Before you read, please take a moment to look at the image above.

My husband and I were talking about imposter syndrome last night. He’d never heard of it. Nor felt it. He didn’t comprehend that people feel that way. I don’t know the numbers–I don’t know if a study has even been done on the subject–but I told him a LOT of people deal with it. Artists (with word or other medium) especially. I wonder if it’s our predisposition or if it’s our choice of profession.

Of course, I felt it before I became a writer.

I started homeschooling in 1996 (officially) when my oldest was five. I had quite a number of people question my decision as the years went by, especially as more children were born. I wondered if I was doing a disservice to my children. I considered school nearly every year, and then I’d look at my kids and sucked it up and schooled them at home for ONE MORE YEAR. The 2021-2022 school year will be my final year of homeschooling. I DID IT!

I took a step of faith, overcame the obstacles, and conquered the fear.

Life is hard.

We struggle.

We fight to love, strive to overcome, and do the impossible.

First John 4:4 says, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

We can win.

We can survive tragedies, conquer fears, and accomplish our goals.

We can ….

If you have ever …

• felt like a failure
• felt defeated
• struggled to forgive
• failed (or felt like a failure)

I want you to know you are NOT alone.

If you saw those words in the image above, you looked hard. Or maybe, like they do me at times, they popped out at you, blaringly obvious despite all the good things that are MORE obvious.

But I want you to look again at the good things …

• the accomplished goal
• the award won
• the tragedy survived (even if it’s done ONE day at a time)
• the obstacle overcome
• the fear conquered
• the impossible accomplished
• the love given, despite the difficulty
• the step of faith taken
• the neighbor you blessed

The blank spot on the negative leaves room for whatever lie Satan is trying to tell you TODAY.

I left one empty on the positives too. That’s for the TRUTH that Holy Spirit will drop into your thoughts–whether that’s something you’ve done for someone, a verse that keeps coming to mind (FB memes get me all the time), or the feeling of love that only God through Holy Spirit can give. And the hope that follows. The hope that gets us through the next day or the next hour or the next minute. The hope that makes this life worthwhile.

Hope.

HOPE.

HOPE.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Rom. 15:13)

Many blessings,