In my opinion, having a summer birthday is irrefutably the best set up one could ask for. My birthday is never overshadowed by another holiday. I have the option to take vacations because there’s no school, and I get presents every six months. As January rolls around, I’ve been thinking about all that I’ve learned in the past six months of my life.

I’ve had many ups and downs so far in my twentieth year. I turned twenty smack in the middle of a summer training program I attended in Tennessee. I my family was able to visit me the week of my birthday and I got to spend time with them. I was surrounded by 130 new and important friends. I was surprised with many sweets by many people. I was loved extra that day. It was a good day.

Fast-forward about three months, and the days were not as good. I was having a major rough patch. It felt like every time I did something, a huge wall was slammed in my face. I was frustrated with the way the semester was going. I was feeling alone and stressed and weighed down. I wanted to know why these things were happening to me. What did I do to piss God off? Was I doomed to have the rest of my year be like this? I had constant questions like these running through my mind. I wasn’t too sure what the rest of the semester would hold for me- I was apprehensive.

However, as things do, the rough season began to lighten up and I found my way back to normal life. I began to be more excited about the things I was involved in, and I looked forward to each day, wondering what it would hold in store for me. In both the happy times and the sad times, my twentieth year has already been a great teacher. I have relearned how to have patience. I have been shown what true, God-centered friendship looks like. I’ve learned how to lean on God in the bad times, and not just trust Him in fair weather only.

As I head into a semester that is sure to be bursting at the seams, what with fifteen credits versus my normal twelve, a possible internship, leading a Bible study, discipling a girl and being discipled myself, I’m sure to have very little free time. Not even mentioning a healthy social life, gym, sleep, homework, and church, church I am going to be running around like crazy There is sure to be bad times, whether I’m not doing so well in a class or whether I’m having friend issues, there will be hard times. But I am thankful for the good times that I am able to look back on when things get rough.

I am excited for everything I still have to learn about being twenty. I am heading into the coming six months with my head held high and with my steps purposeful. I am ready for whatever life is going to throw at me, because I’ve got God on my side, and I’ve already proven I could make it halfway, what’s another six months?