but I spent the first seven years after college clear across the country in Philadelphia

Just looking at those two lists on paper makes me realize that my life is completely different than I thought it would be at this point.  But is that a bad thing?

I had the opportunity to live in Philadelphia for seven years where I made some amazing friendships, had the opportunity to serve Jesus in ways I never imagined, and learned more about myself than I thought possible…and my 18-year-old self couldn’t have dreamed up that adventure if I had tried.

I started a business that allowed me to retire from teaching, introduced me to friends all over the country, gave me confidence, and lets me party for my job…my 18-year-old self couldn’t imagine that there was anything in my career future other than teaching.

I have traveled quite a bit around the country visiting friends and family, making new friends, and seeing some amazing places…my 18-year-old self couldn’t imagine spending much time outside of Southern California.

So does my life look like I thought it would at 30?  Not at all.  But I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences and opportunities for the life I imagined I would have.  That being said, I do still want many of the things I wanted when I was 18 and so I pray that even though they didn’t happen in my timing that they are still in God’s plan and will happen someday.