I'm not dead yet...

A few nights ago, I went to dinner at the Raven restaurant with a friend.
The server comes up and asks, "Have you been here before?"

I said, "yes... I even worked here before".
She then asked the worst question in the world.

"Really... When?"

As I thought back, I realized it was when I was 15. That was 22 years ago.

Ugh.

Is it possible that I'm that old? What happened? I don't feel old. It's like someone put me into cryogenic stasis and I've recently woken up.
I remember it all, but it's more like a book report than a memory.

Memories are weird things. I mean, I can't remember which elementary school I went to, but I remember the girl who almost threw up on me at a party.
I don't remember the names of the kids in my high school (maybe a few) but I vividly remember what it felt like when I first learned to ride a bike.

I don't remember my first girlfriend's face, but I remember the terror of meeting my first bully in Florida.

Where am I going with this? I have no idea.

Oh yeah... Old.
Am I old? What is old? I'm 37 years old. For a head of lettuce, I'm ancient. For a tree, I'm still pretty young. For a mountain, I have not even begun in my years.

For a man, I think I'm just right.

In fact, I think I'm having more fun now than when I was a kid.
When I was a kid, I always had people telling me I couldn't do this or that.
Now that I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions and live with the consequences.

Like that stupid bike ramp. Yeah. That wasn't so smart.
But I did it. My son got to see first hand why you don't jump a hardtail mountain bike on a wet street.

I think that's why my mom always told me "no". She was afraid I'd hurt myself.
She was right, but sometimes you have to get hurt to truly learn.

Maybe that's one of the keys to life. Some things you just have to experience for yourself.

Epiphany time!!!

Yeah... I'm sure of it. That's probably the main key to life. You ready for it?

God could have created us and just put us all in Heaven to worship & adore him and love one another all the day long. But we would never truly understood the depths of His love for us.

God put us down here on Earth so we could experience the contrasts of:
Pain - So we'd understand comfort
Suffering - So we'd understand healing
Hate - So we'd recognize love
Anger - So we'd understand joy
Jealousy - So we'd learn to trust
War - So we would appreciate & long for peace
Fear - So we would overcome it and become brave

He also sent down His own Son to prove it could be done.

Wow... where did that come from? What just happened?

So I guess it's good that I'm old. I have experienced a lot. Hopefully, there are more experiences on the way!!!