Twenty in Twenty

Climbed to the top of the Eiffel tower (and stole a bunch of Eiffel tower pencils from this basket)
walked through the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa (much smaller than I would have thought)
Listened to some lady sing opera at notre dame
took the elevator to the top of the empire state building
(theres a gumball machine right next to the elevator cause your ears pop so much.
road a ferry to the statue of liberty
walked through George Washington's house
shopped at the mall of America (didn't buy anything but some pizza though)
saw U2 in concert on the last stop of their Vertigo tour (it was a weird show)
Swam in Hawaii
Watched planes fly over pearl harbor on Pearl Harbor day
Watched a Broadway play in new york
chewed the same piece of gum for a week (don't judge me)
caught a ball at a major league baseball game (with my brothers hat)
drank beer in Germany
ate cheese in Switzerland
switched drivers in a moving vehicle (true story. it was scary)
Tried on $1500 shoes at Saks Fifth Avenue
Watched all 3 Lord of the Rings extended editions in one sitting (wanted to hang myself though)
Been in a car crash (resulted in staples in the head)
Been to Disneyland several times
Etc. Etc.

Whats with the list high-lighting all the exciting experiences I've had and throwing in your face the fact that someone, somewhere obviously had some money? Well because I turned 20 today and that was the list of "memorable" things I could come up that I've done in the last 20 years. And I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out, but the point is that by most people's standards I've already lived a really full life. I mean I've done all things, been all those places, seen all those landmarks, and I'm just 20. But the thing about all that stuff is that a lot of it I can barely even remember and the stuff on that list that I do remember seems to be having very little effect on my actual character and the work I can do for the kingdom.

Today after church we were talking and a friend said, "it doesn't matter if you have a great plan for your life, if its not God's plan for your life then you're wasting your time".

Word.

And we were created by God so if we really want joy in our lives, it makes sense that we would need to care about the things God cares about. And God cares about people. But even more, God cares about peoples' hearts. And so I really need to start caring more about peoples' hearts. And not their hearts in relation to how they feel about me. But just pure unadulterated love for people regardless of how they relate to me.

So I've got that list, and those were all great things, and God blessed me in getting to see those things and watch those things and climb those things, and I've got a lot of name/place dropping I can do now I guess ("oh you mean the summer I spent in France? ah yes, just delightful!") But I'm really more than anything praying that from twenty on, I would care about God's plan for my life rather than my own, and that I would have people along side me that will make sure I'm caring about God's plan for my life, and that call me out when I'm not... even if the plan I came up with looks pretty decent. And that I would love more and love well.

And thats the plan :)