Maturity

I went out to lunch with a dear college friend yesterday, and, in so many ways, it was like coming home again, if you'll forgive me for that cliche. I wish so much that the work the Lord has designated for us had fewer miles between us. Yet, the time we have is sweet and restoring.

Our topics of conversation were typical for us: how the Lord is working in our lives, where we believe He is leading for the future, the conflict of anxiety and faith we feel about where our lives our heading. We talked about our families and funny stories. Yet, we also talked about some very adult issues that we didn't talk about in college. We talked a lot about finances. We never talked about finances in college. Sure, there were student loans and whether we had enough money to go to a concert or even out to Steakn'Shake, but we both had qualified for all of the student loans we needed, and we were happily ignoring the fact that they were accruing interest and we would have to pay them back someday. We both had jobs that paid for the little expenses, I had enough in savings to pay for my blessed negligable rent, our parents owned our cars and of course took care of the insurance payments for those, we were on our parents' health insurance plans, and, really, we were quite content with pasta and wearing the same clothes we had owned since high school. I know everyone was not that fortunate, and, please forgive me if I implied that the financial circumstances of all college students are easy and carefree. However, in the case of my friend and I, that is exactly what they were.

Today, things are different. I am fortunate to be single and have health insurance covered by my employer. She is not so fortunate, and due to health issues with her husband, that can't find a single insurance company to cover them at all, except for the one who will not cover pre-existing conditions for at least a year. I never thought about health insurance as a college student. Now, as it seems possible that I will not be a teacher forever, I wonder about how I am going to pay for health insurance, what about the health insurance of my family someday, will I ever have to refrain from going to the doctor because I can't pay for the visit. We talked about retirement and if we will have enough money to help take care of our parents someday. We talked about where our retirements would come from. The life puzzles we used to discuss centered on our class schedules or whether her parents would let her get engaged. Now, they are a matrix of income, insurance, and retirement. When did this happen?