Not Ashamed of the Gospel (Anymore)

Valerie Riese
2 min readSep 24, 2020

Many of you know “Victoria Grace” is a pen name. I’d like to explain why I used a pen name, and why I just began publishing with my real name.

As soon as I put my blog on Facebook, I started getting strange and creepy posts from men from all over the world. Some of them made me feel icky and others frightened me, but the one of a man in the desert, wearing a ski mask and brandishing a large, curved, serrated knife in front of his face was the final straw. Something had to change.

I could have monitored my profile better, but the post from a terrorist didn’t scare me as much as the judgement from people really know me. I created a pen name because it felt like a level anonymity, a false security blanket.

I’ve heard my Dad wanted to name me “Victoria” and “Grace” is my confirmation name. The name sounds pretty for a Christian blog, so “Victoria Grace” was born.

“Victoria Grace” has also been a regular contributor on CandidlyChristian.com since 2017. Last week, I admitted who I really am, why I used a pen name, and why it’s time to let go of Victoria. You can read the whole post here:

Learning to Speak Boldly for Christ & My Candid Confession

I’m simply too grateful to hide anymore. Cancer did not break me like past illnesses, and it’s all because of Jesus.

I’m still the same old Valerie. I still have the same multitude of faults, but I’m better than I used to be. If anyone wants to judge, that’s OK.

This is me. This is the message of the Gospel and I’m not ashamed to share it anymore.

I pray that Jesus will use me and the words He gives me to help others the way He’s helped me.

Not Ashamed by Jeremy Camp

Originally published at https://www.tumblr.com.

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Valerie Riese

Co-director of Candidly Christian. After suffering years of debilitating anxiety, I learned that victory over anxiety comes only through surrender to Jesus.