Category: Uncategorized

Written By: Rachel Shaw

God has a lot to say about our identity and worth found in Jesus Christ. As we have been studying together we know that we are loved, special and created beautifully for a purpose. 

I want to do an exercise together. 

In your journal (or anywhere really), write 5 things that you love about your outward appearance. (eye colour, hair texture, skin, cute nose etc.) 

After you write those 5 things, write 5 things that you love about your character. (Personality– funny, genuine, respectful etc.) 
I did this exercise and found that it was kind of tough. Sometimes it’s so easy for us to constantly think of the negatives. It’s so simple to think of all the things we hate about ourselves. “The things I do wrong, the mistakes I make………”

God wants us to be confident. 

God wants us to know our identity. 

God wants us to really know our worth. 

The more we know our worth, the more confident we are. 
The more confident we are – the more we set higher standards for ourselves. (Standards as in spouse, future family, career, life decisions) 
Really meditate and think about the things that you wrote down. Be confident, knowing your worth in Jesus Christ. Throughout the week, continue adding to the lists. Add more and more things you love about yourself as we continue this journey on identity and worth.
Thank you Jesus for fearfully and wonderfully creating us. We are made in Your image, and for that, we are thankful. Create in us a new heart. Make us to be strong and wise women, who are confident in our identity. Continue to help us understand our real worth.
In Jesus name,

Amen. 

Written by: Abby Breuklander 
If someone were to come up to you and say, “If I had to choose between a diamond or you, I’d pick you every time.”, what would your reaction be? I’d be the first to take a quick look around and ask, “Who me?”. But did you know that someone already says that about YOU every single day? 

God has chosen us – not because of who we are – but because of who He is and who we will become in Him. It has absolutely nothing to do with us at all, we didn’t choose Him, He has chosen us. And He’s proud to call us His own. How amazing to be wanted even more than a diamond!! How heart-melting is that? This is the kind of love that each and every one of us is looking for!!
Diamonds go through a very long process. It takes a lot of work to achieve just the right design, cut and sparkle. It’s the same in life! It takes a lot of effort to keep going when life gets hard and you just don’t know how you’re going to take one more step. But this pressure is part of our refining process; it hurts to be cut and stripped of things that we want. Never realizing at the time that the pain that feels like it’s going to kill us is actually going to help us shine even brighter than before!
It’s taking the blemishes and stripping them not just off of our lives, but off of our hearts as well. I’ll be the first to admit that it really, really hurts. But He knows that after the pain the beauty can really shine through. And once we see the difference and how light and free we feel, the peace that passes our understanding just pours over us!

Jesus didn’t pay thousands or millions of dollars for you. He paid so much more than that with His suffering, blood and life. You and I were on His mind the entire time, He went through Hell itself just to point at you and say, “This one’s mine!”. Never, ever forget that, especially on the days when you feel absolutely worthless. You are always worthy to Him. No one else is ever going to love you the way that Jesus does. You are loved, treasured and cherished just the way you are. And nothing can ever change that, nothing could ever make Him love you less. Sure there are times when we slip up and fall flat on our face, but He’s right there to pick us up and dust us off. He’s going to walk with us every step of the way.
He knows that you’re worth it no matter the past, no matter the circumstances that you may find yourself in. He died for YOU, that’s how much you mean to Him. When we realize just how precious we are to Him, far far more than diamonds, we will be able to to understand just how much He loves us. Despite the pain, despite the journey to where we are now, we will see just who we are in Him.

Sometimes our refining process can seem agonizingly and painstakingly slow. But our timetable isn’t the same as His, and He knows exactly how long it’ll take for us to step into our full potential. We can’t rush something this important. He doesn’t make mistakes and wants us to be just perfect for His use.
You are so much more than a diamond in another important way. A diamond can’t love Him the way that you can. This is the first time in the history of the world that a creation can love it’s Creator!
Everything in life loses it’s glitz and glamour, but with Him that’s just not the case. With the light of Christ shining in us, we never have to worry that He’ll toss us aside for someone “bigger and better”. People may toss us aside, but He never ever will. Once He has you, He’s never letting you go. And nothing can ever take you away from Him. How incredible and absolutely mind blowing is that?? It may not seem like it right now, but there truly is beauty in your pain…..you just need to know when and where to look. So hang in there, I promise that it’ll be worth it. What are you waiting for? Get out there and shine knowing Who’s you are! Sparkle like you mean it!

