God NEVER writes the same love story twice

Written By @3130beloved
31:30 beloved @_jessicachow
31:30 beloved @_jessicachow

God NEVER writes the same love story twice and hallelujah for that! How boring that’d be of Him, what a tragic loss of moments to discover, search & find God that would be if we never walked though the unknown, and what minimal glory He would get if everyone followed a “script” for love.
But my, OH MY!
How we can sing His PUH-RAISE when we’re put in situations that requires us to be constantly dependent on Him, amen?
✨
Many of you have read how this journey of coming together for Jon and myself was far from a “fairytale” or love at first site. HA! Quite the contrary to your typical love story where I wasn’t even attracted to him for the first year of knowing him and 5 months of dating him.
I don’t think I could have fathomed a more perfectly broken and imperfect story so we can TRULY BOAST in the greatness + patience + gentleness + and wise counsel of The Lord. God really can make a straight line with crooked sticks.🙌🏼 He uses broken and insecure people like me and like you to bring forth His purposes despite sometimes our (my) idiocy. We’re saved into His church body so we’d never have to walk alone in ANY journey, amen?! Praise the Lord for that because I would have walked my foolish self right out of this relationship if I was alone and lived in regret for the rest of my life.
✨
Confession: I was not attracted to Jon for over a year as he showed interest.
I told him, “I’m not attracted to you.”
He said, “That’s O.K. I’m thankful to be a brother-in-Christ with you this season.” I said, “What? Why aren’t you offended by what I just said?” He smiles, “Because I think it’s between you and the Lord.”

FFFFFFF. It SOOO was!

I fought with my best friends and women’s discipleship group for MONTHSSS (not exaggerating) to let me break up with him because I had no “attraction” to him. They continued praying and encouraging me to work through why I was so uncomfortable and to not jump out the boat just yet. I argued with my mentor for the first time ever in frustration and confusion to let me run away from a man that I simply didn’t understand. It wasn’t until I met a therapist who said to me, “Maybe the relationships that you are used to are not the healthiest ones. Maybe what you find attractive is not what God wants for you? Maybe this is an emotionally healthy man.” OH. MY. YES! That was it. He IS emotionally healthy and it is foreign to me as I grew up with men who were cheaters, liars, thieves and covert manipulators. It boiled down to the fact that I was afraid of “healthy” because it was unfamiliar. God wanted to heal my wounds through a man anointed to love me and who withstood my firing rage & anger against him out of fear. My anger also came from hurt. The hurt I witnessed man inflict on strong women like my mother, my aunts, my cousins— all we’re walked out on. By grace of God, He equipped and empowered Jon to continue SHOWERING me with grace & patience until my began to soften. Before I could keep up, I fell in love with Jon’s commitment to the Lord + to me + and to our church.

31:30 beloved @_jessicachow

Many beyond who are in these photos not only were the ones who prayed for our salvation in Christ which brought Jon and I both to get saved before we ever met, but also throughout our entire dating season in group discussions & one-on-ones, they reminded us of God’s promises to us, to rely on the Holy Spirit through every trial that we worked through together and to surrender ALL outcomes to The Lord whether we ended up together or not. Let us date in a way where our future spouse would thank us because at the end of the day, we’re brother and sister in Christ.

So here we were… Stepping into a new season of preparation for life in covenant.
Hands were open & MAN, did Jesus teach us 🤲🏻 #engaged💍
📸: @cyeetheworld #3130Beloved #identityisbeloved

@3130beloved

I’ve always hated these, “Bio” or “About me” sections— so awkward.

But… after living 25 years lost in my agnostic world chasing my own fame, glory, comfort and will I was brought to my end. After the death of my mom, ending the most manipulative & emotionally abusive relationship, a lifestyle of drug addiction, 2 abortions, and finding myself empty while standing in the middle of what the world says is “bliss”… I reached the end of myself and the beginning of seeing Jesus’ light beaming down on me.

I met His Holy Spirit for the first time at a Halloween rave called, “Day of the Dead.” To this day, I still think this is one of the darkest places to be on our planet. I raved and popped pills to numb my pain, to avoid my fears and to suppress my sadness. I was in the middle of bobbing my head and raising my arms to the electro house music blasting in my ears when images of skeletons came on the TV monitors and the weak spirit within me has a knee-jerk reaction to put my arms down. “Whoa! I don’t worship that!”, I thought. “Wait, what do I know about worship?” Now looking back, there God was! The beginning of my site for Him.

A year later, I followed my brother (his good looking friend) to church (@realityLA). I don’t remember the sermon but I heard God for the first time when worship began singing, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me.”

I LOST my mind.

It was an overwhelming & LAVISHINGGG upon me of, "Hi precious girl. I see you. I know you. I’ve been here. I know your pain. I know your loss. I know you are lost. I know you’re angry, specifically with me because you lost your mom and you think your life is unredeemable but my beloved, I’ve been coming after you because you are mine.” I cried the hardest I’d ever cried in my life because my entire being just knew… This. Is. God. This. Is. The. Master. Of. The. Universe— and He wants me? Broken, selfish, ugly me?

I soon followed this good looking friend of my brothers to a community group. There is where I met the love of God through His people as they accepted me, fed me, welcomed me, and took me in as family despite my lifestyle that rebelled against everything they believed. One year later, I said, “Fine. I’ll follow until you fail just like everything else has.” Well… He hasn’t failed nor broken any promise yet. ;) My choice to accept Jesus as my Lord, savior and new identity has brought me more freedom than I could have ever fathomed. I didn’t know what I was living for or aiming at but God truly lit up every shadow, broke down every wall, shattered every lie and came after me.

Salvation belongs to the Lord.

As the world kicks and screams trying to shout their way to justice, peace and unity on their own terms right now, may the roots of our identity in Christ grow deeper each day together as one body; as one family.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.”

https://3130beloved.com
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