Why Grown-Ups are Liars

My favorite kind of grown-ups are the ones that never do. 

I remember being a child and every adult telling me to dream as big as I could, teaching me nothing is impossible with God, and reminding me to never settle for anything or anyone.

But now, as I've gotten older and started to make some pretty big life determining choices, those same adults have shifted their message. Let me give you some examples of the phrases I now commonly hear from them:

"Oh, I remember having that much passion about life when I was your age, then I got married and had kids". (insert smiling face but extreme teeth gritting)

" Ahhh youth is such a sweet time to think you can change the world". (insert bubbling up anger)

"Well enjoy when he tells you that you're pretty now, because once you're married it'll stop". (insert
  discouraged heart)

"Honey, you really need to start dating soon if you ever want to be married." (aw thanks, you can date my fist as it slams into your face)

"Keep spreading that love before the world taints it and takes it from you with reality". (insert a lovely variety of cuss words on the tip of my tongue)

"Enjoy being young while you think anything is possible and everything is easy." (ummmmm okay bye)

"Your dreams are so cute! But eventually you're gonna have to grow up". (insert an actual kick to the groin... not really but it got close)


These are all literal things people have all told me....and OFTEN! The theme is always similar:

Once you grow up, your passion for life dies and splatters all over the concrete with paying bills and working behind a desk, your dreams shrink down to the size and ambition of a microscopic bug, your spouse becomes bored with you, adventures aren't possible past a certain age, when you're young everything is easy and perfect, and your ability to make a difference just turns into vapor which is sucked into this miserable and hopeless universe.

Well alright, YAY! Thanks for giving me SO much to look forward to with that wonderful dose of what you deem as "reality". Although their intentions are probably never malicious or terrible, it really started to discourage me. I started to wonder how long MY ticking time bomb would last before I would become boring, miserable, and unable to change anything big or small about the world.
But it didn't sit right with me. Something about what they said simply did NOT register in my heart.

Are there parts about "growing up" that suck? UM YEAH. Paying bills, paying for an oil change, paperwork (which is my LEAST favorite), buying your own groceries, working long hours to make rent, etc. But does that mean you also have to stop dreaming big, loving like crazy, or having adventures? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

It's like people think as they grow older, their faith also needs to do so. Let's look at some people in the Bible who God did some crazy things through...

How about Noah who trusted God enough to look insane to the world and build a massive boat and put a giant zoo inside when he was 600 years old?

Or how about Sarah and Abraham who were 100 years old when God fulfilled His promise to them for a baby?

Many of your brains are thinking: "but that was back then... that kind of stuff doesn't happen anymore."

Well, although I would disagree because the God who did those things back THEN is just as powerful as the God we serve NOW, how about I give you a modern day example?

Bob Goff has white hair and gray whiskers on his chin. He's definitely not a youthful, naive, irrationally lost teenager. But He knows He serves an irrational God. So, he frees Ugandan teens from prison who were unjustly thrown in, and created a school for them so they can find hope and a future. You should really read his book, Love Does, because aside from being a world changer, he loves people in little ways everyday and changes their worlds.

Not saying that the dream of another needs to also be your dream. But I think far too often we forfeit our dreams for much smaller ones because it's easier to settle than it is to wait, sacrifice, and work for it. 

I think because most grown-ups have accepted these cultural standards of "reality", they think themselves to simply be doing the youth a service by preparing them for what is to come. Who says their reality has to be your reality? I serve a God bigger than reality. I serve a God who does the impossible, even at 100 years old. I serve a huge God who gives His people huge dreams.

Your life is yours. You don't have to listen to culture's rules. You don't have to settle for the first man or woman who comes along, you don't have to dream smaller,  you don't have to follow the typical American journey to "success", or do everything possible for a comfortable paycheck. Because honestly, the grown-ups who have settled, are generally the ones who speak those things to me. And they are usually the most unhappy. I don't mean to speak ill of anyone who talks this way, I just hope you don't believe them.

Because you were made for more than settling, and you have far more potential than culture would like you know about. Because when FAITH is your reality, you CAN change the world; no matter how old you are, how many kids you have, and no matter how much the world tries to convince you it's irrational. 

I've seen SO many people put their dreams and passions on hold so they could get comfortable FIRST. But once they settled, so did their dreams. They really started to believe their youthful thoughts were just thoughts and never capable of anything greater. How much different could our lives look if we worked hard and patiently for our purpose rather than settling for an easy and stereotypical one?

The Bible tells us to come to the Father like a child for this very reason. Because children DO believe anything is possible --because they know they are relentlessly and unconditionally loved by their parents. They know they are believed in. If we can approach Jesus this same way, we'll never grow up.

When did age, income, the number of kids you have, location, or experience EVER stop Jesus from doing a miracle? Never. In fact, the greater odds against him, the greater miracle He displayed.

Start listening to what Jesus says is possible instead of what the world says is impossible. Stop believing the lie that settling is required. Everyone is different, everyones' dreams are different, everyones' destiny is different, everyones' calling is different. But every single one of them is important because they are a puzzle piece in God's story. What's yours? Who told you it was irrational? Who taught you it couldn't come to life? Prove culture wrong. Prove to grown-ups everywhere that God is way bigger than reality, and that nothing is impossible with  f a i t h .

-Han

Luke 18:17: "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Psalm 116: 6 The LORD protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and then he saved me. 7 Now I can rest again, for the LORD has been so good to me. 8 He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 9 And so I walk in the LORD's presence as I live here on earth!