“[We] were made because [we] matter, and [we] were never intended to live a life that matters less than anyone else,” | Author + Writer Tricia Lott Williford.

The influences of those around us play a bigger role than we like to admit on what we think we are worth. From the moment we are born, society tells us how to look and act. It tells us how to think about ourselves based on our success in the American Dream. It tells us that we are successful once we are married and have children. It tells us that we are capable or qualified once we are a certain age or have enough experience. Or that we are enough based on what kind of house or car we have.

But this is just not true. This is not SUCCESS.

Like a lot of women, I struggle with accepting who I am and accepting God’s grace and love for me. As I navigate through what “they” say my life should look like, I have to weed through a lot of lies. I wrestle with what God says I deserve. It is hard for me to believe that I am talented enough to live out my dreams. It is hard to believe that despite my circumstances and choices, God would redeem, love, and accept me.

While reading Tricia Lott Williford’s book, “You Can Do This”, I was reminded that my identity is more than the mold of what society tries to make me and the lies that play on repeat in my mind. She explains finding our new identity like this;

When life gets difficult, we naturally fall back on our old habits, and our old beliefs, but when we allow ourselves to be who we are through God’s grace, the old doesn’t seem to fit anymore and it becomes unnatural. In this place, it allows God the space to weave in a new identity into us. We need to have grace on ourselves as we begin to redefine our identity and believe in who God is shaping us to become. Sometimes definitions we used to identify with just don’t define us anymore.

When we believe that God made us with a purpose and we embrace all that He made us to be, we can be confident, because our confidence comes from Him. Tricia Lott Williford says, “The only difference between you and a confident person is one thing: confidence… how you feel about yourself; what you tell yourself; and whether you believe God is in you, beside you, and equipping you for this… it’s a tremendous shift of security to realize that any confidence I have in myself is ultimately confidence in the one who made me.”

We were created by our One True King. We are His children made in His image. He gave us passions and dreams for a reason. We can confidently take hold of His goodness because of whose we are. We are brilliant, we are wise, we are beautiful and we have a purpose. We are mothers, we are women, we are hard workers, we are teachers and we are strong.

As I read through Tricia’s book and have prayed about my fears and insecurities, God has revealed His grace to me. He has loved me deeply and spoken to my heart. Because of that, I can be confident in who I am. I can be confident in my story and how God will use it to bring Him glory. I know that as I continue to accept who I am, I am accepting something that is good, true, and real.

This Mother’s Day, I invite you start this journey to more confidence. I’ll see you at service.

“There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” | Christopher Robin – Pooh’s Grand Adventure