If you witnessed a crime and reporting it meant you might be targeted by the criminals, would you report it?
That’s the dilemma Nicole faced before the opening of my newest release, Identity Withheld. Her boyfriend tried to talk the
young kindergarten teacher out of reporting what she believed was a baby being sold, but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to turn a blind eye to what she’d seen.
The Consequence?
The bad guys targeted her and she was compelled to go into witness protection.
The deputy marshal handling her case warned her to never tell anyone who she really was and to trust no one, because the person could be luring her into a false sense of security.
Have you ever confided in someone and later regretted it?
I have.
Could you imagine second guessing everything you said to every person in your life?
If you allowed yourself to fall in love, how would you feel knowing the person loving you back doesn’t even know who you really are?
Or is that true for most of us these days?
Do we only let people see what we want them to see? Or what the world tells us we should be?
Oftentimes we don’t even realize how we’re misleading people (maybe even ourselves).
In new relationships, it’s natural to enthusiastically participate in activities that don’t particularly interest us, because they are an opportunity to spend time with the person we’re attracted to. But are we duping the person into believing we share their interests?
Maybe that football fanatic husband has grounds to be resentful after the wedding.
In Identity Withheld, Nicole was given a new name, a new job, a new state to live, her ties to all her friends and relatives were cut, and she was told who to be.
Could you stay true to yourself in that situation?
We actually face it daily on many levels—at school, at work, at church, at home.
Experts, peers, family, friends, the media all tell us how we should act and how we shouldn’t; what we should value; how we should spend our money; what we should think.
Nicole moves to the new state and adopts the new name and the new job. Her faith and fortitude are tested in countless ways.
Thankfully, the kind of tests she faces don’t happen to most of us. But our faith and fortitude are constantly tested, too. Often in subtle ways.
-Being tempted to tell a little white lie to whitewash something we did or didn’t do
-Hearing a friend or colleague or family member say something against God, something we should speak up against
Read Identity Withheld to see if Nicole ultimately turns her back on who she really is.
For yourself, decide who you really are and stay true to it.
Your Turn: What or who has helped you stay true to yourself (or the person you know God wants you to be) in a difficult situation?
Masked woman image courtesy of graur codrin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
RSS - Posts
I’m so glad Identity Withheld is out! It’s on my Kindle calling my name right now!
Aw, thanks!
I like the questions you raise in your book. Staying true to ourselves is one of the hardest things we have to do. I believe my friend – a strong and kind Christian woman – helped me stay true to who God wants me to be.
What a wonderful tribute to her friendship!
Ooh, Sandra, I loved all the different questions you asked in this post and I can’t wait to read your book. (I’m so backlogged on books to read right now…I just want a vacation solely for reading!) I think what helps me stay true to myself is having people around me who really, really know me…knowing they’ll question or challenge me if I’m slipping into “this isn’t me” sort of territory.
Sounds like you are surrounded by some great people! Sadly for my heroine, she was pulled away from everyone she knew. It’s hard to imagine being utterly disconnected from every single person who ever knew you as your former self.