Corey and Ashlee's Turn

The look on Corey's face in this picture I think most accurately describes what he and I are both feeling at this present stage in our lives.

We are happy.

We are hopeful.

but we are also...

a little crazy...

due to consistently heavy work loads and a persistent lack of sleep.

Corey continues to perform well this last semester of his undergraduate studies. He has been exceedingly blessed to study interesting, worthwhile literature that he feels has enriched him personally as well as academically.

We see the Hand of the Lord daily as little and sometimes big miracles continue to lead us to our unknown destination and purpose. We both have high expectations of what the future will bring to our little family. For a long time my heart was set on one single outcome as this particular crossroad of our life approaches, but I think that this semester Corey and I are both learning to appreciate not knowing the outcome... but having faith that if we strive to "Seek ... first the kingdom of God," that "all these things shall be added unto," us.

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't expect things to work out in the direction that we are planning just because we have had so many blessings that would appear to be pulling us in that direction. However, I have had such a peace in my heart when I think about our future that if for some reason it didn't work out the way we think and hope that it will, I KNOW I will be okay with it. Corey too. We both feel that we are very much in His hands, and that is a beautiful release.

Yesterday I was thinking about our history as a couple and what has gotten us to this point... the different places we have been lead, people we have met, changes and even challenges that at the time didn't make sense and were frustrating to us etc. Now that we have a little bit of space we can look back and see how each dissapointment was leading us away from something we thought was good at the time but know now that it wouldn't have been the right choice to bring our family the most happiness etc. We can see now how seemingly unimportant details were actually us being placed just where we needed to be for things that really, really mattered in the end. It was so easy for me to see that Heavenly Father has been actively engaged in our lives directing and leading and helping us to all the right places even when we didn't immediately see or understand or sometimes appreciate it.

Then as I thought of those things the treasured words of a hymn came to my mind:

"Be still my soul, thy God doth undertake, to guide the future as He has the past..."

Looking back at our life really does increase my faith because we see that He was there, and we believe that He will continue to be there if we are worthy. That's the goal.