As I began blogging and working through my COMPEL writing program, one of the things discussed was finding your writer’s voice.

This was a journey in itself for me.

There were many different voices in the writing world to compare yourself to and many boxes to fit into.

The struggle for me is that I am not a woman you can put in a box. Even during my cochlear implant programming time, my audiologist has to look at what I tell her and adjust it to the opposite of what she would do with a typical person.

I just don’t fit into a box well.

The more I tried to be like what the voices said I should be as a writer and the more I pushed to do the things they said would make me successful, the more frustrated I became, and I didn’t make much forward progress.

It took several years to work this out. The hard part is that I am the woman who follows the recipe to the tee, afraid to do anything differently because something might get messed up. I follow what I am told in perfect detail because I worry that if I think for myself in the process, I might do something wrong and get in trouble.

So, one day, I let some things go, shut out some of the voices, and took some time with God.

I sat with the Lord and asked Him to show me the writer He wanted me to be. I asked Him to help me know what my unique writing voice sounded like. I asked for forgiveness for trying to be someone else and constantly comparing myself to other writers.

As I made these changes, I began writing again. By this time, I was starting to write my book and putting this message from my heart on paper.

The more I let go of the voices, asked God for help, and just kept writing, my voice began to develop, and like a teenage girl coming out of that awkward stage into womanhood, my writing began blossoming into what God had created it to be, for the audience He had for me.

I will sometimes go back and compare my earlier writing to my current writing, and it is fascinating to see the difference, growth, and maturity that has happened over time.

It is truly unique to me!

That is one of my life lessons. When I stop trying to force something or make it look how I think it should and surrender it, asking God for His help, things seem to work much better.

Are there areas of life or relationships you are trying to make look like what you think they should, or are you trying to fix them yourself?

Can I encourage you to stop briefly, surrender them to Jesus, and ask God for help?

Are you trying to be someone you are not in any area of life?

Let me remind you of what God reminded me. He created us uniquely. We aren’t supposed to look like everyone else because we aren’t anyone else.

My writing didn’t need to look like all the other writers I knew. My writing needed to look like who God created me to be; from now on, that is who I want to be.