26

Looking back at this picture, I see a woman learning to rest.

What I did not know was that just a few short months later, God would change my life forever.

Years earlier, in August of 2020, the Lord had impressed the number twenty-six on my heart. At the time, I did not understand why. I simply tucked it away, trusting that one day He would reveal its meaning. This birthday became the answer. 

It would be the year I said yes to forever with the man of my dreams.

When he came back into my life, I wasn’t trying to force anything. I had already learned what happened when I took control instead of trusting God. This time was different.

I gave him to the Lord. 

If he was not the man God had for me, then he had to go. That wasn’t easy to pray. But I had already given God my yes. I could not ask Him to lead my life while still trying to write the story myself. So I loosened my grip. I stopped trying to figure everything out. I stopped trying to control every outcome. I stopped asking, “What if?” and started resting in, “God, Your will be done.”

Surrender had finally become my first response instead of my last resort.

Trust.

Trusting that the God who redirected my career at twenty-five was also able to write my love story better than I ever could. Trusting that what He had for me would never require me to manipulate, strive, or live in fear of losing it.

Twenty-six, keep your hands open. You don’t have to chase what God has already ordained. The right love will never require you to outrun God’s peace. What He has for you cannot be ruined by waiting on Him.

The greatest gift of this year wasn’t simply that I found my husband. It was that I found a deeper confidence in the God who had been faithful all along.