30 Things To Do Before 30

I don’t think I ever made a list of 30 Things To Do Before Turning 30. I surely must have made that list at some point, but I went through my old emails and documents, and I can’t find anything saved digitally. I guess I’m showing my age… “When I was a girl, we used to write lists out by hand!” Ha.

Rather than scoring myself on that never-to-be-found-handwritten list (of what I did and did not accomplish by age 30), I will instead list out 30 Things I Did Before 30 – all of which are things I feel like could have been on my list!

1. Dance in a ballet
2. Sing for my supper
3. Get a hole-in-one
4. Watch a total lunar eclipse
5. Score a goal in a soccer game
6. Save a life
7. Sing with someone famous
8. Get paid to sing
9. Shoot a 9mm pistol
10. Go white water rafting
11. Visit all 50 states
12. Graduate Magna Cum Laude
13. Earn an EMT certification
14. Go on an international mission trip
15. Earn an engineering degree
16. Travel internationally for work
17. Perform with David Copperfield in Vegas
18. See a Broadway show in NYC
19. Read through the entire bible in a year
20. Get paid to photograph a wedding
21. Visit Neuchvanstein
22. Run a 5k
23. Perform an original composition live
24. Go on a blind date
25. Get copyrighted
26. Release an original album on iTunes
27. Get paid for artwork
28. Give a speech to 1,000+ people
29. Share the Gospel with a stranger
30. Watch a meteor shower with someone I love

Man. It’s been a good 30 years.

Authentically Aurora

Becoming a 30-Something

I’m turning 30 years old this week.

I know the expectation is that I should be freaking out about this, feeling like my biological clock is ticking and that life is going too fast. But I feel strangely calm about this milestone birthday.

Maybe it’s because my best friend Ashley turned 30 back in November, and I have already started thinking of myself as 30 by extension.

Maybe it’s because, rather than being single, I am in a happy relationship with a wonderful man who continues to make comments alluding to commitment. I think there’s a future there.

Or maybe it’s because there are so many other new, good things in my life (like an upcoming career change) that have 30 feeling more like an exciting fresh start than the beginning of a downhill slope.

Earlier this week, I was thinking about the fact that Jesus began his public ministry at age 30. He certainly did miracles and taught in the synagogue prior to his 30th birthday, but up until that point, he kept his ministry more private and was in a season of preparation for what was to come.

My mind followed that train of thought to mulling over the past decade and how many trials I’ve faced. I’ve been praying for years that God would use the pain for good; that He would put me in a place where I consistently live out my true created purpose. And here, right at my 30th birthday, I am on the brink of a major career change, where I get to stand in front of young adults every day and be a positive role model, hopefully impacting them for eternity.

Might this be what I’ve been praying for? Might this be the beginning of my own public ministry of sorts, with everything up to now being a season of preparation? I hope so.

If 30 is the year I start to see God really moving in my life to impact others, then I say bring on the next decade! I’m ready to be a 30-something.

Authentically Aurora