It doesn’t matter how much we achieve, or how much we do to show ourselves as worthy, haunting doubts can creep in, making us question our value and undercutting our confidence. Sometimes these feelings stem from an internal comparison with others around us, as we measure our lives against others' highlight reels. However, there is a hope for the dark feelings we have that tell us we’re not enough, or that no one truly cares. The transformative power of God’s love encourages us to shed layers of self-doubt and replace them with an armor of self-acceptance and appreciation. In the face of this love, shame dwindles, losing its power to control our emotions and actions. 

This week, actress Kerry Washington plumbs the depths of her family history to vulnerably reveal her own history, and found that she carried shame which made her feel unworthy and unlovable—which manifested into anxiety she would carry into adulthood. Through the help of therapy, prayer, and understanding her story, Kerry began vulnerably sharing her deepest secrets, and learned to love herself by letting go of shame. With a mixture of home design styling, DIY projects, and preaching from God's Word, Anh Lin has created a truly unique space on her YouTube channel, Girl and The Word. Anh recalls one of her darkest moments when she thought to herself, No one truly loves you, when she felt God comforting her and assuring her of her worth. Now, she works to help others transform spaces into healing sanctuaries of peace and reflection. 

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: Carley Summers

Upcoming interview: Kelly Lang

Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt 

Kerry Washington

Thicker Than Water

Anh Lin 

Girl and The Word YouTube channel

www.girlandtheword.com

Forever Home

Interview Quotes:

“I really have been on a journey to figure out how to take care of myself and provide a sense of safety for myself that helps me stay out of depression and anxiety.” - Kerry Washington 

“We are each of us a child of God. We all deserve to be loved unconditionally. We are all worthy. We are no less than or no greater than any other person.” - Kerry Washington 

“We don't all have the same journeys, but we do share these common human, unifying experiences of wanting to be loved, wanting to be seen, knowing what it's like to be afraid, knowing what it's like to love, knowing what it's like to have our hearts broken.” - Kerry Washington

“My children and my husband are 100% proof of God to me. Each of us is a crazy, brilliant miracle, just a God blessed miracle to be here.” - Kerry Washington

“My deepest relationships with God have come in my most challenging times. I think those ebbs and flows in life happen to invite us to get closer to goodness, closer to faith, closer to God.” - Kerry Washington 

“I had that experience of [God] coming to me when I was at my darkest stage, when I had wanted nothing to do with Him or anything to do with any religion, He still saw His broken daughter and it broke His heart. And He reached out to me.” - Anh Lin

“I generally just look at the things that surround me, such as land or paint or whatever I have within my vicinity, and I really allow the Lord to inspire me in what He wants me to do next, creative wise.” - Anh Lin 

“I feel like if we are searching for that next creative project that would really glorify Him, just allow Him to inspire us in unexpected ways, and then open the Bible and see what the scriptures have to