Ever since about April of this year, I have felt God’s love in a way I have never felt before. The only word to describe this is EXTRAVAGANT. God has opened my eyes to see His beauty in people around me, in nature, and simply in myself. God’s love language for me is alluring, tender, and constant reminders of who I am. God is teaching me that Jesus is enough for me, and I am enough for Him. This blog is all about sharing pictures with you of the extravagant ways God is reminding me of His love.
Okay, so you a probably thinking, “how does this count as God’s love?!” Stay with me here. A little bit of history about Cody (Standing in the middle), he works for a mattress company in Amelia, Ohio. Cody is one of those guys who holds the signs up by the street and dances to get people to buy a mattress. One day my friend Krista (One the right) and I noticed him dancing his heart out to the beats in his headphones. From that day forward, we always noticed him and laughed because he brought us so much joy. Fast forward a few months, and the community noticed Cody, he was working to raise money for tuition at The Ohio State University. Someone in the community set up a flash mob, for all the community to dance with Cody. This is where the picture comes from. Since this picture, Cody got all his tuition paid for, for his first year of college. See God wants us to dance along side of people, to have fun, and to share that contagious joy with others.
This second picture is how God shows me that I am loved, by using my friends. This was on Valentines Day. I am sure that my three separate friends didn’t plan for all these goodies to come to me on the same day, but God sure did. This is what “sweet” love looks like.
Original Women’s conference is where I heard God speak loud and clear to me, saying “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3. This is where I understood more of God’s love and where I asked to receive more of it. By the way, if you are a woman reading this, you need to go to this conference! It is life changing! http://originalconference.com/
These two photos are from May of this year during the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. Which is one of the biggest marathons in the city and maybe even the country (don’t quote me on this!). In January, Crossroads (my church) started its very own running groups for this race, to build community, God’s Kingdom, and to continue to flip the city of Cincinnati. Keep in mind I haven’t ran in over a year, and I have never really trained for a 6.2 mile race before. Through out this time, I was wrestling with why God wanted me to run? Why was this so important to Him? I learned that to be called by God is wonderful, but I also must be physically able to do what He has called me to do. I can now officially say I have trained, ran, and completed my first 10K race. Now onto that half marathon! God showed me with the love of community that I am able to run, I am strong, and powerful. In return of God showing me that Love, I was able to show my friend love by getting up at 4AM the next morning to watch her run and complete 13.1 miles. 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27
I was blessed with learning/ making pies with my four cousins and Grandmother this Summer. I might have taken 30 min to slice and peal the apples for my pie, but the outcome was delish! God showed me love by letting me have an intimate conversation with my Grandmother, that I have never had before. God showed me tender love here. My Grandmother is building the next generation with her love for our Father.
Most of the time, God shows me his love through nature. Mostly in sunsets or sunrises, I don’t know why but I can tell you that every time I see one I am captivated. It is like I am seeing a sunset for the very first time. Most of the time I am hearing words of affirmation spoken to me, words of truth, or just being in awe of God’s beauty. Here are some examples: ” You are all together Beautiful my darling, there is no flaw in you.” Song of Songs 4:7. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. My grace is sufficient for you. Be still and know that I AM God. ” Therefore I am going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.” Hosea 2:14. I have a promise for you, and that promise still remains. You are Worthy, You are Good enough and you are Loved!
One of the MAJOR things God has taught me is to LOVE your community around you. God has blessed me with some amazing memories with these ladies and gents above. All of these people that you see, I can be raw, real, silly, emotional, not so nice, and they still show me unconditional love. Just like Jesus! God has shown me through these people, “Hope, it is Okay to be your silly self, they are still going to love you as you are!”
Okay, I am almost done! I have many more pictures I could share, but I will save them for another day! Lastly, God has shown me how to take ALL the EXTRAVAGANT love He has given me and give it to others. One of those ways that God has shown me to do this is through “snail mail”. This is my love language to others, and the gift that God has given to me. I love encouraging people and letting them know “Hey! I am thinking about you!”
With all these pictures and words, this isn’t to say that my life is perfect because it’s not. It is to say though, that I have a perfect God, who wants to show me His EXTRAVAGANT love through, people, nature, food, place, adventure, being silly, having game nights, being real and raw with friends, and finally showing me my own talents.
Let me just pray over you.
God, I pray that who ever is reading this right now, no matter where they are on their walk with you, or what they believe, that you would show up. You would open their hearts, ears, mind, and eyes to see you more clearly. Show them your love in a way they have never seen it before. Most of all help them to feel it. God you do wonderful things for your children, an this person reading this is your child. Bless them. Protect them. and love them. In you name I pray. Amen
Thank you for taking the time to read this post! If there is anything I can be praying for you about, leave a comment for shoot me an email at [email protected].
I love you beautiful people so much!
In It For Good With Him,
Hope
