Is there anything that makes a girl feel more like a princess than wedding dress shopping? You have hundreds of dresses at your fingertips, mirrors, special lighting a pedestal, and your very own entourage!

My sophomore year of college one of my roommates was getting married.  I went dress shopping with her. The only memory I retained from that outing was seeing my dream dress for the first time. It was the most beautiful wedding dress I could have imagined, pure sparkle bodice with enough tulle to outfit an entire cast of ballerinas.  

Discovering that dress made a solid impression on me. This was before smart phone cameras, picture texts, or unlimited data, so once we left that boutique, my dream dress only existed in my memory. But I felt compelled to capture the memory of that dress. My only available tools were pen and paper. I followed the gentle prompt, a God whisper, and later that night, and I sketched ‘the dress’. (This may have been the first time I sketched anything in my life!)

Fast forward to the summer of my college graduation… The tables had turned, and it is now my princess time.  It was a gorgeous summers day in the Northwest, perfect for an all day wedding dress-shopping marathon with my mom.  For reasons that now escape me, we started with a boutique in East Portland. I must have been following another gentle prompt, a God whisper, because there were several closer, more convenient dress shops! `Three highways later, and an hour of driving under our belt, we walked into this tiny boutique.  I began browsing. In a matter of minutes, I found MY dress.  The dress of my dreams, the dress I sketched years prior!

(SIDENOTE: What bride tries on one single wedding dress? My mom stood there in stunned silence after witnessing the fastest wedding dress selection in the history of all brides.  Can someone call the Guinness Book of World Records? )

Do you notice any similarity between MY sketch and MY dress? I found my dream dress by accident once; and now a second time, on purpose. No gentle prompt or God whisper was needed to tell me to buy it.

Mamas, just how do we keep track of all our gentle prompts, our God whispers?  You want to know the secret? It comes down to one… single… word… CAPTURE IT. Write it down, draw it, tell someone.  Capturing your God whispers doesn’t require elaborate planning or prep. My sketch was done on scratch paper, on the other side of the sheet of paper is an old college homework assignment.  

I ended up with a wedding dress of dreams; not once, but twice! How? I captured it! Once captured, my dream dress existed outside of my memory. It wasn’t a casualty of forgetfulness or alteration.

Mamas, capture each prompt and whisper God places in your heart, they may lead to your very own fairy tale.