God's Perfect Timing

So I'll blame my lack of posting on the crazy tiredness I'm experiencing, but I'm going to try to get back into it.  We've been talking prayer at Bible study the last while, and last week we discussed unanswered prayer.  As we discussed God saying not yet to some of our prayer requests, I started to think of what that's been like in our life.  (Side note: we've also talked about our 'Plan A' and God's 'Plan B' in Sunday school and how his plan is better, although we don't always see it at the time.)  So if God had answered our prayers right away for a child, and we never had to wait with any of them, we would have an eight year old instead of a 5 year old.  In fact, we would probably have four children, all two years apart, and be done.  We had very close friends get pregnant the first month they tried and found out that we started trying the same month.  At the time we thought it would be so neat if it would happen right away for us too, but instead their second child, and our first are only a month apart.  They do in fact have four children, and their life looks very different from ours.  As I pondered this, and looked at things, I realized how different our life would look, and I just became immensely grateful for God's timing.
  We would have had two children when we changed churches years ago(to be going somewhere closer to where we lived).  This would have meant friendships with different people.  I would have missed out on the ones I do have.  I have never in my life felt so blessed by the people in my life.  I have an amazing set of friends.  We bonded years ago, and us women get together on a weekly basis to talk and pray with each other.  I can share anything with these women, and I know that they feel the same.  I would have missed out on this blessing.  I can't imagine that.  This closeness will make it very difficult when one of these close friends moves to Kentucky for her husband to attend seminary this summer. 
Another thing that wouldn't have happened is for Chasadya to have her closest friend live on our street.  In God's timing, we struggled with infertility at the same time as friends of ours.  While God answered our prayer sooner than theirs, they were able to adopt a little girl whose birthday is exactly a month later than Chasadya's.  And as things turned out, they moved onto the same street as us.  Who knows if that friendship will continue throughout school, but its nice to know one of the girls she will start kindergarten with, and in fact,  her mom and I are taking turns bringing the girls to school.  Who but God could have orchestrated two infertile couples having girls the same age, living on the same street, who were born on opposite sides of the world. 
And as we look at another child coming into our home, we see another picture of God's perfect timing.  Mikaela has been a bit more of a tricky child to figure out, and has always been a bit more of a "Mommy's girl"  She needs cuddle time after her nap, she's more strong-willed, and tests boundaries more.  With the timing of things, Chasadya will have half a year of school, in which we can establish a routine, and get used to the whole idea of her being gone every morning.  And I will have half a year to have one on one time with Mikaela, to spend just with her, before the new baby comes.  I'm excited about that.  I think it will be good for her to have that time with me, because it will definitely be harder for her to accept a baby into our midst than it will Chasadya.  One of the reasons for that is that she has always been the "baby" and because she's so much about mommy, it will take her time to get used to sharing me.  We pray that it will go smoothly.  But I'm so thankful that I don't have to figure out school and a new baby all at the same time.  God knows how much I can handle, and I don't think I would have handled that well. 
I challenge you to look back and see what God's done in your life.  Where has His timing, His plan been way better than anything you could have picked for yourself?  It may not be easy, in fact, its so much easier to see it in the past, but it would be neat to see it even in the midst of what you're going through.  I also encourage you, that although its hard when prayers seem to go unanswered, that there may just need to be a little more time, and the answer will be so much better for us than we anticipate.  I look back now at the many journeys God's taken us on, and I'm very glad for His timing.