Reason #471
I have been looking forward to Sunday all weekend for a few reasons. I just never know how Sundays are going to turn out. It always seems that big things happen on Sundays, and of course, spending time in the Lord's house always gives me something to be thankful for.
One year ago today I got my tattoo. Some times in life you make decisions on a whim only to end up regretting them later. Many a person has done this with tattoos. Either they got one and wished at a later date they didn't have it, or they got one and wished at a later date that it was something different. I still love my butterfly, and I don't regret it one bit. I remember the day really well. In fact, as I sit and reflect over today, I realize how much the two days have in common. Remember, I am a details girl who never forgets anything, and the similarities are quite ironic.
There was a single incident that confirmed my decision to get my tattoo. I had been toying with the idea but never thinking I'd really go through with it until a seemingly innocent and silly thing took place. In that moment, I made the decision to do it. I woke up the next morning, pulled on a navy and white stripped dress and began to run my errands for the day. I was at Target when my brother called to tell me our appointments had been made, so I drove from the Target parking lot down to Avenue Q for a little ink session. Today, I wore a navy and white stripped dress and I spent my afternoon at Target. Ironic, huh? Yet aside from all of these little similarities that have served as reminders of this time last year, the Lord made a point to remind me of how good He has been to me while I was simply sitting at the intersection of Frankford and 82nd Street this afternoon.
Do you ever have those moments when you just stop and marvel at His greatness? Are you ever blown away by how much He loves you? That's how I felt today. I even spent a good amount of time at dinner tonight discussing this with Aaron as I am always amazed at how good the Lord is to me. You see, I spent so much time questioning the Lord and His decisions. And, after all was said and done, I spent an even longer amount of time living in regret. If only I had done this, if only I had done that, if only I had made this decision rather than that decision. But the things is, I feely made the decisions I made. No one forced me to, and the Lord allowed me to choose just as He allows you to choose, too. And this weekend, as my mom and I worked on wedding crafts, this conversation came up. I said to her, "if only I would have taken that job and moved when I graduated collge...." and when I finished she said, "well, you probably wouldn't be here right now. You wouldn't have what you have either." And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Because if I had made any other decisions along the way, I wouldn't be here today. I would not be marrying the man of my dreams in 12 days, I wouldn't have the incredible girlfriends that I have now, I wouldn't know any of my bible study friends, I definitely wouldn't be leading a bible study, I wouldn't be blogging my thoughts out every night, I wouldn't have Scout, and most of all, I wouldn't have the kind of relationship with the Lord I have now because of the decisions I made. And the Lord reminded me of that today as a strange combination of things occured at the exact same time in a matter of seconds at an intersection that holds a lot of meaning for me. But you see, God is in the details. God is so aware of what our hearts need before we even know it. And God has been overwhelmingly good to me day in and day out. He reminded me today of His perfect plan, of redemption, of forgiveness and healing. He reminded me that He really truly does work all things together for our good if we will just trust Him and wait on Him. He reminded me that He cares about me and every aspect of my life so incredibly much. And He reminded me of how far we've come. And in those few seconds, my heart could have burst with joy because only God can do something like that. Only God can bring together multiple huge things, make them collide at the exact moment in the perfect place, and reveal to you a year's worth of truth in only a matter of seconds. God is good!
And so tonight I praise Him for all of it. For always taking my circumstances and situations and bringing good from them no matter how bad they seem. For teaching me in really simple, yet very incredible ways. For giving me constant reminders of His presence and His goodness. And, for lavishing me with His love day in and day out. I have those moments where I think, "life could not possibly get any better than this"... and that's exactly how I feel tonight!
#471 - For the things He has blessed me with now because of the decisions I once made.
"Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands." -Deuteronomy 7:9
One year ago today I got my tattoo. Some times in life you make decisions on a whim only to end up regretting them later. Many a person has done this with tattoos. Either they got one and wished at a later date they didn't have it, or they got one and wished at a later date that it was something different. I still love my butterfly, and I don't regret it one bit. I remember the day really well. In fact, as I sit and reflect over today, I realize how much the two days have in common. Remember, I am a details girl who never forgets anything, and the similarities are quite ironic.
There was a single incident that confirmed my decision to get my tattoo. I had been toying with the idea but never thinking I'd really go through with it until a seemingly innocent and silly thing took place. In that moment, I made the decision to do it. I woke up the next morning, pulled on a navy and white stripped dress and began to run my errands for the day. I was at Target when my brother called to tell me our appointments had been made, so I drove from the Target parking lot down to Avenue Q for a little ink session. Today, I wore a navy and white stripped dress and I spent my afternoon at Target. Ironic, huh? Yet aside from all of these little similarities that have served as reminders of this time last year, the Lord made a point to remind me of how good He has been to me while I was simply sitting at the intersection of Frankford and 82nd Street this afternoon.
Do you ever have those moments when you just stop and marvel at His greatness? Are you ever blown away by how much He loves you? That's how I felt today. I even spent a good amount of time at dinner tonight discussing this with Aaron as I am always amazed at how good the Lord is to me. You see, I spent so much time questioning the Lord and His decisions. And, after all was said and done, I spent an even longer amount of time living in regret. If only I had done this, if only I had done that, if only I had made this decision rather than that decision. But the things is, I feely made the decisions I made. No one forced me to, and the Lord allowed me to choose just as He allows you to choose, too. And this weekend, as my mom and I worked on wedding crafts, this conversation came up. I said to her, "if only I would have taken that job and moved when I graduated collge...." and when I finished she said, "well, you probably wouldn't be here right now. You wouldn't have what you have either." And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Because if I had made any other decisions along the way, I wouldn't be here today. I would not be marrying the man of my dreams in 12 days, I wouldn't have the incredible girlfriends that I have now, I wouldn't know any of my bible study friends, I definitely wouldn't be leading a bible study, I wouldn't be blogging my thoughts out every night, I wouldn't have Scout, and most of all, I wouldn't have the kind of relationship with the Lord I have now because of the decisions I made. And the Lord reminded me of that today as a strange combination of things occured at the exact same time in a matter of seconds at an intersection that holds a lot of meaning for me. But you see, God is in the details. God is so aware of what our hearts need before we even know it. And God has been overwhelmingly good to me day in and day out. He reminded me today of His perfect plan, of redemption, of forgiveness and healing. He reminded me that He really truly does work all things together for our good if we will just trust Him and wait on Him. He reminded me that He cares about me and every aspect of my life so incredibly much. And He reminded me of how far we've come. And in those few seconds, my heart could have burst with joy because only God can do something like that. Only God can bring together multiple huge things, make them collide at the exact moment in the perfect place, and reveal to you a year's worth of truth in only a matter of seconds. God is good!
And so tonight I praise Him for all of it. For always taking my circumstances and situations and bringing good from them no matter how bad they seem. For teaching me in really simple, yet very incredible ways. For giving me constant reminders of His presence and His goodness. And, for lavishing me with His love day in and day out. I have those moments where I think, "life could not possibly get any better than this"... and that's exactly how I feel tonight!
#471 - For the things He has blessed me with now because of the decisions I once made.
"Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands." -Deuteronomy 7:9
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