My Beloved

"I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me." Songs of S 7:10
In every woman's heart, there is a desire to be desired, to be pursued, to be loved. The L has been really teaching me about His heart for me and the depth of His love. I have always known that He is a jealous G-d and that He will continue to pursue me with a vengeance, wooing me with beautiful sunsets, a community full of love, and other little things that capture my heart. However, I have just not been able to let myself fall deeply in love with Him. I could not understand how to do that since I viewed Him as the Maker of all things.
I was reading Hosea just the other day and verses 14-20 really opened my eyes. The L wants us to call Him husband rather then G-d. He wants us to view Him as a Lover as well as the Creator. What really got my attention was how in Hosea, the L is speaking of prostitutes. I have always viewed prostitutes to be well...the definition of the word. It was in reading that passage that He opened my eyes to the reality of things.

I am a prostitute. You are a prostitute. WE are ALL prostitutes.
We sell ourselves to things that are not of the L. Tv. Computers. Jobs. Money. We are forgetting who we are married to.
What is so amazing about all of this is that G-d still DESIRES us! He WANTS us! He will do whatever it takes to HAVE us! I mean He went as far as to send His only son to die for us. Yeah...that is true love right there folks. The very definition of LOVE.

So the L is wooing me here in India. He is telling me over and over that I am His Beloved. Even at this moment, the word is written in Henna on my foot reminding me of this beautiful message.

"For Your Maker is your husband, the L of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the G-d of the whole earth he is called. For the L has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off says your G-d." Isa-ah 54:5-6

The L is moving here. He is wooing the souls of the people who seem the farthest. Remember Paul!

My journey is thus commencing.

I was in the Maneater worshiping at Monday Night Worship!

Wow. I can't believe that it is here! India. Woah.
Tomorrow, I leave for Georgia at precisely 10 a.m. There I will train for a couple of days and will get to know my teammates during that time. I will be IN India the 9th but am leaving the 8th. Basically, I am traveling for a day and a half. Talk about a LOOONG time!

So, how am I feeling?
Peaceful. Calm. Tranquil. Serene. Unruffled.
I mean come on. I am only going to a country that I have never been before where I can't speak an ounce of the language.
Yaaaa, I lied. These are all words NOT attributing to how I feel! haha!

I would say I am nervous, but that would not be the right word. It's more like INTIMIDATED! I have absolutely NO CLUE of what to expect and for some reason that makes me incredibly intimidated.
I am vulnerable. I do not know the people, language, culture, anything! Never before have I been put in a situation like this. Even when I went to Honduras, I could at least get by with Spanish. I am out of my element. Because of this, there is one thing that I do know what to expect.
Change.
My life is in the Lord's hands completely. I am stepping out in faith, going to a foreign country for 2 months (longer then I have ever been from home), and all I am able to do is cling to His glorious dirty feet. I like to think that the Lord's feet are dirty because He is constantly moving. He has already walked the beautiful dirt streets of India. He knows every nook and cranny of the place, every single person's name. Basically, I got the CONNECTION! The Lord is faithful. He has me going on this trip to a country that I know NOTHING of for a reason and NO WAY will He just leave me hanging.
So, yes, I am intimidated, but I am not worried or scared. The Lord's got my back. You want to know why there is not any armor for the back? It is because whatever we face with the Lord on our side we will defeat. Nothing will come behind us because the Lord is in front of us. Yeaaaahh...awesome right?!

So, I am off. To learn how to become a better woman, servant, and follower of the one and only Jesus Christ, Lord of all things. Holy Spirit, rain down on us!

Psalms 37- Read it and soak it in.

Btw, just a shout out to my k-life girls. HOLLA! Told you I would. :) Miss you guys and love you!

Peace out homeskillets. I'm going to go eat me some Indian food.
Samantha Lou Owens