Dear Generic Future...

I think you are going to be a lot more difficult than I anticipate.

I met a girl tonight who was recently married. Her husband had already graduated college, but has a very specific, specialized degree, making finding work very difficult. She will be graduating in the spring. He was leaving for somewhere in the midwest today, so they had planned on going out to a nice lunch. Then they realized they only had a total of $90 in the bank. This led to a much cheaper lunch and time on the beach. However, the stress of having no money when neither of them have a job, led to a huge fight. Through tears and yelling, they talked it out, spent some time with family, made out for a while, forgave each other, prayed, and then she took him to the airport. God blessed them later in the day by providing a job for him for the time being.

Anyway. My point is that being a newlywed will be difficult. Freakishly so. If ya'll are still in school, then finding time to be together, finding a job and the stress of loans is a challenge. If you opted to go straight into a career after high school, then money is still super stressful, along with trying to find work. If one of you is in school, while one is working, then your struggle is finding time for each other, having enough money to live on, and finding work.

I mean, basically, no matter what path you take, you're not going to have as much time as you would like with your significant other. You're going to be stressed about money and bills and finding a place to live. You're going to be stressed about a career or job or academic studies.

You'll probably get in arguments some days. You'll probably be so stressed you can't see straight some days (which probably led to the argument). The first few years will probably be the hardest. But just think, if you can work through those first years of challenges, your life together would be stronger.

It's the pain, suffering, and challenges that shape who we become. It equips us to handle more and makes us into better people. I know this sounds cliche. I guess I'm just saying that the future will not be easy. No matter what you do or who you are with, there will be challenges.

I just vote that you pick a vocation you love, that you are passionate about and excites you. Go where God calls you and where your strengths (not necessarily skills) lay. Even if it doesn't seem like the highest paying future.
If you're in love with someone and you want to spend the rest of your life with them, marry them. Even if you don't know how you'll handle everything that comes your way. There's no way you can know what challenges will come up. But it will work out.

Trust God. It won't be easy, by any means, but nothing truly worth it ever is.