Two years ago today, we purchased our first home. This was a dream we waited eleven years for. Emilia is two months old today. She was our only baby that took a while to conceive. As I reflected on these promised fulfilled today, it got me thinking about how important it is to remember our breakthrough moments, and God’s creativity in it all, regularly.
When we moved into our former house, I asked the Lord how long we would be there. I heard Him say “seven”. I didn’t know if that meant seven months, seven years, or something else entirely but I knew I’d heard Him. As the years came and went I started wondering if it meant seven years, and felt discouraged by that. I was thankful for the living situation but did not like the house itself and dreamed of owning our own. In late April of 2017, the HVAC system went out completely, the plumbing began having severe problems, and it felt as if the grace for the house and its problems was gone. I prayed and asked God what to do. We’d been there for nearly 4.5 years but I felt the Lord say, “What would you do right now if I told you you were moving in one month?” I knew it was time to take some action and start cleaning out the house, packing and connecting with a realtor. By June, we were under contract on the seventh and last house we looked at. Once we moved into our dream home, I realized we purchased the home in the seventh month of 2017. I love the intentionality of God.
In February 2018, I asked Brett about discussing being done with having children. We prayed and asked God to unite our hearts with each other and His. Within a few days, a dear friend pulled me aside and said she felt released to share a dream she had a while back. In the dream, she saw me with a new baby on my hip and knew it meant we’d have one more. She told me to feel free to interpret how I choose but that she’d been holding it until the Lord asked her to share at that time. This, and the fact that I felt excited about being pregnant one more time, we the two miracles we needed. We decided to have one more and started dreaming of having a winter baby. To our surprise, we did not conceive in the first month as we had with our others. In fact, we did not conceive for a while. After five long months we finally had a positive pregnancy test (yes, I know some mamas have to wait years, but for us, this was a lot longer than our normal). That time of waiting was so confusing. Also, we felt strongly that the child would be a boy and when we found out we were expecting another girl, it was a shock. Then in May of 2019, we welcomed our sweet Emilia James, our perfect number seven. She has been a dream baby and everything we didn’t know we still needed.
So today I am reflecting and expressing gratitude. I am thanking the Lord for His plans and blessings. Thanking Him for being in every detail and the honor it is to co-create with Him. I am also using these testimonies of dreams fulfilled to encourage myself. Reflecting on God’s faithfulness and good plans encourages me to dream today while I am feeling overwhelmed by some issues ahead of me. As I wonder how I will manage a full-time job alongside four children (a middle schooler, a grade-schooler, a preschooler and an infant!), I remember what crazy seasons we’ve navigated in the past and how faithful He is to walk us through them, if only we will quiet ourselves enough to hear Him lead. I think this is also why sharing testimonies of breakthrough, dreams fulfilled and promises kept is so important. It’s remembering these beautiful breakthroughs that get me excited for what is next!
shailey ratliff 