Dan and Becky Allender: Hiding No More, Part One

This week on the podcast, Dan is joined by his wife, Becky Allender, to talk about the process of writing her new book, Hidden in Plain Sight: One Woman’s Search for Identity, Intimacy, and Calling, and about the journey of stepping out of the shadows and hiding no more.

Becky reflects on how she learned to hide at a very young age, and how that continued for decades, including into her marriage with Dan. This new book is Becky’s bold, beautiful declaration that she has a story to tell that she has no intention of remaining hidden any longer.

Becky: “That became part of my identity without realizing it. I knew how to be in the shadows and show up when I needed to. That came at a very, very young age.”

Dan: “You are a profoundly tender woman, fierce on behalf of those who have been forgotten or demeaned. And like most of us, you can offer to others what you are more reluctant to give to yourself. […] It was harder to bring that tenderness and ferocity of goodness to your own heart.”

You can offer to others what you are more reluctant to give to yourself.

The process of writing clarified and brought new life to the story God has been telling in Becky’s life for years without her even recognizing. She reflects on her time working on the streets with prostituted teenage girls, and on her time in The Allender Center’s Story Workshop and Training Certificate, when she was gifted with a group of others who would bear witness to her story and invite her to tell it even more boldly.

Becky: “It brought real tenderness to the battlefield of my story. It brought care.”

These experiences helped open Becky to receive kindness from God, others, and eventually herself. And it is kindness that empowers us to step out of hiding and tell a new story. Next week, Dan and Becky will talk more about the process of telling that story and writing Hidden in Plain Sight, and about how those who have remained hidden can begin to step more fully into their calling.

Dan: “The work of growing in maturity in Christ is a coming to know—to know Him better, to know the world better. But why would we leave ourselves out of that equation? We are, to Him, precious.”