Finding the You That’s Been Hiding

Finding the You That’s Been Hiding

Can you look yourself in the mirror and say that you are or are on the way to becoming the woman of faith that the scriptures call you to be? Finding the courage to find the you that’s been hiding is the hardest thing that I have faced.

Leeana Tankersley writes in her book, Brazen about what she calls soul bullies. These soul bullies are the inner voices that we let tell us that we are not good enough. They kick us when we are down. They make us question everything we do or say. I know that I have always been my worse critic, but this is more, this is letting those soul bullies keep you from stepping up and helping when you know you should.

One of my favorite coffee mugs reads: Well behaved women rarely make history. Funny? Sure. But it does have truth in it too. And of course when I laugh at not being well behaved, I don’t mean acting out or being ugly. I mean standing up and being seen as a person that doesn’t go along with what the world says and does.

According to Leeana, you can be a brazen woman and of course not be what the world’s definition of brazen is when it comes to becoming a stronger woman of faith. You can “be that girl” that others turn to when they are hurting. You can be THAT woman who stands up or walks away when the conversations around her are not uplifting.

I liked her comparison of learning to walk with myself like a companion instead of a critic. If I were advising another woman of faith on the same topics..what would I say? Would I build them up or tear them down? Would I be their biggest cheerleader and knock back those fears of not being able to do it or would I set up stumbling blocks in their way?

There are so many moments in life when we choose to silence our intuition, abandon our own voice, and play small because we wonder, deep down: “Do I know who I really am? Is who I really am enough?” It’s courageous work to learn to live from our essential identity–loved, worthy, whole. But what if God is calling us to shamelessly recover the woman he created us to be? What if God is urging us to be–for the first time in our lives–brazen?

The word brazen means without shame. Leeana Tankersley wants women to be just that–to unapologetically move from shame- and fear-based living toward lives that are based on love and belonging. With moving personal stories and spot-on observations of the longings we all experience–to know we are loved, to feel comfortable in our own skin, to be heard–Tankersley calls women to honor that voice deep down inside of them rather than bowing to outside influences that push them to become someone they’re not. Gritty and overflowing with grace, Brazen will set women free to be truly themselves in a world bent on molding them in its image.

About the Author
Leeana Tankersley is the author of Breathing Room and holds English degrees from Liberty University and West Virginia University. She and her husband, Steve, are currently stationed in San Diego, California, with their three children: Luke, Lane, and Elle. Leeana writes about living from the spacious place on her blog, www.leeanatankersley.com.

This book, Brazen – The Courage to Find the You That’s Been Hiding is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Audio Book and Audio CD formats.

Don’t have a Kindle? Grab one for yourself. They are so nice to use for reading. I love my Kindle Fire and my little one uses the e-Reader version (just for reading without the added games and internet options).