Joy in the Unknown

Good Morning All,

I know that most of you are still at home with family and friends, or even traveling to amazing destinations! I was so blessed to be able to go home for Christmas this year and spend an amazing time catching up with my family and adopted families.

I bring you this blog today to give you the encouraging words that God has called me to give. I know that some of you are coming into a new season of new desires, new changes, new beginnings, and new hardships. So I bring you this word to encourage you to see beyond the distance and bring into perspective the act of Christ in your life! God gives us the gift of joy, not happiness, to sustain us through the toughest of times and the happiest of days. Happiness is fleeting, but joy is sustaining. No matter the season you are coming into, come and know that the God of the Universe created this day to be a special day in your life. I know that many days don't make sense in my life or circumstances don't add up and I wonder how in the heck will I ever see past this pain, hardship, or hurt. I want to encourage you that there is a light, there is a beacon of joy that surpasses every new season of your life! I come because I was called to speak even if no one will listen, I have been called to speak to you today!

This may not make sense to you today or even tomorrow, but I promise you if you are reading this, God has wooed you to Himself and He will surely answer you when you call and open the door when you knock.

"My sons and daughters, you have been called according to the great purposes of my Kingdom. Many of you struggle with letting go for fear of not having anything once you let go. Many of you struggle of letting go because you fear you will not be held once you let go. Both of these are lies from the enemy. You will always have me to hold onto and I will always be holding onto you! I come to you today and give you the word of joy to be ever surpassing over whatever circumstance you are walking in. I will forever sustain you through the coming days and I give you this life so that you may be a witness for the ones who need me more than even you. My sons and daughters, do not fear but rejoice for the God of the Universe has called you, summoned you, to stand up, and walk ahead. I will prepare the steps and lay before you the path that I have called you to walk, but you must get up and let go of whatever is holding you back. Let go of that relationship that is holding you back from experiencing true love in my name, let go of that stronghold that forever entangles you to seek the world over the Word, let go of that burden that you carry from when you were younger that continually steals from the joy of today, and please let go of the lies that you continue to believe from the enemy that you won't make it or you can't do it until ...... is done. I come to you today to speak to you in joy, in hope, and in reassurance that you are being lead to let go and fall into my arms. Although the unknown seems dark and scary, the actuality is that what now bounds you is the dark and scary and the unknown is the light and joy of the Kingdom. Come my sons and daughters, do not fear, but rejoice, for the God of the Universe has brought you here, in this time, in this place, for a reason. Stand up and walk and let My joy overwhelm you and captivate you."

My brothers and sisters, I am overwhelmed that the God of the Universe would come and share with us such simple but pure loving knowledge. I pray for your hearts and I will be praying that whoever reads this would take a stand and be lead to make a change. Do not fear but rejoice for God has you and know that He is all you need. He is all we need.

"For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:13

Just Talking...

Hello All,

I was reading through Facebook, just like every other day, and came across this article on one of my friends pages...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yashar-hedayat/a-message-to-women-from-a_1_b_958859.html

This article is a must read for a guy and girl. I wouldn't say it was the highest priority, but I would deem it has more relevence in today's society than most other books and articles.

I love to encourage and uplift women and to lead them to the beautiful realization that Christ is wonderful and is fully able to satisfy their every desire and longing.

With that being said, the point of this blog entry is to relate a point and a realzation on my part! God created us women to be loved and adored and be wooed and pursued. I believe with my whole heart that one day God will bring a man into my life that, without much doing on my part, will love me despite my flaws. The problem with today's society is that many men are too scared to realize the importance of being honest with themselves and owning up to their own. So then they place "emotional manipulation" on the hearts of their friends, girlfriends, and/or wives. I read this article and was appalled that none of this had occured to me sooner. Because even I have thought to the point of "It has to be me, I'm the crazy one..." After many fights with the opposite sex on issues revolving around who did what and what that meant, I realize that I was right and I wasn't crazy.

This is not a feminist blog in no means, and I am compleltey aware of the flaws and mishaps of us women, but there has to be a point when men in my generation learn to stand up and not coward out.

"It's a whole lot easier to emotionally manipulate someone who has been conditioned by our society to accept it. We continue to burden women because they don't refuse our burdens as easily. It's the ultimate cowardice."

Although I have many amazing guy friends in my life, because I know some might read this, I do feel that "most" young men do not realize or even want to understand the heart and sensitivty of a women's heart. It is crazy to me that the same things that attracts a man to a women are the same things he will manipulate.

