By Ann Farabee

Am I enough? Age is not a factor when it comes to that question.

I have seen students in despair over fractions saying, “I can’t do it!” I have heard toddlers cry out in exasperation, “I can’t do it!” I have been a mother crying out that same comment, “I can’t do it!”

The feeling of inadequacy can hit at any moment.

We learn our inadequacies early in life. We do not feel smart enough or athletic enough, we do not feel that we look good enough, or we do not feel that we can do things as well as others do.

We feel inadequate.

I experienced all of that when in elementary school, and the feelings only grew.

Experiences and emotions in life inform us that we are not enough.

I grew up on Mill Hill in a mill town. I heard the mill whistle blow every morning, which meant my mother was returning home from working her third-shift job, as my father was heading out to his first-shift job.

I remember not wanting to live in that mill house on that mill hill, because all the popular kids I went to school with lived in brick houses. Most of them lived far enough away from the mill that they did not hear that mill whistle blow.

Yes, my measuring stick for richness was whether someone lived in a mill house or a brick house. In middle school, I began to hear rumblings during school among the girls about sleepovers at their houses. I wanted to be invited, but I suspected that I was not enough.

In my mind, the house I lived in and the side of town I lived on apparently determined my worth. It was not their fault. There was no room in my mill house for their sleepovers and apparently there was no room in their houses for me.

Honestly, it stung a bit.

I began to become friends with others — that I was enough for.

Back then, we called it being popular, but there was nothing popular about me.

I did win the spelling bee in the seventh grade. After that, even the “popular” kids often asked me how to spell words during class, but they still never invited me to their parties.

Looking back, it makes me smile — and even laugh — because I eventually figured out that I was enough.

How do I know that?

There is no need to share the how. I only need to share the Who, and the Who is Jesus.

I know Jesus personally, and He knows me personally.

If we can trust Him for our salvation, we can trust Him for our circumstance.

And through Jesus, we are enough.