Leaving the 20s Behind

It was the best birthday present I could have asked for at the time--in the middle of a 10-day choir tour from Iowa to California and back, my parents, brother and sister flew down from Washington to catch the Dordt Choir's Mar. 15 concert in San Jose.

As luck would have it, the better part of the day leading up to the concert was a free-day.

So, I spent a brief but wonderful couple of hours with my family in and around San Francisco--it was tough to say goodbye after the concert.

That was how I started my 20s--on a journey, far from home.  I had no idea at the time just how much further my 20s would carry me from the town I grew up in and from the family I grew up with.

Two years later, I celebrated my 22nd birthday on another Spring choir tour, somewhere between Iowa and New York City.

My 23rd birthday, I celebrated in Tokyo, having arrived only a couple months earlier.

I celebrated my 24th birthday in Thailand, accompanying the CAJ Senior class of 2010 on their service trip as a chaperon.

The rest, I've celebrated at home in Japan.

Yes--at home in Japan.  No matter where my 30s may take me, Japan has been the home of my 20s.
I sometimes tell friends that I have no idea what it means to be an adult in the U.S.--I'm not kidding!  I would have to learn so much that I'm sure my stateside friends and family take for granted.

On the flip side, I cannot think of a better place to have spent my 20s, growing from a just-out-of-college kid to an adult.
There were moments of doubt, to be sure, but there were even more moments that affirmed I was in the right place, following the right calling.
There were lonely evenings, to be sure, but there were also plenty of adventures with friends.
There was heartbreak, to be sure, but there was also the moment I exchanged vows with my wife and started a new Gibson family.

My 20s were wonderful and I am grateful for God's faithfulness.  As I leave behind my 20s and enter my 30s (the decade from which I will emerge "at the top of the hill"), I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me!