God's Plan vs Amy's Plan

 The Marine and I knew we wanted children, from the time we were 14 and 15, actually!  We made the decision to start trying the night he proposed marriage, knowing we would be married in just a couple of short months.  Our little miracle didn't arrive until 4 years later, but the timing was perfect!  We prayed that we would get our baby, we had really started to doubt it would happen.  We had this unrealistic vision of instant conception and boundless time to watch my pregnancy progress together, a calm and breezy birth and abundant time to watch her grow.  In reality, infertility struck, times were hard, The Marine deployed often and we realized that it was not in our hands.  That fateful day that the stick showed two lines was absolutely exhilirating!  The Marine was determined to not see me cry over a pee stick again....I was determined to stay positive.  I ignored his protests and grabbed a very pricey home pregnancy test and shook the whole time I peed on it.  Instantly, before I had even pulled my pants up, there were two lines.  TWO BIG PINK LINES!  Being a novice at pregnancy tests that didn't show blatant negatives was making me second guess my eyes.  I read the whole leaflet and every word written on the outside of the box.  The Marine was pacing around the house, trying not to get his hopes up, probably setting up an action plan to console me, expecting yet another negative result.  Finally I emerged from the bathroom.  The tears that day were not of disappointment, but of overwhelming happiness.  Then we realized that God did have a plan for us, our plans apparently didn't fit into it, except the end result was the same.  We wanted a baby, we NEEDED a baby, and we had her.  God gave us four years to spend together as husband and wife, to grow and mature, to prepare and set aside our plans and give it up to Him.  Would our faith have played a big part if we had conceived on our time line?   Would I have continued to pray every day and thank him for those four years, laying down a solid foundation for our family to grow on?  Would I have taught my children about Him, explained what miracles they truly are and how devoted to Him we are?  I can try to say yes, that we would have been fine, but only God knows, and I'm glad we're following His plan and NOT Amy's plan.