Written By: Krystyn Slauenwhite 

In my eyes everyone is worthy. You are valuable in your own unique way. We each bring something special to this world, that’s the way God intended it for us. 
I still struggle with self worth. I know most of us have been there. There are mornings I wake up and feel inspired and believe in myself then there are mornings I don’t feel “good enough.” 

Growing up I was always finding a way to feel worthy. I would try to find it in relationships, friendships, other peers and I may have felt good from time to time but deep down inside I would still feel worthless. That area of my life wasn’t full. There was something missing. 

It was a message I felt God gave me one day. It was during one of my quiet times. I felt God speaking to me saying: “Daughter, I love you very much. Your worthiness is found in me. Seek me.” Every once in awhile I hear God through an audible voice. Everyone hears God differently, sometimes it’s God speaking through someone who is giving you encouragement or He could be that positive voice inside of your head. My heart felt so full in that moment and I knew it was God! 

From this day on, I lean on those words. I wanted to share that story with every one because I believe He wants all of His sons and daughters to know how worthy and valuable you are, that He loves you all very much and sees so much beauty in us. 

I want to leave with you something I do when I start to feel like I’m not worthy. I write down some things I love about myself. Find 5 things. Write them down then say them out loud. What a great reminder of how valuable each one of us is 🙂
About Krystyn: 

Written By: Joy Presland 

Worth.

There is so much that comes to mind when I think of this word. It’s kind of like the word love. I love my dog, I love my house, I love my family, I love my new watch.

And yet each “love” has a different meaning and can change by the second. Is that really love though, I ask?

We think of worth the same way. Everything has a different meaning of worth in our lives and can change moment by moment.

We even look at people and judge their worth by what they do, how much money they have, what they look like. And I ask myself the same question. Is that really worth?

When I looked up the word worth in the Bible, it did not seem very positive. It actually talked a lot of how we are not worthy.

Before everyone gets downcast, I must say that further in my reading, my soul was lifted up as I found that MY worth does not change every day, it does not go up when I have a good day and down when I mess up or have a bad day.

My worth is unshakeable and my worth is immoveable.

Since the Word is truth and never changes, so is my worth as it is not found in my behaviour but founded in the finished work of the Cross.

If we could only see ourselves in this light and believe it, our behaviour would surely follow.

Since we are talking about worth in the sense of the Proverbs 31 woman, “worth more than diamonds” I felt this would be good to share, it says it very well.

“Two young ladies arrived at a meeting wearing clothes that were quite revealing their body parts. Here is what the Chairman told them: He took a good look at them and made them sit. Then he said something that, they might never forget in their life. He asked,

1. Where do you find diamonds?

They answered “Deep down in the ground, covered and protected.”

2. Where do you find pearls?

They answered “Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell.”

3. Where do you find gold?

They answered “Way down in the mine, covered over with layers of rock and to get them, you have to work hard & dig deep down to get them.” 

He looked at them with serious eyes and said;

 “Your body is sacred & unique. You are far more precious than gold, diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.” So he added that, if you keep your treasured mineral just like gold, diamond and pearls, deeply covered up, a reputable mining organization with the requisite machinery will fly down and conduct years of extensive exploration.

 First, they will contact your government (family), sign professional contracts (wedding) and mine you professionally (legal marriage). But if you leave your precious minerals uncovered on the surface of the earth, you always attract a lot of illegal miners to come and mine you illegally. Everybody will just pick up their crude instruments and just have a dig on you freely. Keep your bodies deeply covered so that it invite professional miners to chase you.

