A true story of young love (with sweet pictures) and trusting in God's timing

How an unfoldng love story surprised us all.

First of all, I want you to know that I had it all carefully planned out.

Right down to the smallest detail.

I'd spent months putting together the "perfect family vacation" for us this year, finding the right mountain cabin to hold our growing large family, with the right number of beds and bedrooms and enough chairs around the table.

I'd put together a tight menu plan, including rotating two people as kitchen crew for cleanup after each meal. My daughter-in-law and I even made gift baskets for each family member as a fun way to start our time together.

(Did I mention I had everything planned out??)

And then, just a few days before our vacation began, one of our sons gave us a call that changed everything.

Okay, well, at least it felt that way to me.

Because our son had unexpectedly decided to propose to his girlfriend during our family vacation.

How romantic! You might be saying.

How exciting! You may be thinking.

And maybe I should have been saying and thinking those things, but to be honest, my first response wasn't exactly that.

For one, Abigail hadn't been included in our family plans because we have a strict policy that you must either “be engaged or about to be engaged” to come on vacation with us.

And, at the time, she was neither.

So, practically speaking, we had neither a bedroom nor bed (nor gift basket!) for her.

For another and far more important reason, inviting a new person into the family is a Very Big Deal. And some family members who hadn't even met her yet were flying in, and now here we are, “Oh, by the way, here's your new sister-in-law-to-be.”

We're a warm and welcoming bunch, but that's asking a lot for just about anyone.

Lastly, I was in a bit of shock myself. It was no surprise that our son was serious about this girl; we understood that. But I thought we had time—and plenty of it. After all, he is 22 years old, and she is not quite 19.

So I kept walking around the house and whispering to myself, but they're so very young.

And my mama's heart worried and wondered if this was best.

The Romantic Proposal

Over the next few days, my husband and I had numerous conversations with our son and each other. Ultimately, we ended up asking sweet Abigail (for she is a sweetheart!) to join us a couple of days into the vacation to give the others a chance to be together first.

We also requested that Revere wait until the last day to propose, rather than the first one, as he'd originally intended, so we might have time to grow more comfortable with his plan.

As for The Plan--for all you romantics--you'll enjoy hearing how incredibly romantic the proposal turned out to be.

The two of them woke up early, while it was still dark, and hiked to the same lake where they'd had their first date. They stopped at a lovely spot on the lake, just below the peak of Mount Hood, and watched the sunrise.

And then, after asking Abigail to keep her eyes on the mountain, Revere spread rose petals all around the ground, got down on one knee, and, when she turned around, he proposed.

She said, YES!

Afterward, the two returned to the cabin, where our entire family was waiting and cheering loudly. A long line of hugs and hearty congratulations followed. Eventually, we quieted down and gathered around for a time of prayer, thanking the Lord for this gift and asking Him for blessing and protection over the young couple.

Later, everyone agreed that this Jacobson Family Vacation 2024 was going down in the books as the most memorable so far.

Even if it didn't go according to my plan.

Clearly, God had a better plan — the best plan — for our time together.

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Trusting God for His Timing

So now I want to ask you: Am I the only one who struggles with trusting God for His timing?

Because it's hardly the first time I've wrestled with such things. Mostly, I've felt that He has moved too slowly. While trying to remain respectful, I've asked, sometimes cried, Why aren't You moving more quickly?  Wondering why He doesn't see that time is of the essence here.

But then, in His perfect timing, I’ve seen the answer come together, and suddenly, everything made sense.

It is rare, however, that I've found Him to answer something too soon.

As was the case here.

We knew Revere's heart's desire was to find a wife and that he'd always hoped to marry young. That part wasn’t a shocker. And we'd joined him in that prayer.

It's just that I thought it would be another year or two down the road. Not merely a couple of months away.

So, naturally, I had concerns about the situation. "Lord," I protested. "But she's so young. They're both quite young."

No answer, simply silence.

Then I looked back through my prayer journal and the specific requests for what I believed would be good qualities for a wife for Revere. She had them all. But apparently, I forgot to include an age bracket because I'd assumed they'd marry in their later twenties like our other children had (as well as ourselves).

And I struggled to trust that this would turn out well.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

He Made All Things Beautiful

That's when I felt the Lord gently admonishing me.  "Lisa, dear one, you need to trust Me."

Not Revere. Not Abigail. And certainly not my worrying heart.

We had prayed. He had answered. And now I needed to trust Him.

You might be in just such a place right now. Wanting to trust God with your circumstances or your relationships, but having difficulty seeing how He’s going to work this one out. It seems He’s moving too slowly or too fast. Or perhaps it looks plain impossible from where you’re standing.

If you’re struggling to trust God with His timing and maybe even His answer, I hope you, too, will find peace in knowing that our lives are in His wise and loving hands. He sees more than what we can see. He understands far more than we can imagine.

And He makes things beautiful in His time.

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A Closing Blessing

I pray that you will learn to trust God, knowing He hears our prayer requests and will answer them in His way and in His perfect timing.

May you walk in faith each day, trusting Him for today as well as for tomorrow, remembering He is your Good Father.

I hope you experience the peace of resting in Him who knows all things and makes them beautiful in His time.

In His grace,

Lisa Jacobson

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1. Photos by Natalie Puls Photography