Hey, sisterhood. We hope you enjoy this first chapter of our brand new book, Not Part of the Plan,

Trusting God with the twists and turns of your story.

Chapter one, When Dreams Don't Come True.

I, Bethany, have a confession to make. What I'm about to share with you was once a triple

top secret, pinky promise kind of thing. Nobody in my entire family knew about this secret,

except for my dad, my mom, and Kristen. I'd make you promise not to tell anyone,

but the cat is out of the bag. You now have my permission to laugh or cringe.

Ready for it? I bought my dream wedding dress when I was 22 years old and completely single.

No, I'm not kidding. There are two types of people in this world. Those who thrive on risk,

make plans as they go and live completely outside the box. And then those who want to feel safe

have a plan and live inside the box. I'm the first type. Kristen is the second. One isn't better

than the other. They're just different. This will help you understand my crazy decision a little

better. So, the year was 2011. Ancient, I know. Kristen was engaged to her now husband, Zach,

and we were in full wedding planning mode. I say we, because this wedding was a full,

blown family affair. With five daughters in our family, you can imagine the ups,

downs, tears, and cheers that followed us everywhere. Let's just say we didn't lack estrogen in our

house. The highs were high and the lows were low. Our poor dad. Kristen was the first sister to get

married, so this was a big deal. As Kristen's maid of honor, I was involved in pretty much every part

of the wedding planning process. One day, we were out shopping for the perfect wedding dress.

If you've ever been wedding dress shopping for yourself or with a friend, you know how it can be.

It's not an activity that guarantees smiles or success. It can be stressful, hard, tiring,

and sometimes downright tearful. There's so much pressure to find your dream dress

...