Welcome to Adulthood, Population: Me (+ a few billion others)

A lot of days, I don't feel like much of an adult.  Sure I have things like a kid, and a mortgage, and a really awesome corner office, all to myself.  But I also do thinks like eat Milk Duds (and nothing else) for lunch, or just wear whatever old skirt and shirt combo that was initially bought because it fit my Christian high school's dress code.  (If you've met me more than once, it's likely that you've seen me in clothing that's almost a decade old.)

So there's a lot of times when I feel only like a pseudo-grown-up. I have this mythical image in my head of a "real" grown-up being someone who can change the oil in their car, or make a casserole from scratch, or knows how to get stains out of things using club soda. ("Real" grown-ups are also people who own club soda, presumably for the express purpose of getting stains out of things.)

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Wendy in Neverland

When you're young, growing up is something to be alternately desired and feared.  Growing up means getting to do what you want, and no one bossing you around.  Growing up means being old and boring and never going to concerts anymore.

Of course, we all know that growing up isn't the same as hitting level 85 in World of Warcraft.  No beams of light shoot out of your body, and no one hands you a gold medal that reads "Unlocked Achievement:  Adulthood".  No, one day you're just going about your business, thinking really hard about how ordering a pizza for dinner would be nice, but then you remind yourself that you still have to make the car payment next week.  All of a sudden it hits you that you're making this decision because you're a grown-up, someone with a job and responsibilities.

You try to think back, but you can't remember the exact moment when you became a grown-up, because you've been so busy with all the things that being a grown-up entails.  When did it happen?  Was it when you got your first apartment?  When you got married?  Bought your first house?  Became a parent?  Then you start panicking, thinking things like, "HOW DID I HAVE A KID AND I DON'T EVEN REALIZE I'M A GROWN-UP?  WHO LET ME HAVE A KID?  HOW IS SOMEONE WHO CAN'T MAKE HAMBURGER HELPER ALLOWED TO BE A MOM?"

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Letting your kids leave Nazareth.

"And Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'" ~ John 1:46

Even in the happiest and most close-knit of families, there comes times when everyone dreads a big family get-together. Because there seems to be one thing that families everywhere are guilty of.

Not letting each other change.

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