Authentically You

by Krissi Winningham

Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made ; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

I moved around a lot when I was younger. In fact, by the time I was through elementary grades, I had been to 5 schools. I adjusted relatively well but sometimes still had trouble making friends right away. I remember one time in the 3rd grade, we had a kid that joined our school with accent and everyone wanted to talk to him. He had friends on the very first day! I was mesmerized. I started practicing an English accent while watching some British television shows with my mom so when we moved to my next school in the 4th grade, I thought, “Here’s my chance. This is going to be PERFECT!!”

I sat down in my homeroom and when the teacher went to introduce me to the class, I tested my skill.

“Hello, my name is Krissi,” I said in my new accent.

“Ohhh!!” the teacher exclaimed, “where are you from?”

Oh, no…..ladies, I am from Dallas and people from Dallas don’t sound like Dr. Who. I did not think this through…

“I’ve moved around a lot….” I said, again in my new persona.

Everyone had questions for me and I got so excited that I lost my fake accent and out popped my Texas twang. Again, oh no!!

Then, one kid said, “look, she is already starting to sound like us!!”

I think the teacher realized pretty quickly but the truth came out to everyone else before the end of the day. I was exposed as a fraud. When I was asked why, the only thing I could say was, “I don’t know. I just wanted to be liked.’

That’s hard for a 9-year old but I did recover from this stunt and actually made some friends that liked the real me.

I will be honest, I sometimes still struggle with the “being liked” idea and while I don’t go around putting on fake accents, I will sometimes hide my voice.

I sometimes say yes when I should say no.

I have put myself in situations that were not appropriate.

I have gone with the crowd instead of being “set apart”.

I have not told my story.

I have not shared my faith.

I have not walked in my calling.

Is it fear that holds us back? Is it indifference? It is a lie that we believe that says our voice doesn’t matter?

I want to encourage you to not let your voice get lost in the crowd. Your testimony, your story, your passion, your gifts—they are yours and yours alone. Yes, there might be others that have a similar story but they don’t have your voice and ONLY you can share it.

Don’t counterfeit it with things that are not authentically you!

Josie recently shared that God created each one of us on purpose and with intention and He loves every little thing about who we are.

I love these verses from 1 Peter 3: 3-4“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”

Ladies, you are precious! You are unique! You are His Beloved.

Don’t concern yourself with what the world thinks about you. Know that God had woven you together into a beautiful testimony of who He is. Your authentic voice needs to be heard so others can see your light through His love!

BE BOLD!! BE AUTHENTICALLY YOU!!

~ Krissi Winningham