Written By: Lanissa Reale
Hi UYM community! I am so thrilled to have joined your community as a monthly writer! My name is Lanissa and I am a 20 something with a ministry, based in sunny Florida, called Becoming Ministries. It is an online Ministry specifically intended to celebrate and empower the teen-20 something gal to get comfortable in her own skin AND buy into the process that God has in store for her!
During this “young woman” stage of life, we gals go through tons of transitions, a lot of decision making and maybe even a little identity searching- and I want to make sure that teen-20-something girls have a safe place where they can go to learn how to truly Become the woman that God created them to be, THROUGHOUT this young woman stage of life!
Are you ready to begin your journey of Becoming the woman God created you to be as a teen-20-something girl? How do you even begin a journey like that?! Well, my dear girl, I want to start my first 3 posts unravelling just that! Welcome to our first series together: Beginning Our Becoming!
‘Beginning Your Becoming’ Series: Part 1– Embracing YOU
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes us, he had His eye on us and had designs on us for glorious living. Ephesians 1:11
I love stories in scripture where God pulls up someone who is down in the trenches because of what they perceive themselves to be or what others tell them they are, and speaks freeing truth over them. When society condemned her, Christ healed the woman with the issue of blood. When brothers ignored him, Christ proclaimed purpose over the man who was blind from birth. And to the people who didn’t fit the status quo- He chose them to be His inherited children!
You see, sweet friend, we’re not the same you and I. We are all made with uniqueness, something(s) that are woven into our DNA were created just for us. And especially as young women going through a season of life full of demands, transitions and people’s opinions- we can choose quite easily to not celebrate who we are. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes not. Sometimes we compare ourselves, but sometimes we just get so overwhelmed that we forget we were created for such a time as this. Sometimes we begin to judge others, and sometimes we simply just get sick and tired of not knowing who we truly are. And as much as we may try to move forward, true growth will never happen until we learn how to celebrate ourselves and embrace who we are.
The first step in beginning this process of Becoming is to learn how to embrace the parts that we like and understand about ourselves, and embrace the parts that we aren’t quite sure why they are there but we know that they are present. Because the truth is that God has a purpose for each of them, and we won’t begin to experience that purpose until we take ownership of who we are. You may have a disease, you may have a broken family, you may have low self- confidence. Or maybe you know who you are but are surrounded by people who don’t agree with your calling or decisions… WHATEVER the case may be for you.. it’s time to stand up for the woman God created you to be.
You are you for a reason. And all of the beautiful, messy parts that make up who you are… are there for a purpose. A purpose that is good and far beyond anything we could ever imagine. And the only person standing in the way of us experiencing that person is us. It’s time to start embracing, us.
YOU, with all your pain and past misjudgments are created for a purpose.
YOU, are truly beautiful behind all of the new fashion trends and makeup styles. (You are #onfleek)
YOU, are not defined by your circumstances or what others say about you.
YOU, are valuable inside and out because of who made you- The Lord!
YOU, do have a future that fulfills all of your deepest desires in store for you.
AND YOU, are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.
We embrace who we are (messy, beautiful and in process) and allow ourselves to celebrate our uniqueness when we acknowledge what we’ve been given yet at the same time focus our eyes not on ourselves, but on HIM. Because He knows our inward parts greater than we ever could, He moulded them together. He knows who we were created to be, and He is determined to lead us there. HE knew what He was doing when He made us. And so the only secure confidence that we could ever have is found in Him.
I’m not you. I’m me. But the God that created BOTH of us- is the same. And He is good! And so I can say with complete confidence, that you were made GREATLY. I may not understand why, and I may not be confident yet…but I know because I am Him. I am made well. 🙂
Until next time, ~ Lanissa Reale (lanissareale.wordpress.com)
Uniquely Yours Ministries 