Washington

It's been almost a week and I've enjoyed myself immensely. My friend Corey has this amazing house that is filled with God's presence all the time. They have this room upstairs that is called the music room and Carley, Corey's little sister, plays the piano, drums and jimbays in there. It's kind of like wide open spaces and you can move around and enjoy yourself just listening to Carley play. So, Washington is quite different from what I expected. It's like a whole different culture out here on the West Coast. There is so much creativity out here too. For example, people have a different type of dressing out here. It's like mod-European inspired. It's like walking into an artist drawing and painting room with a white sheet and coming out with designed, colorful and patterned clothes. I love it!!! It's hip and eclectic. My type of stuff. I just have to play around with the style and find out what fits me most. It's all about bright colors and patterns that stand out in a good way. Carley is my inspiration for it. She's so hip and cute. I'll bring that inspiration back with me to the East coast and try it out. I love being artistic and eclectic. My creativity was hidden for a while and I'm just starting to realize that I can express it through cool and hip clothing. It's good when you find identity in Christ because you start to discover different things that you didn't know you liked or desires you had in you. They start to surface and it's a great thing.

I went to Pike's Place Market on Saturday. It was beautiful! It was a dream come true because I've always wanted to visit the original Starbucks and I did! I got some pictures of it and I was just taking in everything I was seeing. The market there was really cool. I could picture myself going there every Sunday and meeting new people and just sitting and talking with them. I really felt like I was in a movie too. I felt like I was being watched as I walked through the market and the market park. There's a place where tons of people just sit around behind the coblestoned walk area and just sit and chill. There are some street performers, like in NYC, and there are some people walking their pets and some eating their street food. Seattle doesn't have that creepy vibe you get from when you visit NYC. Seattle is like an open door with no limits and NYC is like a closed door where everyone has to be a certain way or else. I officially like Seattle better than NYC. I would move to Seattle one day if I could to live her for about a year or two. It's really breathtaking and heart warming.

God has really been blessing me this summer. He's really blessing my socks right off. I've grown to appreciate and love God so much because He is so faithful to me. He told me because I've been faithful to Him this summer and in my past that He would bless my socks off. So, I'm walking in that prophecy and promise He has given me. This season is a season of fun and searching for what He has for me. I know seasons come and go, but I want to make sure I don't take it for granted or misuse this opportunity that God is giving me. I'm so thankful for everything He has done for me and is doing for me. My heart has been readied for so many things and I can't wait for what is instore for me next.

Sleepless in Seattle

Well, I'm technically in Marysville Washington just 45 minutes north of Seattle, but I love the play on words. If you've ever watched the movie, Sleepless in Seattle, you will remember the story line of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Meg Ryan was an engaged young woman who had everything going for her; however. She was missing something in her life. She felt a part of her heart wasn't complete yet. Now on the other side, Tom Hanks was a widowed father who was constantly reminded of his love for his deceased wife. The movie was about finding love, in its truest form and reaching out and taking risks to find that one person; in Tom Hanks world, it was to find the person again that could complete him and his son's life too. I woke up this morning 9:30 west coast time, and was reminded of this movie, filmed in 1993. However, I got a revelation about it. It's neat, so hold time and keep reading :)

I'm sitting outside of a friend's house in Marysville, Washington. If you can imagine, I'm sitting on a deck facing Seattle and the Baker Mountains. I see trees separating land lines of houses and beautiful tall flowers and bushes that are as high as me, when standing 5'8" on the ground. It just rained this morning and I'm able to smell the hint of sea salt in the air and I can hear absolutely nothing, but some cars passing by on the highway and streets of Marysville. I can also hear a few birds singing in the trees and flying to and fro from their nests and respective favorite trees. I can see God's creation all over and this movie keeps me writing and thinking about God.

God revealed to me that I am in Seattle Washington for a reason. Not only am I to be here for fun and relaxation at a great friend's house, but I am here to deposit something and gain something in return. The main ingredient of it all is love. The love isn't about what Jenelle can leave or gain, it's about the Father's love. Now, in the movie, Sleepless in Seattle, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan were searching for their own love and it took a while for them to actually find it. It happened to be in Seattle. I realized that I am very similar to their stories in the movie, but there is one defining element that is different. That's the love of Abba Father from Heaven. I'm sitting outside on a deck just thinking about how much God loves me. In all honesty, I was made for His Glory. I was made to be loved and to give love away. I'm so loved that I can't escape the fact that I am in love with God and I didn't need to search the world to find it. I just observed what the world had, like nature, and I can see the love that God poured out on earth to create it. In regards to human beings, we're always in need of love and affection, so what perfect opportunity than to actually come to a point of passionate love for my Heavenly Father than right now. I'm actually in Seattle Washington and I didn't need to find love in a person to get love. God's love is always there for me and its unconditional. That's the crazy part. In the movie, Meg Ryan was trying to find love and it was always based on conditions for her in the movie. That's where she was confused and upset. She was looking for love and couldn't find what would fill her. Her filler was Tom Hanks in Seattle. My filler isn't in anyone, but Jesus Christ.

