Holly’s dad left when she was six. A timid child, overshadowed by people with big personalities, growing up without much money, she felt inferior to people who had nicer clothes and bigger houses, people who had their life together.
In 2012, Holly hit a low point. She became depressed, overwhelmed with the worry that she had done nothing with her life, that she was a nobody. Success was all around, and her nagging sense of rejection would not let her go. At one point, she lost the will to live.
Holly's depression led her to seek counseling and began a slow healing process. She examined each feeling to discover if there was a lie behind it. Then she would ask God to replace each lie with His truth.
"I felt like God was literally hugging each damaged piece of my self image, bringing warmth and life and value.”
One Sunday at church, the speaker encouraged everyone to ask God to speak a name to them as they prayed and listened. Immediately, Holly heard the name “beautiful.”
The name warmed her heart, but she had trouble believing that it was really from God. Maybe this was wishful thinking, what she hoped she would hear. She continued to wrestle with her doubt.
A few weeks later, she came for prayer during a service. As she prayed with the prayer partner, they both asked the Lord to speak His name for her. Both of them immediately heard the same name....
“Beautiful.”
It confirmed what Holly had heard. It gave her the confidence to start believing that this was how her Father sees her.
Holly is continuing to press in to her identity from the Lord, seeking to walk in it each day. Recently, she felt another lie creeping into her mind - "I'm a nobody." She brought this thought to God and asked, "what do you want me to know?" God answered,
"You're somebody to me.”