 ~Credit: Grand Mptivational Squad.

What we believe our worth is, will come out in our behaviour in many ways.

We as women ARE created to bear His image and reflect Him in ALL things. This is definitely a journey. As we keep our eyes on Him and what He says about us, we truly will walk WORTHY of our calling. Worth more than diamonds, noble in character as is described in Proverbs 31 woman. I challenge you to read it, it’s a good chapter.   

Written By: Angela Ridsdale

What defines our worth? Better yet, why do we have to weigh out a worth. WhenI looked up this word to get a better understanding of it’s definition I was slightly distraught.

A lot of what was said determined that we find worth in our material and monetary values. Or based on the knowledge we have.

I don’t believe this to be true. I believe that worth goes much deeper than what  can be offered to you from your interactions. It’s true that the knowledge that we have can be shared in importance in order to guide each other to doing what’s right. 

But, that is not what gives us worth. When we were born we had and still have infinite worth. Maybe not according to some in this world, but according to God. Sometimes I get discouraged because I feel like worth according to this world is so superficial and ultimately weighs on what someone can gain from us.

And this is what God tells us.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not byMworks, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2: 4-10

In my education I was taught to respect the worth of persons no matter the circumstances they fell under. When I think of my life I know I have worth. 

The God of this universe has told me so! A worth that is more than money. A worth that is more than diamonds. A worth that is more than anything that can be offered to me on this earth. 

We are all created in God’s image, no matter what circumstances fall upon us. We are all chosen for a plan by God no matter if we follow this or not. The worth of us does not stop just because we might look different, act different, feel different, or live different.

Rejoice today for you are walking among people who are worth more than diamonds! And you, well yes, you are definitely included. (:
About Angela:

 Angela is 20 years old and love cats. She just recently got engaged to a wonderful man named Anthony whom She looks forward to sharing the rest of her life with. She began her journey with Christ as a teenager and has brought Her love of God, everywhere she goes. She has deep values in genuineness and truth. She is currently working on her degree in Social Service Work specializing in Gerontology with hopes to work with older adults in disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout the community. Some of her passions include: Singing, reading and being with her lovely Youth and Young Adults groups! 

Written By: Tori Hazzard

Written By: Alycia Dupuis

Hello my name is Alycia and I have Churg-Strauss Syndrome. That is honestly how I have defined myself for the past 6 months.

Although it is true, I do have CSS, I know my identity is not rooted in it and I am still on a journey to figure out how to live with a life-threatening disease while not letting it define who I am. I have been many things in my 27 years on this earth. A child, a daughter, a sinner, a student, a friend, an enemy, an alcoholic, a blood-bought born-again daughter of the King, a wife and a mother.

Unfortunately, lately I just feel like the girl with that crazy disease that has no medical cure. I struggled about what to say when I was asked to write this blog post. On one hand I was honored on the other…unworthy? I wasn’t sure how uplifting my words would be, because I honestly haven’t felt very uplifted myself.

The last 2 years have been an intense and terribly frustrating roller coaster! In the second trimester of my pregnancy in 2012 I developed severe asthma and joint pain. I was told this was a temporary condition brought on by my pregnancy and it would most likely subside, After I gave birth.

Well it didn’t. In fact it got much worse. After many emergency room visits, doctors and specialist appointments I was finally hospitalized in November 2013 due to the severity of my condition and the fact that nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. I had giant painful purple lesions all over my body that were originally misdiagnosed as ringworm.

I was coughing up blood, I couldn’t taste couldn’t smell, couldn’t breathe, the list goes on. After 3 weeks in ICU and one week on life support with heart and kidney failure I was finally diagnosed with this extremely rare autoimmune disease.

Now this all sounds pretty awful, but you should know that the timing of this was impeccable. You see, not a single nurse or doctor in that hospital knew what was wrong with me and all the tests were inconclusive. But there was one doctor who had only been working at that hospital for 3 weeks in fact he had just moved here from Connecticut and he had seen my 2 in a million condition once before.

