The sermon at church this morning was about remembrance. Remembering what God has done in your life, so that you may have hope in the times of silence, darkness, and challenges. I have read the above verse many times over the years, but it is not until I reflect on my journey that I realize the truth of the words.

Ever since I turned 30, I have actively been praying for God to reveal my purpose and put me on the path that He has uniquely created for me. While praying that prayer, I think I was missing that I was already on the path.

This journey begins in the year of our Lord 2016. After almost a year of marriage and carefree traveling around the country and world, we decided to expand our little family of two. By we, I mean me because Jarrod decided shortly after he said “I do” on our wedding day, so it took me a little longer to catch up. For my entire life, I was told that our family had a history of fibroids, so every year since age 18 I asked my doctor to check for fibroids. Every year she confirmed that I did not have any, so I thought all systems were a go when we were ready to TTC (try to conceive).

On the morning of our first Christmas together, I decided to reread the beginning of Matthew and the story of Jesus’ birth. Usually I take the same thing from the story, but this time something different registered. Every time God has instructions for their family, He gave them to Joseph. Each time Joseph vocalized the instructions, Mary faithfully and willfully followed them because she trusted her husband’s leadership. The Savior of the world was able to fulfill His purpose because His earthly mother submitted and his earthly father trusted God. Hmmm.