No longer a Tween!!!
Tolkien's Hobbit world, in which I wish I was living in, as of today, having crossed over my 33rd year, I would no longer be considered a Tween. Between ages 20 and 33, the Hobbits were considered to be in their "irresponsible twenties" - the tweens.
Ironically, I have done more irresponsible things in my 32nd year than the prior ones, quit my job to go back to school, grown long hair to name a couple. However, the truth is, the seemingly irresponsible things which I did are really adventures setting up the next stage of my life.
After 10 years in the field of Software, I got God's call to go take care of His sheep by being in a preaching/teaching ministry. So I quit my job last October. I stopped getting haricuts because I figured I can be more generous with the books I bought if I save spending money on hair-cutters by having long hair. Besides, the best time to let down your hair a bit is when you are a student anyways.
All this to say, that the seemingly irresponsible things I have done is but a part of being in a bigger adventure. In Tolkien's book 'The Hobbit', when Bilbo left his safe Shire to go, with Gandalf and the Dwarves, on what his Shireites would have considered an irresponsible errand, he really was embarking on a adventure. Every time Bilbo went through a rough patch in his adventure, Tolkien says that Bilbo would wish he had been in his home in Shire sipping tea and eating cake by the warm fire place. Over the past year, there have been rough patches where I have wished that I had the security of a good job. But the journey goes on and God has been immensely faithful to me.
Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took one. God has brought me so far on this road has helped me do so many things I would never have imagined to have been able to do. I am immensely grateful for His grace and presence being with me. I pray that God will help me be faithful to Him through the rest of the journey.