::Flying time::

OK.

Lemme tell ya, it's a really weird feeling when you watch one of your closest friends from high school (well, from 6th grade to be exact!) stand at the end of the aisle, gazing at his bride, completely in love and completely ready to make a sacred covenant with her and His God.

As I watched him stand there, tall, broad, and handsome in his tux, a few thoughts flashed through my mind.


The first being:

"... When did Daniel grow up?"

Honestly.
What happened to the little boy with glasses and a GPA of 6.9 who constantly cracked jokes non-stop? What happened to the little boy that I poured chocolate milk on all over in the middle of Mr. Leaf's 6th grade class? What happened to the little boy who I had house TPing wars with? What happened to the little boy who had a huge crush on our mutual best friend, and who I'd prank call at 11 pm and accidentally wake up his mom? What happened to the little boy who made fun of me relentlessly after I spilled orange soda on his new white carpet and tried to clean the stain with water and a red napkin? What happened to the little boy who called me sophomore year, after seeing how I was really down in the dumps for a week, and pushed me closer to God and helped me find my new "identity?" What happened to the little boy who was obsessed with guitar, basketball, God, and always said things like "Via Email" And "Spice it up a notch?"

*sigh*

Ok. After his wedding, I can honestly say I felt strangely... old. Ah.

Where did the time go? Am I really hitting the age where my peers are starting to get hitched? A few other friends who I graduated with, Mark and Wes, met me for coffee after Daniels wedding and they felt the same way: totally strange and totally old.

It's that day, June 7th, 2008 (06/07/08 if you will.) that I decided I didn't wanna grow up as much and as fast as I thought I wanted to.

Being at Daniels wedding was awesome and all, but it was also kinda sad for me. Watching him stand there, now grown into a real man, ready to provide for his bride, handsome, in love... was totally eye-opening. It's been amazing to see my dear friend grow and develop into the Man after God's own heart that he is today, but I honestly miss the old Daniel. The Daniel I could call whenever and he'd come and help me.
I mean, it's not like he's dead or anything. But he's married now, and just like I probably wouldn't like my husbands old "girl/friends" calling him every weekend to hang out... I'm sure his bride feels the same way. I totally respect that. But the fact that I respect that, doesn't make me miss the old days of just hanging out, me and my friend....

Time flies. No doubt about it. And with that said, I decided I'm not going to be so obsessed with my wedding day and for the future and what not. Don't get me wrong, I'm still stoked out of my mind to find my prince and marry the man of my dreams! I'm still going to pray for him non-stop and write letters to him and probably day-dream about him all the time... :)

But on the same token, I'm going to enjoy my life now, as a young unwed girl. I'm going to take these next few years to become fully alive in God. I'm going to stop wishing my life away into the future and seek all that God has for me today. I'm going to dream big and try to mesh my dreams into His dreams for my life. I'm going to enjoy this time with my friends and grow & cherish my relationships with both guys and girls. I'm going to cover my future husband and kids in prayer, trusting God that He holds that part of my life in His hands, and will make all of it happen in His beautiful, perfect timing. :)

Don't rush it. Live each day. And as they said in one of my favorite new movies, Kung Foo Panda:

"Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the 'present.'"

:)

________________________________________________________
- Listening: Coldplay - "Viva la Vida" & "Violet Hill" (Good stuff.)
- Reading: "Pursuit of Man" - AW Tozer... (given to me by my dear friend Mark for my birthday.) :) :::: Romans.