For Christmas last year, a good friend of mine gave me a beautiful assortment of L’Occitane lotions and bath goodies. I had never even been in their stores, but I could tell they were REALLY nice!

I put them away for safekeeping because I didn’t want to use them for just every day. I wanted to make sure to SAVE them for a special occasion.
So the other day when I needed some lotion, I looked in the closet and there were my SPECIAL goodies, still unopened.

You know, I didn’t even consider using them. Have you ever felt like you just weren’t GOOD enough to deserve something so NICE?

Sticker Shock
This year, I wanted to buy a gift for another friend, something to make THEM feel really special. I was walking by the L’Occitane store and finally went in for the first time. Their prices SHOCKED me!!!

I DID buy something there for my friend because I wanted HER to know that she was special, valued and WORTH it.

That’s when it HIT me like a ton of bricks! When MY friend bought those special things for me, that’s how she wanted ME to feel!!!

Yet, in almost one whole year, I hadn’t found a SINGLE day to ALLOW myself to indulge and feel special.

Evidence of Love
It made me think of how God created the Earth and its beauty for OUR enjoyment.

• The GORGEOUS sunrise and sunset.
• The INFINITE black night sky with a billion stars.
• The DELICATE and fragrant flowers along our path.

God’s LOVE is so evident in the world that surrounds us each day and we don’t always allow ourselves to indulge in it. It’s so AWESOME that sometimes we don’t even consider that it was all made for US.
After all…we aren’t sure that we’re WORTH it.

Totally Worth It!
Well, we are worth it! We’re God’s MASTERPIECE! We’re so SPECIAL and He values us SO much that He died to save us.

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)

So we can stop saving that expensive cologne and just WEAR it. We can use the GOOD china and the fancy silverware for just US!

We’re God’s very own kids! These aren’t the last SPECIAL things that He’s going to bless us with!!!

Prayer for today
“God help us to understand that before You created the Earth and everything marvelous in it…You FIRST loved us!”

“We weren’t created for this world. You created this world and every good thing in it entirely for us!”
“Thank you, for making us feel so SPECIAL and help us to understand that we were created to feel SPECIAL and VALUED.”