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Welcome back!

Last week, we ended our talk on the discordant note of not having enough. Of scarcity.

Oh? You maybe had hoped I would have said something happier, such as abundance?

Well, that is what we hope for, isn’t it? But really, deep down in our bones, if you are like me, it’s scarcity that seeps into most of my expressions, moment to moment.

It’s a pretty big deal, globally. Especially among women. Scarcity. Not being enough — as women.

And collectively our voices have been coming together, gaining momentum, and we’ve begun to declare in bold, countering, affirmatives, with a singular voice — soprano, alto, mezzo-sopranos — a chorus we sing altogether, sometimes frenzied, arms bound in solidarity, crying aloud …

I AM ENOUGH. 

And so I realized, from the first moment I heard it declared from the stage of a TedTalk about six years ago by Brene Brown, and noting its own crescendo growing into a global wave and even spilling out in so many phrases on the green before our nation’s own Capitol this past weekend, we really do need to define this whole enough business so we know what is and is not true.  

It does matter.  Deeply, and on many levels.

Being enough, like its kindred connection to Beauty as an ideal, culturally means there is much at stake.

It matters to women the world over when changing diapers, wiping runny noses, catching the subway to an uptown corporate meeting, singing on a stage before thousands, or trying simply to make ends meet for hungry, growing kids — and often without a man around to father the fatherless. 

All the hundreds of simple acts of love we offer each day, or services for pay — these matter — and to know we are enough is somehow what helps us get to the next day.

I AM ENOUGH. It somehow becomes life-sustaining.

Still, what does it really mean to say, “I am enough?” I am glad you are here for us to ask it together.

IF by “enough” you mean “worthy of love,” then, yes, you are enough.  And it is THAT notion that I want to add substance and weight to for your day to day ability to thrive — as women.

Do you understand that worthiness isn’t something you have done to earn or acquire.  Do you hear me, girl? Mother? Teen?

Aren’t you so glad? I mean, if you’ve earned it, then by implication, you might lose it.

But isn’t that the way of the world? You earn what you get? And who you are and become is a thing that could slip through your fingers? So you must keep earning it. Again and again. The threat is real, we believe this, in our habits and how we function through life.

I don’t mean the sort of earning that puts food on the table and keeps the lights on for another month. But it’s the sort of earning that settles like rot into your bones. Mottling them, weakening them from day to day.

It is the message of scarcity that does this. And it’s the message of worthiness, deep worthiness, rightly bestowed and graciously sustained that renews us from our first breath to life’s end.

Yes, indeed, it is the message of deep and utter worthiness that sustains us.

You are enough, worthy of that sort of love.

And not only that …

You were born that way.  Born worthy of love.  

How can I say it, confidently? Because of one irreducible fact.

You are made in the image of God.

It’s His own eternal whispering that crescendos over you into the present moment in which you are drawing your breath.

He wanted YOU.  

He made you.

May we just pause here? And let that just sink down into our bones — more than any other message you may have been sporting about in your baby’s diaper bag today? Or your briefcase?

So let’s just get it straight.  You are worthy of love.  God says, “You are precious in my sight.”

                                                         Let. It. 

Seep. 

Deep

down

into

your

bones,

dear sister.

 

 

Until you are saturated and cannot contain the glory of it.  Until it runs over and splashes its redemption-truth onto your children, your spouse, your family, your sisters, your brothers, your coworkers, your boss — yes, even your world.

You are that enough loved.  To be amazing at whatever dreams or gifts are tucked away inside of you.

And you know, the really fantastic part — as if that were not grand enough — we were never meant to go through our days disconnected and alone. We are made for connection, worthy enough for it. Yes. You hear me. Even for that, you are worthy.

And another thing? (Yes. It gets even better. This makes me smile … )

He does and He will make up the difference when we falter and we fail.   Because He loves us that much. We are worthy because His actions bestow value upon us. Not because we’ve earned it.

The most brilliant apostle wrote, “When I am weak, He is strong.”  (holy and amen) 

In fact, Paul got to the place in his own life that he’d rather dwell in weakness so as to glory in the strength of the Lord.

So, what does it all mean? I think it means we — you and I — can rest and be at peace when something or someone needs us. When they pull us from that secret, desperate, self-arranged quiet spot of solitude (can anyone say, “bathroom”?) and rest because, after all, Jesus is our Peace.  HE is my rest.  

Is He yours?

He desires above all else to dwell within us — you and me. So that wherever we may be, whatever may befall, we know He is nearest of all.  And you can join with me in declaring this — until it becomes a global wave among women …

I am His.  

And He is mine.  

And in Him I have all the resources required for whatever situation that may arise moment to moment.  

All I need to do is come.  And receive Him.  His life which He makes to dwell in me.  

Does anyone relate to these things? 

He always is Enough. 

I ask you just one thing …

Please encourage me next time you see me. I will likely have forgotten. But I want to remember. May we continue to encourage one another with these words — you are loved enough.

Did you know? You can come and bring a friend to the Heart Working Women conference April 29 at White Sulfur Sring, Manns Choice, Pa. And there we can meet and encourage one another with these words. You are invited! 🙂

Julie Leppert ~ lives in rural south central Pennsylvania with her husband where they’ve raised their three children. Her best “nest” is in the attic where she dreams, prays, studies and writes for Heart Working Women and the Humbles who are her next of kin just beyond the creek.