Elisabeth Elliot, love and a weekend recap!

After the news of Elizabeth Elliot's passing I couldn't help but read several quotes to jog my memory of so much of the wisdom I gained through her literature. Two quotes that made my heart swell and my eyes a little teary were these:

"To love God is to love His will. It is to wait quietly for life to be measured by One who knows us through and through. It is to be content with His timing and His wise appointment."

"God never witholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God's refusals are always merciful -- "severe mercies" at times but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts desire except to give us something better." -Elisabeth Elliot 

For every "no" God has ever given me His "Yes" has been so much more than I could have ever asked or imagined. 

For every "severe mercy" I trusted Him in; He blessed me in ways that proved his sovereignty over the desires of my flesh. His will, not mine, proved faithful and good. 

In case you missed it, Ryan popped the question at the Mumford and Son's concert on Thursday!

Mumford and Son is kind of "our band". 

Needless to say, I said YES to the promise of his hand in marriage! 

And yeah, I'm still giddy over the fact that there is a perfect, shiny diamond on a very important finger, but I'm even more giddy over the fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with someone I love, respect and desire to come alongside and be a help mate to. 

This is just one of the many ways God has proved that his "Yes" is so much greater, that his timing is impeccable,  and that He gives really good gifts to His children. 

One more quote that came to mind was this:

If God gave it to me," we say "it's mine. I can do what I want with it." No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him...."-Elisabeth Elliot. 

As I plan to give my hand and heart to Ryan in marriage, my prayer is that I never forget those words..that we will always remember that the institution of marriage was created to be a picture of Christ and His church, that we will remember to thank Him for the gift of each other, and that our marriage will be a beautiful offering to the one who's plans for our future together far exceed the desires of our heart or anything we could ever ask or imagine.

Here are a few pics from the weekend! 

I was so glad I was able to catch Ellie Kate's reaction when we told her! It was the sweetest. Jude and Hayden were just as excited but a little more camera shy;)

Happy Tuesday everyone!