I used to believe that I was too much for people. Too much what? Emotion, thoughts, tears, rage, trembling, confusion, words, everything. I thought I had to hide it all, that the world might explode if I released it all at once. I thought I was too much. The truth is that I was too much for me.

I just erased about three paragraphs that followed those statements, because the truth is I just needed to get that out there. Those fears creep up on me sometimes, and the best thing I can do is say "there it is again!" then kick it out of my head. We all have those lying voices floating around in our minds, don't we?

One of the sweetest gifts I have ever received were these seven words that God gave me in 2000: THIS IS NOT ALL THAT I AM. Whatever lies are in my ears, whatever sin I have my clutches in, whatever illness is consuming me, whatever fate lies before me--nothing can become everything. I am more. I am more than my heart lets me feel today. I am more than the words I write. I am more than my busy-ness. I am a complex but redeemed daughter of the King, and He has made me to be more than my circumstances.

I wish that more of my friends and family knew the way a heart soars when it can say, "I am His."