Farewell address (to teenager-dom)

Where has time gone?  How did I get to be so...aged?
A few days ago I saw the last of 19 years old, and I still haven't quite gotten over it.  I (knowing that one day it would be me) always made fun of people turning 20 because it seriously sounds like an enormous number.  I'm not a 5 year old, but I still think 20 is old.
As I thought over life and expectations this week, I realized that my story-book life didn't come true, and there aren't any re-dos in life.  Is that ok?..........


At one time I thought my chance at being a teenager was still so far in the future...just barely close enough to see if I squinted really hard and imagined a little dot on the horizon.  In my mind, that distanced fantasy dot held the answers to so many expectations.  I dreamed of myself being surrounded by friends, liked by everyone, and old enough to have a license and to graduate from the misery of high school with life still looking easier and better from there.  (I mean, aren't a license and graduation from the chains of school the leading lines to a lifetime of happiness?) 

That aforementioned dot came into full view all to soon.  In approaching my 13th birthday, I didn't feel the near dread my sister had experienced.  She didn't want to be associated with the connotations of that wild posse; I guess I felt like I'd fit right in with the group. It was time to swing the door back on its hinges and stare at my conjecture in the face.  And what I soon noticed was that I was a terrible weather forecaster. Yes, I had a few close friends who proved themselves faithful and I eventually obtained the satisfaction of a driver's license and graduation.  But life seemed to get progressively harder.  In fact, the years ahead were filled with heartbreak and realities that contradicted my ideal image.

What I didn't know ahead of time was that God would use every day of my teen years to take me from attempting to have a flawless life to being someone who came to know real love and to long for eternity.
I would've never asked for the events that came.  But when I look back on the past 7 years, I don't see sand dunes of misfortune and letdowns anymore.  I see a lot of years and situations where God proved His perfect love and goodness.  I see where He shaped me--often painfully--into a better person.  And I wouldn't give up these life lessons to have the years I originally dreamed of.  God gave me this, and it is perfect because He is perfect.

"Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments in your life.  Keep the faith.  It will all be worth it in the end."