On Being 27
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I’m starting to understand that the older that you get the less change that you feel from year to year. I don’t feel any different than I did when I was 26. Part of that might come from my forgetting in the last couple of months how old I am. I had to stop and think on multiple occasions is I was 26 or 27. I don’t think that I have ever had that happen to me before.
Being 26 was a big deal because I realized that I was closer to 30 than I was to 20. That was a weird thought. 27 hasn’t had any implications like that so far.
As I look back on this past year of my life, the thing that really dominated was school. It seemed that I never really had a break from school, not even in the summer. Because of that I am able to graduate in a couple of months, so I am grateful. But looking back, it seems that I always had a book that I had to read or a paper to write or a test to study for. I am glad that phase of my life will be over soon. After being a student for 20 some years, I am looking forward to not being that anymore. Time to move on.
Some highlights from the past year include a medical mission trip to Tanzania, which is where I celebrated my last birthday. It is hard to believe that it has been a year since we’ve been there. We also traveled to Aruba where I became a voracious reader and finished off multiple books for my own enjoyment. Love it. We also ventured to Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins here in the great city of Orlando. Thanksgiving was in Chicago, Christmas in Dalton, and New Years and home in Mount Dora.
I think that my 26th year could be described as the year I put a million miles on my car. It seems that Stephanie and I spent more time traveling to places than we care to imagine. From traveling an hour each way to seminary everyday, to driving about 40 minutes to get to church and at least 45 minutes to see friends, the odometers on our cars have been extremely busy. They are ready for a break and so are we. We look forward to the next phase in our lives when we can be closer to our church, our jobs (which hopefully is the same thing as our church), our friends, and civilization in general. We know that God has kept us in Mount Dora for a reason, and we have enjoyed our time her, but now it is time to move on.
This past year brought its share of struggles as well. The year started off with finding out that we were pregnant, but the feeling of joy quickly turned to sorrow when we found out about the miscarriage. The week between finding out about the miscarriage and Stephanie have her procedure to have the baby removed was one of the most agonizing weeks of my life, and certainly the most agonizing week of our marriage. I don’t think that joy has so quickly turned into deep sorrow so quickly in my life. But God is faithful and true, and we were able to get pregnant fairly quickly after we were allowed to start trying again. Instead of having a baby in January which would have been difficult for us (Steph would have to go back to work immediately and I would still be in school), our first child is now due in August, after I graduate. this will allow Stephanie to stay home with Elliot, provided that I have a job. Through that whole ordeal, we were so confused as to what God was doing in our lives. When we stopped preventing getting pregnant, we felt God calling us to trust him with our lives and with the planning of our family. When we got pregnant, we thought he was calling us to be parents at that time. God has taught us much about his timing, resting in him, and allowing him to guide our steps. It has been a difficult and painful lesson, but we are placing our trust more on him every day.
This next year appears to be a big one in my life. It starts off with my graduation from Seminary. Hopefully, Lord willing, it will be followed up with starting a new job, followed by the birth of our first child. Those three events combined are enough big events for the whole year! We might have to squeeze in the sale of a house and a big move in there, if God is calling us to a different place.
Posted byMike Fennema posted 9:46 AM
