So I recently had another birthday. Hip, hip hooray. I am yet another year older, another year wiser… and all that people say comes with the addition of another number. The age you might ask is 27. And I am ok with being 27. I am in a completely different place than I ever imagined myself to be at this age… but I have realized – that is ok.
In walking with one my flatmates to my bowling birthday party, he asked me how it felt to be 27. And I answered quite the same as above. With the addition that turning 27 was easier than 25 or 26. He, who is only 20 replied that for him turning 20 was hard.
That made me chuckle. In that way only older people can chuckle. 20. I don’t know if I can even remember 20. Well, no, that is a lie, I remember, in a past-flashing-image-montage-sort-of-way. So I have been thinking a lot about defining moments in my life. I might not be where I thought I would be at 27 (as in married, children, house… and that whole package of adulthood) but I have done a lot of amazing things in the past 7 years of my life.
So here is a recap, for all those not present for the past 7 years of my life:
At 20, I was a Sophomore at Milligan College. Where getting the highest score on my Humanities exam was one of my top priorities. Really getting the top score in all my classes (me=dork.) Or, I just aimed to get a better mark than my friend and roommate Melissa. We had a friendly rivalry, I swear, friendly. At 20 I travelled around Europe for a whirl-wind month with a gang of my fellow Milligan students. At 20, I crazily bought a one-way ticket to Scotland to study abroad (on-my-own) at St. Andrews University. I landed a wide-eyed innocent in Glasgow, and somehow managed my way across this country, which has now years later become my home.
At 21, I turned that watershed age on the beaches of the Spanish island Lanzorate with 7 friends. I mean, how cool is that! I must admit, at 21, in St. Andrews, I also got drunk for the first time. If you are going to get drunk for the first time, I guess Scotland is the place to do it. But, being the good girl I was, I waited until the USA legal age. At 21 I returned to Milligan for my Senior year of Undergrad.
At 22 I graduated from Milligan with honors and a proud member of the National History Society- again I’m a dork did I mentioned this already. At 22, I had two heart surgeries. The second being open heart surgery. So, at 22 I spent the summer hugging a pillow walking slowly up and down the street, slowly. And, at 22 I started graduate school at Princeton Theological Seminary. At 22, I feel in love with New Jersey. (true fact. i heart jersey. no jokes.)
At 23, I moaned about Seminary more than I should have. I moaned about the PCUSA ordination process more than I should have- because in the end I made it through. And I wish I could have enjoyed both- more. Hind-sight is well, you know what they say. At 23, I worked as a Hospital Chaplain at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis. Which was the same hospital my brother was born at, and I had plastic surgery on my lip, ankle surgery, two casts for broken arms, and oh, also those two heart surgeries. Working on the other side of where you have been the injured party, was hard, interesting, challenging, and a personality shaping experience.
At 24, I continued my studies. I commuted to work in the BIG APPLE where I worked at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. I feel in love with NYC, and at times I hated it. Or, maybe I just hated the New Jersey transit. At 24, I spent my summer traveling like crazy. I went to Mexico twice as a leader on mission trips. And then I packed a bag and headed to Europe on my own for 8 weeks. I visited friends in Scotland, stayed with another friend in Switzerland, explored Prague, Budapest, Slovenia (which I recommend to EVERYONE), relaxed in Croatia, spent a week cross-culturally in Roma, Italy (with my non-English speaking family), then finished off back in London. At 24, I travelled on my own. Which was one of my life goals. And it was one of the most amazingly developmental life experiences, to date.
At 25, I freaked out a lot. I freaked out about finishing Seminary. Actually writing my senior thesis (of which I spent most of the year just collecting books for.) I freaked out about taking my ordination exams: passing some, failing one, re-taking, and (thank God) finally passing all.  I freaked out about jobs, about ordination, about life, really, anything that could be freaked out about- I did it. I even spent a few weeks contemplating being a nanny the rest of my life to avoid it all. But, at 25, I also got a job at a church in Aberdeen, Scotland. So, at 25, I graduated from Princeton, packed up my life and moved back to Scotland.
At 26, I attempted to continue surviving in this country. 26 gave me many ups and many downs. I struggled with still being single, and on top of that living in a foreign land. I spent a lot of time walking, thinking, praying, reflecting, and processing what this thing called “God’s calling” was in my life. I also travelled to India to visit friends, rode elephants, visited the breath-taking Taj and ate some great food. At 26, I escaped home to the states twice and celebrate the beautiful unions of my cousin, my best-friend, and my dear ex-flatmate as they all got hitched to fantastic people. At 26, I finally made my way to the Isle of Skye, after almost 3 years in Scotland, I had not seen any islands. Well, that was a major check.
And now, I am 27. I leave tomorrow for trip to Spain for a week. And, even when I complain, I live in Scotland. That is pretty amazing and fantastic.
So, yes. I am still single. Yes, I don’t know when marriage and babies will come into my life. But, the pain of not having those things does not sting as bad when I look at all I have been able to do in the last 7 years of my life. And now the future is before me… and I am ready to welcome it with open arms.
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