my name is jonathan carone, and i’m a terrible blog writer.

you see, i haven’t written anything on here in quite a long time. i’ve wanted to, but by the end of the day, i’m too tired after my bible study to write. i told nicole on sunday that i was going to write something every day this week. i had even planned out what i was going to write but ended up not doing it.

i wanted to.

i just didn’t.

but now i am so hopefully you don’t hate me too bad.

——-

i’m 24 now. that happened yesterday. it feels sort of weird to say that. i think 24 sounds like an age that is much more adult than 23. i guess it’s because bands like jimmy eat world and blink 182 had songs about being 23 and the only thing i know about being 24 is that you have to have a job. either way, without anything changing, i feel much more like i have to be an adult now than i did at this time two days ago.

when you’re 23, people expect you to be finishing up school, trying to find a job, putting off growing up completely at least a little bit, and a few other things. add a year to that, and at 24, people expect you to be done with school, to have the job, and to be looking toward the “adult” future instead of clinging to the “college kid” past.

strangely enough, not only do people expect that, but i’m noticing myself expecting that too.

one of the things that i do, and i suppose most people do, is to look back at the last year and forward to the next one every year at my birthday. to me, it just seems natural. like a good quarterback, you review the previous game tape and formulate a game plan for the next game. in this case, i’m reviewing the last year to come up with goals for the next one.

the year of being 23 was ultimately a good one although it started off terribly. two days before my birthday was when my grandpa had his stroke. for months i expected a phone call with terrible news. instead, he called me today from his cell phone and sang me happy birthday.

in the year of being 23, i moved over from working for liberty football to working for liberty athletics. i had more responsibilities, more of a time commitment, and more opportunities to do some cool things. i flew in a plane for the very first time (and second time) while working for them. i got to be on the field at wvu for liberty’s game against them. i got to tour facility after facility in the name of “work.” i was able to sit on the court in an ncaa tournament game on espn in one of the nation’s most historic gyms. ultimately, i was able to enhance the fan experience for a ton of liberty fans and that’s all i’ve wanted to do since i got there.

in the year of being 23, i graduated. again. this time i graduated from seminary. no, it wasn’t a masters of divinity or any of the special seminary degrees, but it was still as master’s degree from seminary. it was the piece of paper that i could look at that showed that i finally submitted to god and started doing what he wanted me to do.

in the year of being 23, i got my first job in a church. if the degree was the physical piece of paper to look at, the job was the tangible experience to show it. before getting that job, i had absolutely no experience working in a church or working in student ministry. truth be told, many of our current volunteer leaders have been working in student ministry much, much longer than i’d even considered it.

in the year of being 23, and this is probably my favorite one, i fell in love with an amazing girl. our story is awesome (like the fact that we went out three years ago and i was a jerk and never called for a second date even though i had a ton of fun on the first one). things haven’t been pretty all the time and we’ve had our struggles, but i wouldn’t trade any of it for anything.

the year of being 23 was pretty good. i can’t really complain at all about that year of my life. as i look forward, there are goals and dreams that i can see becoming realities sooner rather than later. they may not happen in the year of being 24, but they’re getting closer. new goals and dreams are popping up in my head all the time as well and i can’t wait to start moving towards them.

when it all is said and done, god’s been pretty dang good to me. i don’t say that to brag or to rub it in anyone’s face because believe me, not every year was the year of being 23 (aka the year of being 22 which sucked). i say it because it’s a reminder that god’s got my back. it’s a reminder that no matter what, he makes everything work out for my good. one year may suck, but it’s because he’s preparing me for a great one down the line.

god’s spent the last 23 year preparing me.

now it’s time for him to send me.

i’m ready.

say your prayers and take your vitamins.

have a nice day.

-jonathan