Growing up, I hated my reflection. Mainly because so many people told me I looked like my father. The only images I had of my biological father were mugshots. Those images told a story of a man who was sick, broken, and hopeless. In search of understanding my own identity, I couldn’t help but pull ideas of myself from what I had known about him. I cringed when people would tell me that I looked and acted like my father. It felt as though they were telling me that I too looked sick, broken, and hopeless.
What I didn’t realize is that those people, who said I looked my dad, weren’t saying that as an insult. They were referring to a version of him I never had a chance to meet. Before drugs, he was an artist, poet, musician, and entrepreneur. He was handsome and always knew how to make others smile. He was a provider and a protector. Although, I never got to personally meet that version of him, that version of him was just as real as the negative things I had witnessed over the years.
Therefore, I had to change the image of my father I chose to see. I had to rethink how I thought about him. It wasn’t until I changed how I viewed my father that I could begin to embrace what it meant to be created in his image. Seeing a different version of him empowered me to see a different version of me.
My relationship with God could be compared to that of a stepfather. I trusted him for the basic things and believed that He would supply all my need. I saw Him as a good Father…just not MY Father. I felt connected to Him but I didn’t believe that His DNA flowed through me. I realized I would never fully embrace all that God has placed within me until I also accepted who He is to me.
Where am I going with this? I read a post that said, “Our thoughts of God are too human.” Whew! There is a version of God that many of us have yet to see because our human experiences have reshaped our idea of Him. We were created in the image of God but we will never fully understand how powerful that is because we do one or more of the following:
We create God in our image instead of seeing ourselves through His. Therefore, our limiting beliefs about ourselves are ultimately mirroring what we truly believe about God.
We filter God through our disappointments. Therefore, we only ask for the things that seem reasonable, guaranteed, or within reach.
We filter God through our fears. Therefore, we will only move by "Faith" when Faith feels safe and rational.
It has taken several years for me to accept that God’s spiritual DNA flows through me. AND it flows through you too! So even when you don’t think you have enough or that you are not enough, I want to remind you that your Father in Heaven is able to do above anything you can ask or imagine according to the power that is at work IN you (Ephesians 3:20). Girl, it’s in you!! He's in you! You are powerful and beautiful. It is time for you to SHOW UP as the woman you were created to be in YOUR Father’s image.
Happy New Year!
Our focus for 2022 is, “Girl, Show Up”. We are kicking it off with a virtual Purposed Roadmap & Canva Workshop to help you Show Up as the woman you are called to be in
THIS next season of your life. We had so much great feedback from the in person StraTEAgy party in ATL, and knew we needed to provide a virtual option for our sisters.
Watch the recap from the HoliTEA Party. There are some nuggets in there that you need to hear as you walk into the New Year!
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