{"id":2413,"date":"2017-10-21T10:11:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-21T15:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ashleytauriac.com\/blog\/?p=2413"},"modified":"2017-10-21T10:11:05","modified_gmt":"2017-10-21T15:11:05","slug":"spotlight-lawanna-wilson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ashleytauriac.com\/blog\/spotlight-lawanna-wilson\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: LaWanna Wilson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Be pure in person, purpose and pursuit- LaWanna R. Wilson<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

I’ve known LaWanna Wilson<\/a> for years and have always looked up to her as a bold and incredible woman of God. She released a book a few months ago about living lives of purity and devotion to God. I really identified with her interest in identity in young people and how that has such a big impact on our lives and asked her if we could discuss how that impacts our work.<\/p>\n

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What would you want most for people to know about you and your work?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would like people to know that the driving force behind who I am and the work I do is a desire to help people encounter Jesus Christ and in doing so begin to walk in the purpose they were created for.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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What do you think graduate students\/young professionals struggle with most nowadays?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think people struggle with finding their unique niche in society. They struggle with being unique and carving their own path or conforming to the status quo and ideology of pop culture.<\/p>\n

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I was really interested in your thoughts about identity. How often do you think people struggle with identity issues and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe identity is a regular issue among young people. Social media pushes a strong message of what is the acceptable image, identity, appearance & characteristics. To behave outside of these social expectations can put a person in a position to experience rejection which most young people avoid at all costs, including the cost of losing their identity simply to fit in.<\/p>\n

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I loved the quote from your blog<\/a>– “When you don’t know your worth you are easily influenced by the culture around you and vacillate from one group to another because you are searching for identity and approval.” Great point! How do we know when to fight and when to cave in our lives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Embracing your uniqueness is always worth fighting for but not in the respect of how we might think we should fight. The simple act of choosing to honor God and follow His lead is in and of itself throwing a powerful blow to the culture around you that seeks to influence who you are.<\/strong><\/span> There’s nothing more radical than to swim against the current of pop culture. Simply being yourself, with no apology, is pushing back & sending the message to society that you are secure in who God has made you and recognize your worth is found in being yourself not being what is projected on you as acceptable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I love to think about identity because it relates so much to our workplaces. How do we get to a place where we are creating\/working\/living from God’s approval and not the cultures approval?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This definitely requires an investment of time and focus. Think about a skill you have acquired that you are good at. It took hours of practice to become proficient in that skill. It took dedication and focus to hone that skill. Now think about a relationship you have that you enjoy? That relationship is enjoyable because you’ve invested time and attention to it. You listened, you learned, you made adjustments to accommodate the other party in the relationship to ensure the success of that relationship. So it is with creating, working and living from God’s approval and not that of the world. You must be intentional, focused and dedicated to building a relationship of trust with God. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

From that place of trust you’ll begin to place His word above the opinion of people. His approval will so deeply affirm you until you are completely confident in being yourself<\/strong><\/span> despite what others may think about it. But you will not experience that depth of affirmation as long as you treat your relationship with God as an afterthought. He must be your main priority. He must be your main source of truth in order for you to discover who \u00a0you truly are and how to honor God with the life He’s given you.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

V.I.R.G.I.N.<\/em><\/strong><\/span> is a book written as a seven day walk through self worth and study of scripture. LaWanna discusses her decision to remain abstinent until marriage. She also uses the acronym “virgin” to show how that decision gave her a new purpose in life and how to walk that out in our lives as well. Get your copy:\u00a0lawannarwilson.com\/store\/\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

V.I.R.G.I.N. is a book written as a seven day walk through self worth and study of scripture. LaWanna discusses her decision to remain abstinent until marriage. She also uses the acronym “virgin” to show how that decision gave her a new purpose in life and how to walk that out in our lives as well.<\/p>\n

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