TimeHop Blessings

Do you use TimeHop?  I love it. And I hate it.  It's an app that links to your social media accounts, and to the pictures you have stored on your phone. On each day, you can log into the app and it will share with you pictures that you have taken or posted on that same day in years past.  So today the app is showing me pictures from October 11th in years past.

I love it because it reminds me of things that were going on in my life 1, 3, 5 or 10 years ago.  When a Facebook status update from 2007 pops up and says things like "studying for the CPA exam", it takes me back in time to when I was a fresh college graduate and newlywed, starting my first job and studying ALL THE TIME to pass the dreaded CPA exam. It helps remind me how far I've come and what I've accomplished.  It's also fun to be reminded of things that were apparently important enough in your life at that moment in time for you to share with others, but maybe not so important that you really remember them years later.

It also shows me pictures of my kids 1, 2, 3, etc. years ago, which is the reason why I love it and hate it at the same time.  Karsten turned 3 last Friday so the past week I've had pictures pop up every single day of newborn Karsten.  Ugh! She was so tiny.  And seeing those pictures, I'm reminded that this stage in our life is over.  No more baby fingers, baby snoozing, baby gurgles and baby cuddles.  I see pictures of 3 year old Kate meeting and holding her new baby sister, and I can't believe how little Kate looked! At the time I thought she was SO OLD, and now she's twice the age she was then.

Two years ago we were celebrating a big FIRST birthday, surrounded by family and friends. 

And an even further peek back in time - look at sweet baby Kate!

In 2011 when we attended our informational meeting at Bethany and were just starting the adoption process, if I could have had the Reverse TimeHop app and seen into the future all of these pictures, my mind would have been BLOWN at how much God was going to bless our family.  If I could have seen these two girls, and the trips we would take with them, and the memories we would be able to create in 6 years of parenthood... well, I don't know that I really would have been able to believe that it would all be real. 

Grace is defined as God giving us what we don't deserve.  I can't think of a better descriptive of my life with Kevin and these two He has blessed us with.  Seven years ago (ironically, seven years ago to the moment, since I'm writing this at 9:32pm), I posted this to Facebook. We had not even started the adoption process, and maybe not even yet talked about it.  I don't remember what was on my mind or why I chose to post this, but seven years later I can see GRACE all over my life and I'm so thankful for it.