the est.

"Somewhere in you is the you whom you were made to be. We need you to be you. We don't need the second anybody. We need the first you." -Rob Bell, "Velvet Elvis"

My niece and her best friend are in constant competition. They fight like cats. Oh no, you read it right, I did say her best friend. The one she loves and plays with, and misses when they're not together.

You know in high school, when a new girl moves in to town--whats the first thing you want to know about her? Is she pretty? Am I right?

Why is there tension when someone is wearing the same dress at the party? When a strange girl looks like she could be your sister? When she even shares your name? Its weird right?

Whats the deal?

The deal is, we girls want to be the "est."

It starts with best. Than it branches off into families of the prettiest and the cutest. The funniest. The smartest. The richest. The happiest. The sportiest. The craziest. The calmest. The boldest. The loudest. The shyest. The nicest. The skinniest. The est.

You may be asking yourself..what is so stinkin' important about this, and where the heck is she going with all this "est" business?

What I would ask you, is: Do you find yourself longing to be the "est" (c'mon, I know you have), and if so.... WHY?

I've thought about this for a few weeks now. From the tender age of 3 and 4, I've watched my niece and her friend struggle with this little girl battle. At the age of 23, I find myself fighting the same one.

The est gives us our role. Whether we like the role or not, we have one. It makes us stand out, it makes our character needed in this drama of life. Its who we are, and if someone take our "estness" from us, they take our spot. Its fragile. When we can't be the est, we are no longer needed. Our friends will love the new "est" girl and forget about us.

WRONG! This is a lie we girls have been tricked into believing.

God made one you. One unique [insert full name here] est. NO ONE can take your spot. Not in God's show. You were made for a specific purpose. Wired with special characteristics, talents, quirks, personalities, the list goes on. Not only that, but you weren't thrown together on an assembly line, your were skillfully crafted..in the image of Your Maker.

Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Psalm 139: 13 & 14 says: You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body. I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well.

What this means for you and me is that we don't have to worry about being "the est." We already are. God has secured your role. Your role is secured in him and by, in your friends and family that love you no matter what. Yes, God's wonderful invention of love makes you his "est."

So, the next time you feel your competitive urge rise up in you, don't worry about if you have all that she has, be certain that you have what she doesn't.

1 Corinthians 12:14-18: Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.