The Curse of the 20 Somethings

In one of my favorite episodes of Sex and the City, Carrie writes about twenty-something girls and compares/contrasts them to thirty-something girls.  But what is it about being twenty-something really?  When I was in middle school and high school, I always pictured myself at 25.  I thought that when I was 25, I would be married, with a good job, and somewhat settled, maybe thinking about having children.  Am I anywhere near any of these things?  Eh, I guess I am slowly getting there, and I definitely still hope for some these things.  What I have learned to embrace is that being twenty-something is about dreaming, day dreaming, and making things happen.  It is also about taking huge leaps of faith every now and then, never knowing what is around the next turn.  It is also about making mistakes and learning from them.  It is a time of constant growing and learning, and hoping.  So now that I am actually 25, where do I find myself?  I have met and am with the love of my life, I am on the brink of possibly having the job I have been hoping for: as a pastor, I am about to graduate with a masters degree, and my family is doing well.  I have some good friends and good memories, and I have a lot to look forward to.  A curse of being 20 something is that we always hope and wish for more and we do not have all of the answers, and we probably never will.  Another curse is that we twenty-something women find ourselves in-between childhood and adulthood.  We don't really seem to fit anywhere.  Most of us girls want to get married, and some of us cannot wait to start having children, myself excluded (will my maternal instincts ever kick in?!).  Are we growing up too fast?  Are we not taking the time to stop and breathe?  Maybe....but  I have reached the point where I am ready to begin my life, while appreciating the life I have already lived.  I am ready for my life to begin.  I am ready to settle down with the man I love, begin a life of serving God and the church, and ready for a change of pace, a change in location, and of course, I can't wait to adopt a dog! So this is me, embracing my possibly stereotypical twenty-something life, ready and waiting for life to begin, and being nostalgic about what is in the past.  Here is to dreaming, hoping, and embracing the future, long into my twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety (?) somethings....