Who do you think should be the Woman of the Year 2013? What makes someone worthy? Linger near the cash registers at the grocery store this week, and you’ll see magazine covers claiming to know who deserves to be remembered, recognized, and rewarded.

Angelina Jolie might be up there, not just for her work as an actress, but for inspiring the UN General Assembly to take action in passing a resolution against sex crimes. Since I’m passionate about Human Trafficking, I might vote for her.  Or Malala Yousafzi who is the youngest person to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, but was shot in the head for taking a stand for girls to go to school in Northern Pakistan. I’m reading her book right now; I might vote for her. They both even made it into the Glamor Women of the World awards!

But I also met remarkable women around the world this year who have no website, no article to link to, no recognition for their courage or sacrifice or contribution. Some of them wrote for my devotional Released, and I would like to vote for them.  When it comes to the qualifications for being named a woman of significance,  what matters? Who are we trying to be? In a world that publishes lists of “the most significant,” distributing images of most beautiful, most sexy, most wealthy … it’s not easy to know who you are and who you want to be.

Identity theft – are YOU a victim?

40 million people worried about having their identity stolen after news of the Target security breach. I shopped at Target on Black Friday. Now I wonder if I will be a victim of identity theft. I’ve already called my credit card company and found reassurance in the voice of the company president. But we’re ALL victims of identity theft.

Today’s culture mixed with today’s media leaves us wondering who we are. Are we the Facebook profile we created? Are we the Twitter attitude we tweet? Are we the Sunday morning church goer we display? Are we the front row worshiper we demonstrate? Are we the porn surfer who deletes her computer history? Are we the woman adding a degree after her name? Are we the bread winner moving up the career ladder? Are we the well known PTA mom or community mover & shaker? Who are we? And who are we trying to be? I see a lot of woman trying really hard to find significance.

I’m pretty sure I won’t make the Women of the World list for 2014 either, but I still need to know who I am now and who I want to be in the year to come. I only get one life, so I can’t afford to stay confused about a crisis of identity thrust on me by my world. When you know you’re a victim of identity theft, you take action!

Finding our Identity – January

Will you take a simple single action and read along with me this January as we talk about Finding our Identity? We’ll talk about:

• Why the confusion?
• Who was I before?
• Who am I now?
• What’s a woman’s identity?
• Who am I in my world?
• How am I unique?
• What is my purpose?
• What is my future?

A new year is a great time to get a grip on our identity. I, for one, know I’m among the millions whose identity may’ve really been stolen. Maybe you’re in that number too. Or maybe you never darkened the door of a Target store, but our world has confused you too. Let’s take our identity back this January!