I’m 22 trying to remember when it was that I got so old. My life is trying to tell me that I’m a grown-up, while my mind screams about the monsters under the bed.

Desperately, I’ve tried to hold on to the thought of my dad on the floor lifting up the mattress and pillaging the closest with a flashlight.

Back then, the demons were so easily vanquished. They were afraid of vegetables and held at bay by bedsheets. It was surprising my dad still had a voice left after yelling at shadows cast on the wall by stuffed teddy bears.

My parents always told me not to be afraid of the shadows in the closet. What they didn’t say is that monsters do exist.

There’s financial instability, bills, uncertainty, loneliness, dread and condemnation, lurking in the shadows. They are all under the bed and they will gladly eat vegetables or plow through old sheets. Dad’s flashlight doesn’t work, not anymore.

What makes us grown-up? Who says there’s a certain age for having it all figured out?

All I know is this, fear is a part of life, but it is not the king.

Graduating college was one of the most exciting times of my life. It was also the most terrifying.

Over the course of four years my life was predictable. Suddenly that stability gave way to a raging ocean, leaving me as a ship without sail.

However, there is something else I learned from my parents. Whenever a tempest swarmed, they said, “this, too shall pass.”

Growing up in a house with a pastor for a father, it sounded like something directly out of the good book.

In reality, scripture never uses this phrase, but the meaning is reinforced in every instance God looked down on His children. From Israel to Paul and the road to Damascus, hardships were endured and hardships were overcome.

This column is supposed to introduce you to who I am, my goals and expectations. I knew no other way to write than this.

I have a fear of shallow living, so my goal is simple; to live justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God.

Now that is straight out of the good book.

As I embark on this journey with The Valley Time-News, I am looking forward to writing stories that matter to you, the reader, who without I’d be lost.