I have a confession...

Actually, I have lots of confessions but let’s stick with one for this post.

I’m intimidated by you.

And by you, I mean women.

Put me in a room of my peers and it won’t be long before my hands are sweaty and I’m shaking in my boots (yeah, the cute ones I bought from TJ Maxx in the hopes they’d somehow hypnotize everyone into liking me—you know what I’m talking about).

It got so bad I even took drastic measures a few summers ago.

Disclaimer: there is some serious dorkiness coming in the next few sentences. If you’re offended by that you should stop reading now.

I went to the library and I checked out all the social skills books. The ones like, “How to Have Friends and Influence People without Relying on Your TJ Maxx Boots.” And I read all of them. I know—don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Through my ambitious pursuit of coolness, I discovered that my insecurities came from a much deeper place than an inability to make coherent small talk at times. What I thought might be some sort of social ailment turned out to be a spiritual one.

Inside a voice whispered, “You’re not enough.” Depending on the day, an extra word might be thrown into that sentence—

You’re not pretty enough.

You’re not outgoing enough.

You’re not likeable enough.

So I kept spinning my wheels on an endless treadmill. I’d make progress in one area only to realize I had miles to go in another.

Exhausted, I finally began pondering and praying.

“Lord,” I asked, “Why do women feel as if we’re not enough?”

It seemed I heard a whisper in response, “Because they’re not.”

For a moment I thought I had some holy static happening.

"Excuse me, God, it sounded like you said, ‘We’re not enough.’ Could you repeat that pretty please?”

Again, gently and firmly, “You are not enough.”

By then I started thinking perhaps my heart had dialed the wrong number and the devil was on the line.

But in that pause it seemed God finished the sentence, “You are not enough…in me you are so much more.”

We are much more than pretty…we are wonderfully made.

We are much more than likeable…we are deeply loved.

We are much more than okay…we are daughters of the King. '

I think the enemy tricks us into believing we are not enough because he knows if we discover the truth we’ll be unstoppable.

If you’ve embraced that lie like I did then together we can start trading it for the truth...

We are chosen, cherished, created women who have all we need to fulfill God’s plans for our lives. He has made us just as He wants us to be. We have something to offer that no one else can bring…and the world is waiting.

Girls, let’s stop shaking in our boots and instead start standing tall for Him together.

I can’t do it alone—will you be (in) this with me?