Seven Quick Takes on Timing - 7th anniversary edition

Seven years today... I love this man!

We're talking about God's timing this week over at Blessed is She and today is my 7-year anniversary with the hubs... just in time for a Seven Quick Takes. The timing (heh heh) of these couldn't be better, as my original plan for the 7QT wouldn't have been long enough and my one thought on God's timing wouldn't have warranted a blog post of its own either. But, *together*... well, we'll see!

- 1 -

Is there one word that can describe God's timing? I believe yes, there is. If our God knows the beginning from the end and everything inbetween, then I have to believe that God's timing is Perfect.  But when job offers don't come when needed, or when babies arrive "early", or when Mr. Right still seems way way off, or even just while waiting for the tea to steep, knowing that God's timing is perfect is hard to remember when it's not my timing. So after reading an article on creating computer passwords to change your life - I decided to use the fact that God's timing is Perfect as the mantra I would repeat to myself every day when I switched on my computer. (That's not exactly my pass phrase by the way... wouldn't want you to go logging into Amazon on a spending spree, now would I? ;) )  And I will testify: typing this phrase nearly every day for the past seven years has changed me. Knowing that God's timing is Perfect has sunk into my very being - so much so that I'm much more at peace when things aren't working on my time table. And when I'm not at peace... well, then I'm no more than 24 hours away from a typed reminder to myself that God's got it all under control.

- 2 -

About that timing thing... back in 2002, I spent a summer in Scotland working for a tech company. I met many lovely people, went to a few concerts, traveled the country. But (contrary to some of my friends' predictions) I didn't meet my husband. Though I could have! He worked at that same company, on the same floor as me, with the same people I worked with. In fact, he had to pass my desk every day to get to his own desk! Yeah... no. I didn't meet him until he moved to California 5 years later. So I guess I will always wonder: were we supposed to meet in Scotland but we messed it up and then God had to make it happen again in California? Or... oh. wait. I think I answered my own question already (see #1).

- 3 -

Our little home... back when it had a lawn... and a tree... and a black car...

Things I love about God's timing: it's perfect. Like when we were in the market for a house... I saw a little gem of a home over the internet while we were away visiting family. It was in quite a state and clearly needed work, but the location was perfect, the size was perfect and the price was in our budget. I immediately started planning all the renovations and decorating we would do. But (and this is a big one) we couldn't do anything about it because we were out of the country. So we saved it in our list of favorites and hoped it would still be there when we got back. It wasn't. I was heartbroken. The next few months after that were pretty bleak in the house hunting - we kept getting beat out and out bid. Just when I was getting ready to throw in the towel, what should appear on Redfin but that house again! All spiffied, and reno'd and beautiful like! The people who had bought it were house-flippers and they did a great job. So we jumped on it and amazingly, for the first time in nearly a year of house hunting, we were the first ones to make an offer and (more importantly) it was accepted! Funny how things work out...

- 3 -

Lest you begin to think my life is all charmed... Timing: 2 minutes. This was how long I could take a shower in our new home before we would run out of hot water. Even though we clearly had a 30-gallon hot water heater sitting in our home, what we couldn't see was that it was nearly 100% full of silt and mineral deposits. Thus, not even one month after moving into our first home we had to buy and install a new hot water heater... and then redo the plumbing... and then the electrics... and then the insulation... and then the sewer lines... OY. Home ownership is expensive y'all.

- 4 -

Best example of God using time to perfect a married couple: Back in college, one of my professors shared his and his wife's secret to solving problems in their marriage. Whenever they disagreed on an issue and couldn't seem to talk it through, they would choose a time period (like a week) where they would each pray about the situation and intentionally listen for God's heart on the subject. During the week they would not allow themselves to talk about that issue at all (except with God in prayer). Then after that week they would write down what they heard and come back together to share. If what they shared didn't match, then they repeated the process until it did.  So even if they both flip-flopped on the issue, each taking the other person's side, that didn't count. They both had to come to the same conclusion, separately, before they could move forward. I thought then that it was a beautiful problem solving strategy. Still do.

- 5 -

Something I've always known, but learned again this week: when choosing bake times for brownies, always choose the smaller amount and, if baking with whole grains, subtract a minute. Nobody likes an overcooked brownie. Nobody.

- 6 -

Babies have a timing all of their own, don't they? I'm still amazed with Little Dude's mobility - especially when compared to his sister. She stood up for the first time at 10 months and didn't (wouldn't?) start walking until 13 months. This guy is 8 months and getting ready to start cruising on the furniture.

Oh hey mom... just standing here beside the coffee table...

On the other hand, when it comes to food, Little Dude couldn't care less about solids. He is *all* about the booby. Contrast that with his older sister who was (at this age) happily eating mashed up ratatouille.

Ah well. Take them as they come, right?

- 7 -

This week the bonus question is "Who is your favorite blogger that you discovered through 7QT?" And this one is kinda hard to answer, because the TIMING of when I found all these blogs is so jumbled. (See what I did there?) I feel like all of my favorite blogs have mentioned 7QT at some point, but whether I found them through 7QT or found them in some other way and then read one of their 7QT posts... it's hard to remember. But I will say that the day I figured out what 7QT was and, relatedly, what in the world a "link up" was and (also related) who the mysterious "Kelly" was... well, that was a happy moment indeed. As my daughter's 2nd favorite cartoon character might say, "Turkey shout, I figured it out!!"

Fig the Fox likes "This Ain't the Lyceum" Head there for more 7QT!