Hello friends!

I have been so overwhelmed by the love and support My Beloved has been getting! I am so grateful for everyone that shared posts and for those that sent me the most encouraging notes, messages and texts! I cannot express how excited I am for this journey and how excited I am to see where the Lord takes My Beloved. I am SO thankful for YOU.

I will be the first to tell you I have horrible self esteem, and at times it is really really hard for me to see myself in a positive uplifting light. I always see and pay attention to the negative things, the things I see and the things that have been pointed out in my by others. It has been and continues to be my greatest struggle in life and I know that it holds me back from a lot of things in a lot of ways. Because of this, I have always been very influenced by what people say about me. I have continuously let people define me and always in a negative lights. I have always let the bad outweigh the good.

You’re fat, you're ugly, you're stuck up, you're a goody two-shoes, you're a religious snob, you look like a pregnant horse, you're not good enough, you're not pretty enough, you’re annoying, you're not popular enough, are you sure you want that candy bar, you've worn that plaid a lot lately maybe you should stop, you need to care more about how you dress, dress more like a girl, the girls here don't like you, people are threatened by you, you're not talented enough - I could go on with the things that people have said to me.

They stick in my mind like glue. On repeat in mind, never letting me forget. No matter how much positive encouragement I get from the people I love and that love me.

Recently I was asked to describe myself in 3 words, 3 simple words. Seems pretty simple eh? It was so painful for me. I came up with one word, ONE, and it wasn’t a well received by those listening. My word to describe me - boring.

That word slapped me in the face. BORING?! The only place this word comes from is the years of being beat down by those around me. Never allowing myself to flourish in self confidence, and really love the woman the Lord has created me to be. Boring. A word that completely neglects to see the vibrancy that I carry. A word that disqualifies me from seeing myself as a unique and beautiful individual. A word that I need to rid my vocabulary of permanently because frankly I am anything but boring.

I started to pray from that day forward that the Lord would reveal to me how HE sees. I asked Him to show me how He would describe me. Who is Melissa to Him? I have been completely floored and humbled by His response. I am who HE says I am.

I am beautiful, I am loved, I am kind, I am compassionate, I am joyful, I am always laughing, I am funny, I have the biggest heart, I have a voice, I put others first, I am thoughtful, I am intelligent, I am crafty, I am talented, I am passionate, I am so full of life, I make people laugh, I always look for the best in others, I have influence, I am going places, I love well, I am sassy, I am adventurous, I uplift, I speak life, I am in love with the Lord and I know that I am His Beloved.

That is all that matters. No other labels, no other words, His and His alone. They define me, He defines me.

I am who HE says I am.

Low self esteem and a lack of confidence is something that is SO prevalent in women today. There are very few girls I know that have not struggled with their own self esteem. My hope is that this will help encourage those of you that might struggle with the same thing! The Lord’s heart completely breaks when we see ourselves differently than the way HE see’s us. After all we are created in HIS image, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” Genesis 1:27. He loves each of us so dearly and He desires us to be confident in the women He created us to be. Not the women we have allowed ourselves to believe that we are based off our own thoughts of the things that people have labelled us as. We need to be confident in who He has created us to be. Never becoming prideful of it, but recognizing the words that He is speaking over us, speaking over you. Sometimes we have to press pause on life and take time to listen to His still small voice speaking life over us. Grasping each word He speaks and holding on to it. You are BEAUTIFUL, you are VIBRANT, you are LOVED, you are UNIQUE and you are His BELOVED.

Praying for all of you this week + I really hope this resinates with you the way it has with me.

- Melissa xox