God Provides--The truth of my engagment

For those of you who know me well, you know that I have been engaged for almost a year and a half and that on July 19, 2014, I will be married. There hasn't been a moment since that day on December 20 when Ricky proposed to me that people didn't shake their heads and mutter under their breaths about how stupid we were being for getting married "so young". Questions and doubts were hurled at us from every which way: How will you afford to live on your own? You don't even have jobs! You are way too young to be getting married, you should go out and live your life first. Before Ricky and I even started dating, we prayed. We didn't want to enter into a relationship that would not ultimately end up in a marriage commitment. For months we spent time in prayer asking God if a relationship between the two of us was something that he wanted. After three months of waiting and anticipating, we knew that it was right; and that it was in fact, what God wanted. As things started to get more serious between us, we naturally started talking about marriage. We prayed again that God would tell us what HE wanted and he did; it was time for us to get married. Yes, it was scary for our parents and friends and everyone around us, but it was also extremely scary for us as well! I remember sitting awake at night praying over and over to God asking if He was really sure. It seemed crazy... No jobs and still in college?! The more we prayed, however, the more we knew that it was something that we should start planning for.

What they didn't want to hear

We knew we would have to answer everyones questions and so eventually we took it face on. To all of their questions we told them, "God will provide." This answer seemed to be frustrating to nearly everyone we told it to and we did get a lot of nasty responses. Nobody wanted to believe that everything was going to work out.

We are too caught up in what the world thinks. 

• "A job wont just come out of the blue."
• "You're going to be poor if you get married while still in college"
• "You shouldn't get married until you're at least 24 and have a steady income

The result of obedience

As hard as it was to not just give up, what with the mass amount of negativity intake we were dealing with, we stood strong. Now, Ricky has an incredible job working full time and he finishing his last semester in the Fall taking online classes. We signed a lease on Friday evening for a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment that has more room than we even need, but is a price that honestly, seems to good to be true. I have people asking me for jobs that I don't even want (but hey, i'm not complaining)! Did the Lord not come through for us? Of course he did, just like he said he would!!

What the Bible says

In Luke 1, an angel of the Lord named Gabriel came to two people, Zechariah and Mary. At the time, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were of old age and fairly saddened by the fact that they were still without child because Elizabeth was barren. Gabriel appeared to him and said, "[y]our prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John." Because Zechariah was doubtful of this, Gabriel silenced him until the day his child was born. He was punished for not believing in what the Lord was trying to tell him! Now, i'm not saying that everyone who doubted things for Ricky and I will be punished... I am just trying to show you how important it is for us as Christians to believe the word of God and to know that he does hear our prayers! If you skip down to verse 37, Gabriel is speaking with Mary now telling her that she too will have a son, even though she is a virgin. He says to her, "For nothing is impossible with God." After hearing this, Mary goes and speaks to Elizabeth, who at this time is in her sixth month of pregnancy. Upon hearing Mary's voice, the baby within Elizabeth stirs. Elizabeth then cries, "As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"