I’ve heard my whole teenage/young adult life that, “I have the rest of my life to get married and be settled down in one place.” Many people have discouraged the idea of getting married so young, but many people who are not in my position do not know what is going on in my head and what I feel for the man of my dreams.

I grew up with the thought that I would not meet my future husband until I was grown and had my career in full swing. It would be perfect timing and things would just flow like they do in movies. However, when I met my now fiancé, I knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. Being engaged at 21 gets a lot of strange looks and has a lot of negative connotations that go along with it. While I am finishing up my senior year and will complete my last semester as a married person does not mean that my life is over and that I am not going to have fun with my friends in college. I am not going to stop hanging out with my friends on the weekends and stay in with my husband because “we are married now.” I look forward to going on my last spring break trip with my best friends and having such an amazing relationship with my husband that he wants me to go have fun with my friends. I am blessed to have the husband that will invite my friends over to the house so that we can all hang out together. While I am excited about still being able to be as close with my friends as I was before being married.

With that being said, I look forward to waking up next to my best friend every morning for the rest of my life. I cannot imagine my life without my fiancé in it and every time I think about my future- it includes him. Yes, it could be “so much easier” waiting until graduation and having my career in full swing, but why wait? I know that this is the person that I am going to spend the rest of my life with- why would I want to wait any longer? I get to experience an amazing life starting at a young age and experience transformation during some of the best years of my life with him. I get to grow old with my person. As I start my career and he begins a new one we get to encourage each other and have someone in our corner supporting each other every step along the way.

Do not let the world tell you that you have to be a certain age to be married. Be yourself and know what will be best for you. Love your friends, love your man, and love God even more.