I truly believe God orchestrated all of that and many more little details most of which I am probably unaware of. I’m sure He is doing that on my behalf every day, but I don’t even realize it. It is easy for me to get frustrated that all if this had to happen and that I am stuck on these terribly potent steroids with very unpleasant side effects. Some days it doesn’t take more than a glance in the mirror to literally make me hate myself for being covered in big permanent scars and gaining 50 disgusting pounds beyond my control.

It’s being thankful that takes discipline. Thankful that I am alive, to watch my daughter grow up.

On days when I have zero energy to run around, after a 1 year old, I try to remember that I am actually one of the lucky ones because I can. The goodness of God never ceases to amaze me so long as I remember to see it. It’s always there.

Even though sometimes it feels like the only thing that’s relevant I know that I am not just that girl with Churg-Strauss. I am a wife, and a mother and I’ve got the best Dad in the whole world.

“God sees the little sparrow fall, It meets His tender view; If God so loves the little birds, I know He loves me, too.”

About Alycia:

Written By: Jenna Olson

I want to begin this by declaring that everyone who lays eyes on this is a unique, unrepeatable miracle of God.

You ARE special.

You ARE loved.

You ARE heard.

I’ve been mulling over the latter part of Proverbs 31:10 for a while now. It reads, “…She is worth more than diamonds.”

If you’re like me, you may read such a thing and wonder, “…What? How would I, just a little human, who messes up DAILY and doesn’t measure up to others I see around me, who fails to always represent the teachings she professes to believe…how could I be worth more than diamonds to the God of the universe?!”

Really, though. Putting it into perspective, here…

God is PERFECT.

He spoke the world into existence.

He is the holiest, BIGGEST, grandest, most beautiful, amazing ANYTHING to exist.

How am I worth so much to Him? How can I see this, believe this, know this to be true?

God knows that we are little humans and we doubt every little thing, so He shows us and tells us!

God LISTENS to His people. It is written, “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” (John 9:31).

It is also said by Jesus, the sweet Lover of our souls, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24) Why, THANK YOU, Jesus, for caring about my joy! It’s almost like we’re WORTH something to Him!!! 😉

God once wanted to destroy Nineveh because it was an awful, dangerous, immoral place, but the king’s heart softened and the people turned from their evil ways, crying out to God that He might have compassion. AND HE LISTENED!!!

God also gives us gifts, which can range from one of my little kindergarten students telling me I’m pretty today to allowing us to have food on the table. It says in James 1:17 “ Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” All the beautiful and wonderful things of the world are from our Father who loves us, not just because of chance!

The final and most incredible way that God shows us our worth to Him is that He sent His Son to die for our sins and the Holy Spirit to come dwell in our hearts, even though we were NOT worthy of such a gift! We did absolutely NOTHING to deserve this, but He loved us and wanted us and PRIZED us so much that He gave us the gift of salvation, that we may take it, that we may receive His listening ears, His giving hands, His loving heart and FOLLOW HIM into eternity, with Him always at our side. He allows us to work for His kingdom and for His glory, to point others to Him so that they may receive His wonderful light and gifts, and that our lives may be completely centered around Him.

We will never have to wander listlessly in the wilderness again. We know not what tomorrow holds, but our LORD holds us close, and will lead us. We are worth more than precious stones to Him, and with Him in our hearts and lives we shine more brightly and cause more joy than any diamond.

We can never forget our worth to Him. If we forget our worth, then we cannot properly walk in our freedom to which He has called us.

Remember His love for you and that He has prized us. Remember that this world with its shortcomings and frustrations is only temporary. Remember that He is waiting to renew His creation and spend eternity with you. You are cherished by the God of the universe, and please, sweet friends, do not spend a moment of your life doubting that!

