Public speaking isn't my strong point.

{ top/bracelet/belt/pants: F21; watch/purse: Nordstrom; wedges: Target; lipstain: Gothic by Revlon }

We're getting real today, folks. A major fear of mine is public speaking. I mean, serious fear. I'm definitely a one-on-one type of girl, and speaking in front of small groups is fine too.  But, anything over 15 people, yikes. Last night, I conquered that fear by speaking at girls group {80+ girls}. I was terrified. Before I spoke, I prayed and prayed and prayed that the words spoken wouldn't be my own.  I knew that if they were words of wisdom coming from yours truly, they wouldn't be heard or what was supposed to be said. I spoke about finding your identity in Christ. I continued to remind myself how ironic it was that I was terrified to speak, when what I was speaking on was the very fact that I am rooted in Christ and everything I had to say was from His perfect word. I had nothing to fear, nothing to worry about, because His word is holy and blameless. I was just there to verbally speak. The Lord showed up, and he spoke---not me. Everything I said was like word vomit spilling out of my mouth. Why is it so hard for me to trust that the Lord can use me and speak through me? The Lord grew me and stretched me, and I'm thankful for that---even if it was completely out of my comfort zone. 

{{Here are the main chunks of scripture I spoke on tonight, and bits and pieces of what was spoken }}

"Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." {Isaiah 55:1-2}

I love the Psalms, because David is constantly speaking about his satisfied soul in Christ. He continues to praise God for knowing every detail about him, and for being his creator.

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." {Psalm 63:1}

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." {Psalm 63:3}

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven by you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." {Psalm 73: 23-26}

In the New Testament, Jesus tells us why He came to earth. He came to earth, not because he had to, but because God needed to come in human flesh, so that he could live a life the way he intended us to live. He came to be the savior of the world. He came so that we could have life to the full.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." {John 10:10}

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" {2 Corinthians 5:17}

Believe that you are a new creation in Christ! Accept it, live it, and embrace it--- that's who you are. Period. Don't let yourself believe the lie that you're anything less.

{{Thanks for letting me share with you my heart, and what the Lord is teaching me. If I didn't share it, I wouldn't be who God has called me to be.}} 

 I conquered my fears. Thanks everyone who prayed and encouraged me before the big talk. I really, truly appreciate it.