Disclosure from all of this is that I know that ALL men are not this way and I know that ALL women are not manipulated. I am going off of the notion of secular society and thought I would generate my point into all of this!

I just want to encourage young men, as I lift this up in prayer as well, to appreciate the women in your life and honor them with integrity and respect. And women, understand that every guy is not going to be your prince charming and do not hold them to that expectation. For all men and women, let God be your constant and know that through His truth and guidance all of this will become substantially easier!

<3

The Light of a Tree

Hello My Fellow Bloggers, Readers, Hopeful Friends,

I want you all to know that God is great, beautiful, marvelous, and just absolutely moving! I am in awe of how He continually takes care of me when I don't think I can take much more!

I am going through a season of change, hope, joy, sorrow, and fulfillment. I know that God is changing my life, giving me hope for tomorrow, allowing joy to come through the sorrow of letting go, and fulfilling more dreams than even I can see! 

Last night I was able to attend the Christmas at Rockefeller here in NY. It was beautiful, freezing, but beautiful. To see so many people, close to half of a million, gathered around this, "tree!"

Can you believe it, it really is just a tree with lights, isn't it? 

The Holy Spirit brought to mind this morning a similar story about a tree with not lights, but one Light. I thought about it and it dawned on a me why the questions seem so similar...

Can you believe it, it really is just a man on a cross, isn't it?

These trees were different, these lights were also different. One tree gives us a beautiful Christmas decoration, the other was cut and sawed to gave us life. One set of lights gives us the spectrum of the rainbow, the other gives us the hope of tomorrow. One tree gave half of a million people the chance to gather with friends and family to sing Christmas carols, the other gave billions of people the chance at redemption and the chance to see family and friends on the other side.

There are many points in my life that I will remember certain thoughts and events, but I have to say last night is one of the top five. Surrounded by people who are looking at a tree with lights searching for hope and love and some not knowing that it was a tree and a Light that was nailed and sacrificed a long time ago that gives them hope and love today.

Although not everyone there was a believer, although I know God can do hope one day, I do know that everyone yearned for the a bigger Light.

I pray that we all know that its not just a tree and multicolored lights that gives us hope and joy, it's the tree that was cut down, shaped like a cross, and nailed over 2000 years ago that brings us true Light to this world.

I pray for all of us that we see the true Light of this Christmas season.

Joy, Peace, and Love to you and yours!

Growth in the Cafeteria

Good Morning All,

I hope you are all doing fine this lovely Friday morning. I am in a particularly GREAT mood because I fly back to Texas today for the week and it is always a joy to see family and friends.

I am writing just a short blog this morning to encourage you and to praise the God who is great and merciful. This morning while eating breakfast in the cafeteria of my women's dorm in NYC I was amazed. This same cafeteria was the same cafeteria I sat just 3 months ago wondering how I would ever make it.

You may be saying "Oh Jess...dramatic, much?" Although you might be right and I could honestly agree with you, well now. But then, I thought my world would never be at peace again. I thought the agony of walking away from the friends, family, church, and life I had in Denton could never be the same or replaced by a strange and crazy city.

Are there times in your life when you just can't see past your circumstance?

I am writing this because God knows you and I both need to be reminded that you are not alone. You have been given a purpose and a calling and you have been sent according to HIS purposes and for HIS will to be done. I spend hours thinking I might miss out on what God is sending me into, all the while He knows that His plan cannot be messed up. HE KNOWS.

So I encourage you, although times may have been or are tough, thank God for the grace and mercy that He still knows you. May it give you a peace to know that although the world may seem strange and crazy some days/weeks/months, the God of your heart is never strange or crazy, He is known and peaceful. 

May we be reminded to rely on the known and peaceful.

This was my growth in the cafeteria, although the growth in my heart is proving to be much more appealing :)

Have an amazing Thanksgiving and may you be thankful for your friends, family, and the beautiful place you call your temporary home!

<3

Angels in the Wilderness

Through many times in our lives we all come to a point where life, love, and hope are all interuppted by heartache or heartbreak. There is no notice of these interupptions, only the grace of God leading you to a way of healing before you ever realize you will need it.

"At once the Spirit sent him into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels attended Him." 

Mark 1:12-13

I sat in my dorm room here in NYC last night and cried out to the Lord wondering why, how, and if. These are common questions we all face in life. These are what I call my interupptions. As mentioned before God has changed me, transformed me, and loved me through this whole new wilderness. I have been tested, and although it has been longer than forty days, I know the angels are still attending me.

