Happy February!
Since I’ve started keeping up with my blog, I have a whole folder on my computer of started blog posts, ideas for future posts, lists, etc. that I want to post at some point. I was actually feeling like I had too many ideas to keep up with! Now it’s been a little over a week since I last posted, and I just wasn’t feeling any of my topics or previously started posts. So I thought I would post something random about February–my favorite month of the year–and maybe that will boost my inspiration again!
January seems like a “cold” winter month to me, while February seems to be a “warm/cozy” winter month. I don’t know why that is–maybe it’s just me! But seeing all of the Valentines decorations and crafts out in the stores, looking forward to President’s Day off school, and knowing it’s my birthday month have always made me love February. Yup–I’m going to be 25 in 5 days! That is really hard to believe. (I just got an inspiration for a birthday post! That’ll keep me going for another week 🙂 ) So today I am going to share a story that has to do with my husband Abe and my birthday, and then I’ll post some Valentines inspiration. Hope you enjoy this post!
When Abe and I were just beginning to talk, but weren’t officially dating yet, we went out to eat with a group of friends, and the conversation came up about what age is the perfect age to get married. Some friends said early twenties, late twenties, etc. (I’m thinking in my head, the earlier the better! At age 23 at the time, I had already noticed that my Grandmother had been married three years by that time, my mom was about to have her first baby when she was 23, and my sister-in-law was married and pregnant at that age. And I, on the other hand, was sitting there with my other single friends who all lived at home and worked during the week and went out on the weekends to talk about the perfect age to get married!)
ANYWAY, one particular friend of ours mentioned that he thought 30 was the perfect time to marry and settle down. I hadn’t been saying much in the conversation, but I couldn’t help making a comment there…I told the table that if I wasn’t married by the time I was 25, then I didn’t want to get married at all. Abe was sitting next to me and started laughing when I said that, and I immediately felt a little embarrassed. I didn’t want to scare him off! I just stubbornly wanted to be like all the other females in my family and be a young mom and young grandmother, and if I couldn’t be a young bride than I didn’t want to be a bride at all. (So I might definitely have some of my Poppop Koechig’s blood in me…)
Shortly after that conversation, I went on a missions trip to Vanuatu. While I was there, I saw and did and experienced tons of crazy, life-changing things. I remember one particular day, early in the morning (you have not experienced a beautiful, warm, listen-to-the-birds early morning until you have been to Vanuatu!) that God was working on my heart in the area of giving over every desire to Him. My wish to be married before I was 25 kept coming to my mind–I did NOT want to give that over to Him. I did NOT want to be married as an older lady! But I finally surrendered to Him, and told Him that I give my life to Him– If I’m supposed to get married later, than that is the best way my life could go. Now, I had to pray that again several times when the anxious thoughts and worries came back, but I never struggled with the heartache nearly as much as I had before that trip.
Now fast-forward to July, 2014. One of these days I will share our full engagement story, but for now just know that after the thrilling jump and parachutes were up and the sign was seen and the ring was on my finger, one of the first conversations we had was about when we wanted to get married. We had two options–do a 6-month engagement and have a winter wedding, or wait almost a year until spring. Being the slow decision-maker that I am, I wanted to weigh all the options and pros and cons of each. To Abe, the decision was simple. I remember him smiling at me and saying, “I don’t care what date you want as long as it’s before February 10, 2015.” Do I have an awesome guy or what?? And I have an awesome God too…who wants to give us the desires of our hearts! We joked about how if we don’t get married before then, we won’t be able to get married because I vowed that I wouldn’t get married after 25. I’ve always wanted a Christmas wedding anyway, so our December 19th date was finally set, and I was married at the medium-old age of 24. As I’m so close to turning 25 now, I can’t help but continually thinking of that story and how God worked out my life for me in His perfect way and timing, and how giving over all my stubborn desires is definitely the best way to go. Even if He doesn’t work it all out exactly how I want it…His way is still best!
So there’s my heartwarming story for this week before Valentines. Have you ever had a desire that you gave over to God, and He gave it back to you better than you could have imagined? I hope so! I’ve also had experiences when He gave back something entirely different, but that was still just right. I hope you recognize and look for those times, and thank God for all that He does in your life. I know I have so much to thank Him for!
Enjoy your Valentines Day!
Just love this! Here’s the link: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/24-valentines-cards-for-2-49-shipped.html but looks like you could DIY it too!
This is cute and looks easy!
My Step In Time 