20 Years Now

Twenty years now Where'd they go? Twenty years I don't know Sit and I wonder sometimes Where they've gone

Those words from the Bob Seger song will probably run through my head all day.

I’m 38 today. I was just a few weeks into my senior year of high school when my 18th ticked by. It really does seem to have gone by in the blink of an eye.

My life is certainly not what I’d thought it would be then. My plan was to be a Veterinarian or Biologist, live on a boat with an exotic pet, drive a Ferrari (yes, I did watch a lot of Miami Vice as a teen) and have adventures which were a cross between Indiana Jones and Marlin Perkins. I also intended to remain a bachelor. Ah, youth.

Instead I’m a computer programmer (I embraced my nerdhood), have a nice home in the country, drive a Mustang Cobra (among other toys) and my adventures are much tamer. I also married a wonderful woman and we had our first child last year. All this would be a total shock to the 18 year old me yet I wouldn’t change a thing.

I have saved the most important point for last. As I look back across the past 20 years I’ve had good times and bad. I came to realize just a few years ago that things have always gotten better the closer my relationship with God has been. So if you find yourself reflecting on your situation in life and you’re less than pleased examine your own relationship with Him and apply any needed correction. He will bless you beyond your wildest dreams even if you aren’t aware at the time what those dreams should be.