One Word for 2015

Hey all:) I pray you had an amazing Christmas and are throwing yourself into this New Year. Last year I was staring down at 40, this year I'm looking at my firstborn taking driver's training. Time moves way, way too fast.

2014 came to a hard close for me. Both in my personal life and my writing life I had huge hopes. I saw God working in several areas, and it truly looked like some "yeses" to many prayers were headed my way. Instead, I received "nos"...and really hard "nos" at that. At one moment it made me wonder if God really saw me. Not just that, but was I worth enough for him to answer? To use? Or just even was I enough? When your heart is hurting, you can ask some tough questions.

By late fall he started speaking one word over and over to me in so many situations. I'm not talking silently--though sometimes it was just a whisper to my heart--but vocally through people, places, and visuals. I couldn't miss the word if I'd tried. And while he spoke it to my heart, he also reawakened a passion in me to speak it to other women's hearts. What is that word?

Masterpiece.

And he paired it with this verse: For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

Did you know the definition of masterpiece? Not only is a masterpiece one-of-a-kind, but it's "a work of outstanding artistry or skill" or "an artist's or craftsman's best piece of work". And that's you.

Created by God, you are unique. Beautiful. Purposed. His absolute best. And loved beyond measure. In fact, as this word continually dropped into my life, God brought with it a picture. It's that picture I used last week. This golden frame with one word in the middle: you. I'm posting it again because I want you to look at it and hear his voice. No matter what you're still waiting for, the nos you've received, the longings still in your heart, the shortcomings you see, the flecks of your past you're still trying to bury or the insecurities you face...

are his masterpiece.

Your worth is beyond measure. And this year we'll be focusing on that. Every Monday there'll be a devotional that points us back to our worth in Christ. I even have several friends who'll be guest-posting because we all struggle with this. It's time to tackle that struggle, figure out who we are in Christ, and live the abundant life he so desperately wants us to have.