What's also funny is that I'm sitting here on my friend's deck outside in the cool crisp Seattle air and I'm playing with my hair that is long and blonde. In the movie Meg Ryan also had long, beautiful, blonde hair. Kind of crazy, but cool because I'm able to think back about the movie and how cool it really was to watch.

I would have never thought in a million years that I would sitting on the west coast of the U.S writing this blog and enjoying life at 23 years old. God is so faithful and amazing that He is just blessing the socks right off me. God's intentions are to bless the socks of your feet. Whether it's to bring someone in your life and find true love, like Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, or whether it's to bring you to places that you can't even imagine of going to, or let you sit on someones deck and blog about His love and how faith He really is in your lives. Whatever God has is so much greater than you can anticipate or even think of. It says in His word that His thoughts are greater than ours and they are many of us. If you put every person's thoughts together, I highly doubt they would even equal the thoughts of God towards us, His beloved really are. I know my beloved, Jesus, loves me and in this life that's all that matters. When we allow Jesus to love us, we can love Him back with nothing to hold us back. We won't be rejected from His love. His love is never-ending and unconditional.

I want to get to a point in my life where I can walk in His love all the time. I'm not there yet, but I strive. Striving is all that matters right now, in my life. My heart has been readied for things in my life and I am completely open to what God has for me. It's amazing to be at a point in my life where I can say in confidence that God is the love of my soul, no offense can come my way, no weapon formed against me shall prosper, and delighting myself in His love, He will and has promised me the desires of my heart. It's a good place to be in and soak.

I never thought I would be in Seattle Washington and just even on the west coast of the U.S in general, but God did and that's the coolest part of my life. Greater things are yet to come my friends....

Beloved

It's a word that revelates in my heart. There's this song that goes something like this, "I am my beloved's and He is mine." It's by Kim Walker. Just that simple line makes me feel good inside. The beloved that she references in her song is God. Kim Walker emphasizes that God is to be our love;our beloved. We're in a time and change of atmosphere in this world that God is calling His disciples to reach out in love in the world. It says we are to show and do the greatest commandment on earth as it is in heaven. That's love on another. To start, we have to look deep and dive hard into our own hearts to find that love. When we find that love in our spirits, we can then love God and others. So Kim Walker is right when she says that God is our beloved and we are His. It's all about relationship with Jesus Christ. He can be your anything and everything. For me, it's my Father. God is my Father and the relationship I have with Him is a Father to daughter relationship. However, at the same time, God says in His Word that we are His brides. When you think about that at first, it can get slightly confusing, but it's okay. I want to explain it a little bit in how God revealed it to me; in hopes that God can do the same for you. In the Bible, we are called to be God's brides and He is the bridegroom. Jesus is coming back one day and we need to be in receiving mode. We are to be ready, the bride and with open arms to receive the bridegroom; Jesus. This whole thing is enveloped in love. It's about a relationship with Christ. We're one with Him. It's the way a marriage is. One soul, knit together forever. That's pretty neat if you meditate on that. It's good stuff. So Kim Walker's song is a great song to listen to. If you get a chance, check her out online somewhere. It will bring you to tears, like it did to me.

Beloved just has this resounding code that hits my soul when I recent it in my thoughts or speak it out loud. It means a lot to me. My sister/friend Eleanor was a really great example of the word beloved. Eleanor taught me this summer that we are God's beloved first. She revealed to me, through God, that beloved is a love word too. It is to be a dear souled word used for intimate means. God called me from whence I was born to be intimate with Him. My beloved Jesus has called me back to Him ever since I was born. That's so powerful to me. So, all this talk about me trying to find someone in my life to love and be married to doesn't even compare to how much love God has for me and how much I am to be in love with Christ Jesus. God brought me to a place today, in my life, where my beloved is my one true love. I am truly to be my beloved's and He is mine. I've said this before, but God wants us to be in love with Him before we move on to our mate in life. God is awesome guys. God is faithful. God showed me that I can trust Him because He is faithful to me. Perfect love casts out all fear and within God, my love in the beloved, I am secure and I don't have to worry about my future. Perfect love is only in my Jesus. I hope that you have perfect love in Him too. I hope that you can aspire to get it. It's attainable. Nothing is too big for God and you in God.

Blessings.