5 years ago...

Five years ago this past week my husband and I were engaged. I can't believe in some ways that it's already been five years, and in other ways I think to myself it's only been five years! The day he proposed seems like a lifetime ago. Looking back, I think about how young we were, I think about how little we had actually gone through together, and I marvel at how good God has been to us.

When we were engaged five years ago, neither of us had a Biblical grasp on what a God glorifying marriage was suppose to look like. While I won't say we are what we should be, I am so thankful that God changed our hearts on so many issues before we were married. What's truly remarkable is God changed our hearts at about exactly the same time!

Five years ago if you had told me I was going to be a stay at home wife and mommy to three children, I would've never believed you. First of all we weren't even planning on having children until we'd been married for five years, and secondly I was suppose to finish college and work full time for a few years. Maybe always since we didn't know how we'd afford for me to stay home unless my husband had an awesome job.

When he proposed five years ago, I knew I had myself a good man. He was someone who loved me for who I was(flaws and all!), he legitimately cared for and protected me, and he was also very romantic. Today he's still all these things to me, and he also takes the responsibility as our family's spiritual leader very seriously. He loves our children with a fierce love. He desires to protect our girls and model being a godly leader so our son can hopefully learn what it looks like to one day lead his family.

As I've reflected over how much we've grown and changed over the last five years, I still marvel at how good and merciful God was to us. He had mercy on how little either of us knew about Him and started showing us who He was. He had mercry on my naivety. I'm so glad that while I might plan for my future, God's plans are always the ones that prevail(Proverbs 16:1-3).