True Value Isn’t Just the Name of a Hardware Store

I like my name in print.

Wait.

I like my name in bold print.

There was a time, that confession was so much more than that. Seeing my name in print was my marker on how well I was doing with my work. If my name or a project I was working on made the papers, I felt good about myself. If not, I felt like a failure.

That’s a seesaw way to live and not a very healthy one. If I had a psych degree I’d love to interview celebrities. I wonder how many struggle with the same value system, that they only succeed when they are known. I can tell you this, it wore me down fast.

There is a better way to live. My value long term couldn’t come from what I created but from my Creator. Big difference.

When I know I’m God’s daughter and a precious one at that, I still feel valued and special whether my name is in the paper or not. When I receive feedback that is filled with proverbial red marks or what feels like a verbal dress down, I own it for what it is. No longer do people’s opinions and the world’s rules own me.

Things that helped me in the process and still do today were of course Bible reading. I studied Song of Solomon as not just a look at marriage but a study on the faith walk between myself and Christ. I realized just as it says, “I’m dark but lovely.” I goof up and have many bad hair days. Still, God and His Son think I’m lovely. That’s value you can’t put a pricetag on.

I also am a Beth Moore study veteran. It’s a lot of work but I sacrificed TV time and other things that didn’t carry a lot of value to dive into those studies. I’ve done her entire Reflection series. If knowing who you are in God is a struggle for you too, consider her study called Believing God. It literally changed my life.

The John and Stasi Eldredge book Captivating also rocked my world in the best way. When you embrace the truth that as a woman you are God’s masterpiece and the crown of Creation, you’re going to walk a little taller. For the longest time I thought woman was created as a kind of oh, right, Adam needs someone. Here. Not so! We were the cherry on top. God put very special thought into each one of us.

I think my writing is taking a new direction because He’s rid me of nearly all the desire I had to see my name in print. I don’t envision my smiling face as a cardboard cutout promoting my books at your local store. If that happens, awesome. But I don’t need it. That makes all the difference.

My value is bold, but not a bold font, not anymore.

How about you? Where does your value come from? What people say about you?  The things you do? Buy? Where you work? Or, from your Creator?

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