On God's Perfect Timing

Happy Monday lovelies! This post was supposed to go up Friday but I forgot to publish before I headed out of town! Ha! Sparkle Friday will be happening each Friday from now on, but I decided to work on this post, since we just celebrated our five year wedding anniversary, and I wanted to talk about God's perfect timing. So much happened last week that has caused me to reflect on this even more than I have been lately. The tragic events in Boston and now, the tragic event in West Texas. It's so hard to comprehend the bad things that happen, but at the same time, I try to remember that everything happens for a reason. Jesus Calling has been spot on, as always, this week. I feel so blessed to have this daily devotion in my life. Honestly, I feel like so much was missing before I was told about it. The devotion from April 16th has really had an impact on me. I have read and reread it numerous times. I posted it on Insta and it seems to have made an impact on so many others' as well which I love.

This is the devotion from Jesus Calling, April 16th: 

I am calling you to a life of thankfulness. I want all your moments to be punctuated with thanksgiving. The basis for gratitude is My sovereignty. I am the Creator and Controller of the universe. Heaven and earth are filled with My glorified presence. 

When you criticize or complain, you are acting as if you think you could run the world better than I do. From your limited human perspective, it may look as if I am mismanaging things. But you don't know what I know or see what I see. If I pulled back the curtain to allow you to view the heavenly realms, you would understand much more. However, I have designed you to live by faith, not by sight. I lovingly shield you from knowing the future or seeing into the spirit world. Acknowledge my sovereignty by giving thanks in all circumstances. 

Pretty darn powerful, right? It has totally made me think of so much, this week. Because of our anniversary, I have been thinking a lot about my life and the past ten years. If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be married with two children (and finished having children at that) before I was 30, I would have been shocked. I can still remember graduating from college and thinking "okay...what now? Where do I go from here?" That's the part that no one tells you about. You graduate and then you have to figure it all out! I decided I was burnt out from my major (television production and broadcast journalism) and wanted to do something else. I had no idea what... I took a huge leap one day and decided I was moving back to Houston and left a week later. No job and I found an apartment online.  So random, yet so neat at the same time. I moved a lot as a kid and honestly I have no fear of moving. I enjoy it and like going somewhere new. I struggle to stay someplace longer than a few years! Ha! Always ready for a new adventure! Anywho, I got a job selling advertising after I moved there. I loved it and saw myself going so far with that company. I thought I was meant to be career driven for awhile and was not looking to be in a relationship. Then, I was set up with my now hubs. Life happens when you are busy making plans, right?! We ended up falling in love (duh!) and getting engaged and then married...all within about a year and a half's time. We had kinda gone back and forth about when we would/should start having babes. My hubs is a tad older, so we figured, a couple years, max was the plan, but obviously if it happened sooner, we were totally ready! Well, low and behold, one month after getting married, I found out I was prego with Teddy. Such a blessing. I couldn't imagine our life any different. We knew we wanted babes pretty close together, so Reagan came 2.5 years later. We had planned that after two, we would be finished and that was pretty much set...but, I always thought we could possibly have another down the line, somehow. Then I had a yearly ob visit which changed everything. This made me think of God's timing so much. Through all my worry and stress up until my surgery, I couldn't help but think "I have TWO healthy, beautiful and perfect children." Everything happened for a reason. Teddy, Reagan. They both came exactly when they were supposed to. I couldn't be more thankful and blessed with God's timing when thinking about them. I always say they are the best thing I have ever done and it couldn't be more true. I guess where I am going with this is, I feel like God's timing is always perfect. In time it all seems to make sense. I thought I would never find a husband...I mean, I know some single ladies can relate! Then, he just kind of dropped into my life and just like that, everything changed. We have been through a lot together. I could not imagine spending my life with anyone else. It is true that we were meant for each other. Five years of marriage has flown by! So much has happened, good, bad, amazing, tragic. We've weathered it together. I couldn't be more blessed with who God chose for me and even more so, who God chose to be Teddy and Reagan's father. We are all very blessed and lucky that he is ours. This devotion has made me think though of how much I complain on a regular basis. Lets face it, with two toddlers, some weeks are better than others. Ha! It's always a nice reminder to know that HE is looking out for us and has our lives all planned out. I look back on so may parts of my life where I have questioned and wondered why things were happening or weren't happening and reading this devotional from April 16 (and really most days) reminds me to have hope in His timing because it's always perfect. I'm so thankful and so blessed. 

Feeling very blessed to have had a great weekend reconnecting with my hubs. It's so nice and necessary to be able to have these weekends every once in awhile. Hope you have a very happy Monday!

xoxo,
Ashley