I am learning to love God through whatever circumstance, trust in Him in whatever waiting period, and fall in love with Him through the however long this season of singleness! He has wooed me, pursued me, and is now changing me to be the woman He sees me to be. His plan is beautiful and perfect. So the flaw is only my unbelief in that plan.

So all I can do is cling to His truth and be thankful for my angels in the season of wilderness. I am thankful for The Apostles Church, my Flatiron Community Group, my wonderful friend Ramzy, and my beautiful and angelic mother. These are just a few of my angels, though many more are here...not all physically, but spiritually.

This is why I write these, in hopes that God's angels would wrap around you in the world of your own wilderness. I don't know where you are at or where God has brought you, but I do know that God loves you and that He has brought angels to attend you just as He did with Jesus. So be aware of where the angels are in your life, for those are His little miracles He gives you to let you know He is here.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

When You Wake Up

This morning I woke up in the midst of many feelings and emotions. Realizing the brink of my life was in the hands of myself. Today is a new day, it will never be November 8, 2011 again. You have the chance to change, create, love, redeem, hope, laugh, and pursue anything and everything today. The choice is yours.

I want to encourage you to lift up your hands praise, or if not hands, just your hearts in reverence of the God who created you and me. I post these post because I do believe that community is engaging in the lives of our brother's and sister's in Christ, no matter the miles that separate them. I am a few thousand miles away from most of you, but what I do know is that God is never more near than He is right now.

So when you wake up today or any day, remember through exhaustion from the late night before or the lack of energy from the busyness of the week that you are created in the likeness of a man who was tired and busy just as you and lived a perfect life so that you may live today.

I encourage you to smile, rejoice, and remember that you woke up this morning, that is more than many can say!

Don't just wake up from sleep, wake up from the life of absent-minded lifeless living into a new and exciting day of joy and hope.

Be the joy to someone today and soon you will find joy in all you do.

Be blessed and know that I am praying for each of you!

<3

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice & be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Simple Things in Life...

Hey Y'all,

(This one is going to be deep, so get ready for the dive!)

HANDS: Yesterday I received my birthday gift from my parents in the mail. As I walked into the elevator, I ran my fingers over my mother's handwriting. I missed her hands. I remember her hands holding me when I was sick, holding me when my eyes couldn't cry another tear, her hands driving me to school every morning in high school. Her hands holding me tight as she said goodbye when I moved to Denton and her hands the last time I hugged her goodbye before moving to New York. Her hands, so simple, yet so very much cherished.

LOVE: I sit and prayed for my aunt last night and thought about the last time I was home with her. Her body so frail, but her heart and spirit so strong. I remember distinctly one conversation I had with her and my uncle. She travels to the hospital every two weeks and they are in that hospital room for two weeks. I remember sitting there and tell them how much I know they love being home. They look at each other and say "We can't wait to be home so we can sleep in the same bed together." To go two weeks laying side by side while she is in the hospital bed and he lies in the fold out chair, the one thing they long for is to be able to be by each others side. I prayed then and now that God would bring me a man that I would love like that.  Their love, so simple, yet so divine and beautiful.


BOOK: On Sunday after church I have made it my routine to find a book to read at the B&N in Union Square. I have heard great things about this book, "Is Heaven for Real," and have been wanting to read it. I picked it up, but then saw another book that was perfect for the time in my life right now "Resolution for Women." So I checked out and knew that night that it was the book I was meant to purchase. BUT, God had other plans. Remember I recieved a gift from my parents yesterday, within this box was the book "Is Heaven for Real." One book, so simple, yet so timely placed. 


Hands, Love, and a Book; all these together would mean nothing to one other person, but to me, they will be remembered forever. 

I have been struggling recently on understanding God's timing and the reason's for certain things He has called me into. As I opened that present and was given these things that I knew my mother so intricately picked out for my joy, I was overwhelmed. I was loved, adored, prayed for, and specifically given this gift for my 23rd birthday.  It was one of the best gifts I have even been given.


I thank God today for my mother's hands, for the memories I have been given with her and with my aunt and uncle. I thank God for the reminder of a child-like faith in this book and that this is not my eternal destination. No matter what struggles or misunderstandings I am going through I know the simple truth that Heaven is waiting for me and so is my loving and beautiful Jehovah Jireh. 


So today, as you read about my life, may you reflect on your own! 


Blessings and simplicity to you!