Last weekend my roommate Maggie brought us to her family beach house in Carmel to celebrate her 25th birthday. Each time I had previously asked her what the house looked like she said you could only experience it because it couldn’t be described. The night we arrived to her home that sits on the cliffs along the ocean of Highway 1, God began opening my heart to His extravagant way of loving me. (the house is in the top right corner of this picture)
The home is surrounded by an old stone wall with one door which opens into a beautiful garden which leads down a path to their castle like home. It was built in 1922 using only stone. There are fireplaces in every room including the kitchen. There are tall ceilings, old bookshelves, a grand piano, and stone porches shadowed by trees; all overlooking the northern Californian coast line. We felt like the girls in Little Woman or Pride and Prejudice as we spent our time playing music, reading, cooking, taking walks and spending time with Jesus. It is a simple yet magic
al place with secret sitting spots throughout the grounds along the cliffs. Each time we came home from downtown I still couldn’t believe my eyes. My senses were on overload. I was completely romanced by this house. It was extravagant. It was a gift that I did nothing to receive yet it surrounded me each morning I woke up to the ocean out my window.
The first night we arrived I was running around screaming like a little girl who had been given the greatest gift she could never imagine. I was so overwhelmed and knew God was revealing something to me. This is what it is like living as His daughter. He is a majestic God and always always always has deeper places to take us in His love, places we don’t even have the ability to provide for ourselves. This is what it means to live in His Kingdom on earth. We are capable to do the imaginable humanly possible things, but what about the things God promises us which are supe
rnatural and unrealistic and seem to good to be true? He wants to pour it all out and we only have not because we haven’t asked. “He is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask for or imagine.” My friend Christen said, “God is showing us that we have been living with the mentality of living in a rented house when God really has us living in a castle.” He loves us more than we know. I’ve been learning its time to surrender to all the love and extravagance He has already promised and given me instead of living with the mentality I have to do something to receive what He wants to give me. We walk in grace, and I’ve been learning its only my mindset which has kept me from always living in His castle with Him.
Fun story
While we were in Carmel Christen’s iphone died so we had to go to the Mac store in Monterey. We get there and have to wait an hour to have a Mac guy look at it at their ‘Genius Bar’. Christen and I sit down and a guy named Chris began working on her phone. We were chatting and he asked us why we would choose to live in Redding (common question). He had previously mentioned that he broke or sprained his wrist a couple days before so it was hard for him to work. We told him we went to a ministry school in Redding and actually saw God heal people all the time if he wanted us to pray for him. While nervously laughing he said, “sure why not.” We were joking with him about exchanging healings since Christens iphone was basically dead and her warranty was up. Well Chris became our friend and he ended up giving Christen a new iphone for free since her warranty was only one month up. Before we left Chris let us pray for his hand. We totally felt the presence of the Holy Spirit come. Chris could feel tingling and heat in his hand so we kept praying. He stepped back and began to bend His wrist and fingers while looking at us like…. “what just happened?” We told him that God really loved him and that he is important to God. Chris had to help the customer next to us so we had to leave but we’ve kept in contact with him and will definitely see him again.
It was so exciting! Christen and I ran out of the store to the car jumping and laughing and praising Jesus. It was so wild, but there is nothing better than seeing Gods presence fall in a random place at a random time. He’s always waiting for us to just step out and believe that He is who He says He is and desires to do what He says He can do. He loves those who don’t know Him the same amount that we get to experience His love. It’s fun being apart of God pouring it out in any way possible.
Christen and I got in our car and began to drive back to our castle by the sea. The sun was setting over the ocean and we were in a convertible. I turned on the radio and a certain rap song came on. I had previously heard this song right when I entered Redding the first time I moved here. I had asked God for a song that was going to typify my year here. The same song came on at that moment in Carmel as it played… “Dangerous, She’s Dangerous, She’s Dangerous”. Haha It was awesome. All and all life is a miracle and ridiculously unimaginable when you wake up each morning and turn all your attention to the one who always has all His attention on you and say, “today is yours, I am yours”. It’s the most joyful thing to do every morning I get up. There is no sacrifice when you’re in love.