About Jenna Olson:

Jenna Olson is a young woman living in Michigan, setting out on adventures with her new husband, Aaron. She seeks to serve the LORD with her gifts and talents and is still trying to figure out what those are. She loves Jesus, the Spanish language, and chocolate, and is honored to be able to contribute to this beautiful ministry.

Written By: Hannah Coleman

The message quotes Proverbs 31:10 as, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above diamonds”.  If we look at the King James Version of the bible we read,  “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies”.

Writing this was no easy task.  How do you assign worth?  How can we measure our own worth?  How can we measure the worth of another?  I read this verse and my first thought is to look through the eyes of the world.  We see a woman who is on the Parents Council at school.  She raises her own angora rabbits, grooming them daily to spin yarn for her daughters to knit hats and scarves to sell.  She takes her youngest son to Cubs and her oldest son to hockey, and it’s the travel team.  She makes Christmas crafts, cuts her kids sandwiches into animal shapes and makes rainbow spaghetti, all worthy of pinning and blogging about.  She heads up the Kitchen Committee at church, bringing meals to community members who have a new baby, have had a loss or are just going through challenges.  She’s on the worship team, as are her children.  She volunteers in the nursery at church, and billets and houses out of town guests.  She has started a pillowslip project to send little dresses to small girls in Ethiopia.  She does and she gives.  She is highly praised among the couples at the Tuesday night Life Group that she hosts.  She is phenomenal and she has so much to give to the Body and to the Kingdom.  But does this sum up her worth?

What is God’s desire for our lives and how does the worth that we seek fit into that framework?  Our purpose, without question, should be to live a life that honors and glorifies our Lord and God, and to do it joyfully, for His great pleasure.  Is this inventory of attributes alone going to honor and glorify God?  Admittedly, I know an awful lot of Martha Stewart wanna-be’s who would give you the shirt off their backs but would do it out of pride or for their own glory.  By today’s definition of worth though, this is the kind of woman and these are the things that we see that make us say, “Wow, she is a woman of worth!”.  But is she?  Is this list of specifications what makes her worthy?  It certainly does add to her worth but what does God value?

What if I don’t marry?  What if I don’t have children, own land or run a business?  Am I worth less if I follow God onto the mission field to become a nurse but remain single and childless?  How do I squelch my spiritual pride if I do live an A type life or in turn, the sense of desolation if I live a life as a single woman, with 6 cats and a job at XYZ Corp?

I feel as though we get so caught up in the list of Pinnable, pride-pumping attributes that we lose sight of the lower half of Proverbs 31.  In verses 25 and 26 (KJV) we read,

25 Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

And of course we read in verse 30,

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feared the Lord, she shall be praised.

This, I believe, is the key.  I can be woman A, with my whole life labeled and in pretty baskets or woman B, with my boho wardrobe, my guitar and my job as a lifeguard.  The attribute of either that merits me worth more than diamonds is entirely about my attitude.  Is woman A filled with pride, boasting about her husbands new position as Elder while complaining he’s away too much because of it then blogging about fasting in prayer over it?  Is woman B filled with pride about “going solo” and living a meager life, not squandering God’s blessings.  Or, is woman A humbled before the Lord, always giving thanks and honoring God with her hands and her heart and her words. Recognizing He is her rock and her salvation and the foundation of all good things that she has in her life.

Is woman recognizing that God is faithful to fulfill all of His promises and she will never be without what she truly needs and His blessings are in all things and beyond measure, even in every breath that she takes.  Do these women, and do I, fear the Lord and have an attitude of joy, humility, kindness, and Godly wisdom that flow freely from my spirit, all of which is purposed for honoring and glorifying my Lord.  If the latter is the case than this is what I believe God means when He says she is worth more than diamonds.

About Hannah Coleman:

Hannah is eighteen years old and the oldest of four sibling and many foster siblings. She has a passion of playing guitar and for reading and writing fiction. She’s a certified lifeguard working for the City of Windsor, John McGivney Centre and Goodlife Fitness. For the past three years she’s enjoyed volunteering as a Jr leader and is eager to see what God has in store for her future.