This story is embarrassing, but the lesson I learned from it is too good not to share.
The weekend before Trent proposed to me, I had a total meltdown. It was a few days after Thanksgiving and I thought for sure I would be engaged by then. And I wasn't. Of course, it was around the holidays so it seemed like every time I got on social media someone was posting an engagement announcement. I was going crazy!
To make matters worse, I didn't want to get married too far into the summer. I live in Florida. Summers are hot, humid and rainy! If Trent didn't propose to me soon, all the venues would be booked and we would have to wait so long to get married. It was also seemingly impossible to enter a social situation without being asked "when are you guys going to get engaged?" Which, if you've been there you know, makes waiting so much worse. But the thing that made it the hardest was simply that I was ready to be Trent's wife. I was excited. But I let my excitement turn into panic. Panic turned into worry. Did I do something wrong? Have I given Trent the opportunity to propose? Questions flooded my mind day in and day out, wasting my time and energy.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I was so upset that I wasn't engaged. It was my lowest low of the waiting season. It was one of those times when it felt like nothing could make me feel better. I was just tired of waiting. Quite honestly, I was throwing a fit and being a brat.
I didn't know that 5 days later was the Saturday Trent had been planning to propose to me all along. He and our families had this planned for months. They put so much thought and so much effort into making in the most spectacular moment. And it was! Man, if I only knew what I wanted so badly was less than a week away.
I wonder how many other blessings in our lives are less than a week away. Maybe you're one handshake away from that job you've been so desperately searching for. Maybe not this time but the next time you ask your sister to come to church with you, she will say yes and give her life to Jesus. Maybe you need to face one more trial to shape you before you meet the love of your life. I don't know. But I think blessings are closer than we think.
To be totally honest with you, I hate that I ruined that weekend. I ruined some other moments too. I didn't trust God's timing. I can tell you now, God's timing was actually perfect. We got the venue we wanted, the date we wanted and the vendors we wanted all within the first few weeks of being engaged.
Are you ruining the moments during this season of waiting? Here's your reminder: God's timing is perfect and He promises good plans for your life. Your blessing might be closer than you think.
