Growing old...

So, a lot has happened as of late that has made me realize and has made reality set in on the fact that I am getting older... For starters... I'm Married! What the heck?! That's so weird and awesome! Not only am I married, but I am a full year into my marriage. Crazy!

A couple weeks ago the Casey's, R.I.P., moved away from Joplin. This was a huge deal because Lauren and I were closer to them than any other couple in Joplin. They were the first people that we were really close to that moved away because of a job... :-( We miss them dearly and await the day they return to visit!

After returning from a men's trip to Colorado I realized that I was looking forward to getting back to life - aside from the two shifts that I have now cut down to at Home Depot. The rest of my time will be spent either working at the church (which will one day be my full time job) or with the afore mentioned wife. It's odd to think that I am already mostly in the position which I will hold for many years - a full time vocational pastor. No only this, but I will not be returning to school in the fall.

Today I put Lauren's MO license plates on her jeep... We are now officially official residents of Webb City I believe. We both have MO licenses and plates. I witnessed a car making a U-turn today and my mind raced back to four years ago. When the afore mentioned Josh Casey and I prowled the streets of Joplin as Freshmen at OCC. I thought about the many, many (many) U-turns that we made as we were learning the town of Joplin. As I mentioned to Lauren earlier, I never even imagined back in those days that I would one day be a resident of this town. And yet, now my heart breaks for this town and the people that live here. I so badly want to see them reached and to show them the love of Christ.

I don't know... I guess growing up isn't so bad... I will not miss school at all. I am certainly not looking forward to the day that another dear friend must move away, or myself and Lauren move. But I guess it happens to all of us, this growing old thing. It's just a question as to whether we accept it and grow with it, or refuse to grow and stay stuck in the past.