Thank You to My Family For My 20s

I have mixed feelings about turning 30 this week. A bit anxious to enter a new decade... but also excited to be entering a new decade. It's weird because leaving your teens felt great, like you're finally going to be able to drink and enjoy the adult things. And then I did that for 10 years... and now there is 30.

I think I feel anxious though about leaving my 20s because in your 20s you feel safe (not emotionally. emotionally it's a hot mess). But it's an age where your naiveness is excusable enough to still make mistakes. You're still young enough to do crazy things and "waste time" chasing dreams because you're still in your 20s and it's socially acceptable. But thirty? oh man. It feels like it's time to buckle down and be a real adult.

And so two weeks ago, I was sitting at a bar talking to a friend, kind of freaking out about turning 30. You know, because I got no job. No "home". No cash flow. No partner. 10 years ago me definitely thought I would NOT be in the same place 10 years later lolololol.

And then my friend said something so true.  He said, "You're lucky to be turning 30."

Damn.
(If you're in your 20s, my life advice to you is to get yo-self some wise friends)

And he is right. I am very lucky to be turning 30 this week. In fact, I have survived my 20s because of some seriously special people who also happened to influence and shape the decisions I've made throughout the last 10 years. Without them, I would 200% be lying in a ditch, crying 24/7, not even a hot mess but just a walking natural disaster.

Basically what I would be like right now if it weren't for my fam.

To my parents: Thank you mom and dad for trusting and believing in me. Thank you for being so cool and not over bearing when it came to my travel decisions and career choices. Each step you allowed me to take outside of the country, outside of my comfort zone, it made me more confident in my abilities as a woman. Thank you for allowing me to pursue my dreams and then supporting me when I decided to let some of those dreams go and start new ones. But mostly, thank you for showing me what sacrificial love looks like.

To my two sisters: Thank you for leading me throughout my 20s (and basically my whole life). For setting example after example, babying me just enough to let me know I am loved, but also letting me grow into my own person. Thank you for showing me what it looks like to trust God so gracefully through all the things life throws at you and for showing me that it's possible to be both a career woman and a mother. Thank you for literally supporting me through times of unemployment, for all the career and life advice, and for keeping me in check. Without you two, I would probably be making reckless life choices ;)

To my brother-in-laws: Thank you for being the older brothers I never had. But most importantly for showing me what a husband looks like, what it means to raise a family, and what it means to trust God while leading a family. It shaped how I looked at dating in my 20s and what I look for in a future husband. Thank you for always having my back and for lovingly taking me in when I needed a home to figure things out.

It's weird to say goodbye to my 20s. I feel the same in a lot of ways, but I also know that the ups and downs over the last 10 years have changed me. It's given me different desires and perspectives and a deeper intimacy with God.

So yes, I'm a little anxious to be turning 30, but I know it's going to be good because these 6 people got my back. Thank you!