I am honored to welcome good friend and author Betsy De Cruz to kristinebrown.net today. You will love Betsy’s wisdom and unique perspective. Let’s read and enjoy this week’s devotion by Betsy.

I hadn’t seen such a beautiful face in a long time. The dark circles under her eyes couldn’t extinguish their bright glow. A messy bun and no makeup only highlighted the joy on her face. My friend Emma came into the room proudly carrying the reason for her joy: her newborn girl! We gasped in wonder that she actually made it to our meeting just a few short days after giving birth.

On Mondays, I have the privilege of sitting around the table with a Moms of Preschoolers group. Many moms come sleepless, nerves on edge from too many hours with a crying baby. Some days they can’t take a shower, but something about our meeting makes it worth it for them to fight exhaustion and come.

They come because sitting around a table with friends renews strength and joy. When they leave our meeting, they walk out with just a bit more spring to their step.

Even if you don’t have a baby or small children, you probably have plenty of things to wear you down. Children at any age can deplete your energy. Work can sap your strength, and worry can steal your joy.

How can we find renewed strength and joy when we’re running low?

Getting together with friends and taking time for ourselves are important; they help us recharge. However, we’ve all had weeks when friends are busy, and a packed schedule doesn’t allow for time off. What then?

Thankfully, our Source of strength and joy never leaves us.

God has all the resources we need. His Spirit renews us from the inside out, and His power rests on our weakness. Yet just as my mom friends have to pack up the kids and pull out of the driveway to come to our moms’ meeting, so we have to make an effort to open our Bibles or turn our hearts to God in prayer if we want renewal.

Scripture encourages us: “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11)

We can easily read these words and get discouraged because we lack the time, energy or the “want to” to seek God. Yet He rewards even the smallest steps we take towards Him.

Small efforts like these work wonders in our souls: reading a few verses of Scripture in the morning, stopping to thank God for a small blessing, whispering a prayer, or just remembering He is with us during the day. He hears and responds to even a quick prayer when we get in the car or fall into bed.

When we seek God’s presence, two blessings come: renewed strength and restored joy.

God renews our strength.

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (Isaiah 40:29)

“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11)

When we call out to God, He gives us the strength we need. The Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, and He will certainly strengthen us for the day ahead when we open our lives to Him.

God restores our Joy.

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11)

“Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.” (Psalm 119:11)

God’s presence and His Word bring joy. His presence restores peace and touches us with the grace we need in any situation. His Word renews faith and joy when hard circumstances cause us to doubt. His joy is our strength.

Friend, if you need renewed strength and joy today, look heavenward. Ask God for the strength you need to face the day and grace to abide in Him. Ask Him for fresh joy. The Spirit living in you will renew you day by day.

Betsy de Cruz writes and speaks to help overwhelmed women take small steps to invite more of God’s presence and power into their lives. Her book More of God is a distracted woman’s guide to more meaningful quiet times. Betsy and her husband José have two young adult children and live in Austin, Texas. Connect with Betsy and get a free Quiet Time Renewal Guide at FaithSpillingOver.com.

I am honored that my friend Abby McDonald agreed to share her story with us all this week as part of our series on IDENTITY & WORTH. Abby has a new book releasing soon, and we are so glad to have her here. Welcome, Abby!

For the One Who Doesn’t Know What Her Life Is Worth

When the doctor told me my son’s life might be in danger, I didn’t have to think about my next step. A nurse came in and put an oxygen mask over my face to keep me from hyperventilating and I motioned for my husband to sign the consent form. Natural childbirth wasn’t an option.

Even though I hadn’t met my son face to face, his life was worth the risk. The features of his face were still a mystery and I hadn’t heard his first cry, but I knew him.

I knew his heartbeat. I knew he got the hiccups every night around 6:00 pm.

Seconds later, the anesthesiologist appeared to pump me full of more drugs and they wheeled me to the OR. The fifteen minutes that passed between prepping me for surgery and hearing him for the first time seemed like an eternity. I remember feeling them pull him out of me and then, the cry didn’t come.

My heart dropped. Was everything okay?

All of a sudden, the sound filled the room. His cry was strong and loud, and for a moment, everything seemed right with the world. My husband brought him over to me, and I was frustrated that my arms were still too numb to hold him.

I spent the next year fumbling through the darkness of postpartum depression, but God brought me back to this moment as a reminder. When I grappled to find an identity deeper than my roles of wife and mom, I recalled those minutes of panic mixed with certainty.

You see, I never questioned my son’s worth. It was instilled in me from the moment I knew there was new life inside of me. But I did question my own worth. Instead of placing my value on the foundation of Christ’s blood, I placed it on my performance as a mother. And in my sleep-deprived brain, my performance didn’t amount to much.

What I didn’t realize was that God determined my life had worth before I was conceived.

If we look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, one of his greatest desires was for them to know their true identity in Christ. He knew their firmness in this truth was key to not being swayed by the constant noise of the world.

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV

Embracing our true self means acknowledging that our value has nothing to do with our performance, and everything to do with Christ’s finished work. When we accept this lavish grace and love, our lives become an expression of love for him instead of an endless chase for affirmation.

One night after my son’s first birthday, I rocked him and marveled at how much he’d changed during the first year of this life. And it hit me. His Spirit spoke to mine and I realized – Like my love for my son, His love didn’t have anything to do with what I did or didn’t do. He loved me because I was his. It was as simple as it was beautiful.

Friend, if you’re having a hard time embracing your true self and the love God has for you today, take a moment to do this exercise with me. Close your eyes and picture someone you love despite every shortcoming, who you would give anything to protect. It may be a child or family member. It may be your closest friend.

Next, picture yourself putting a white robe on this person that blocks out all her past mistakes, the times she hurt you or was selfish. All you see is her best self. Not only that, but you see the person she is becoming, reflection of Christ Jesus.

Open your eyes. You now have a small inkling of how God sees you, each and every day.

Abby McDonald is a writer, speaker, wife and mom who has been featured on Proverbs 31 Ministries, (in)Courage, For Every Mom, Crosswalk and more. Her passion is to empower women to grow in faith and hope, even when life is messy. Abby lives with her husband and three children in western Maryland. She would love to connect with you at www.abbymcdonald.org., where you can download a free copy of her e-book, “The Daughter’s Manifesto” as a reminder of who you are in Christ.