Do you have a dream? Is there something you have always wanted to do since you were a child? Is there something you have discovered recently that you are passionate about and want to pursue?
My lifelong dream was to be a published novelist, and it finally came true almost two years ago. Oh, I’ve been a writer all my life. I wrote for newspapers, magazines, government, and nonprofit organizations, and I loved all my jobs. But I didn’t believe I could actually write a novel and get it published.
As long as I only dreamed about being an author, walked into bookstores or libraries and admired the books on the shelf, read other books and thought, “I could write that,” nothing happened. It wasn’t until I sincerely committed my dream to God—and began to take steps to accomplish it—that I saw the dream fulfilled. When I took an idea, a question—what would it be like if Queen Esther lived today—and actually sat at the computer and began to write, the book began to take shape.
But the words didn’t just pour out onto the paper ready to publish. When I realized that I needed to study and work at the craft of writing, I could have given up, but I didn’t. I continued to learn and work and rewrite and edit and polish—and finally, in God’s perfect timing, I entered a contest called “Books of Hope,” and won. The prize was not only the publication of my first novel, For Such a Moment, but a three-book contract.
My husband likes to say, if you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. The thing that I had never done, despite all my dreaming of being an author, was to sit down and actually complete a book.
Speaker Barbara Johnson has said, “Allow your dreams a place in your prayers and plans. God-given dreams can help you move into the future He is preparing for you.”
So if you have dreams or desires that you think will never come true, stop just dreaming. Figure out what you need to learn or to do, and take the first step.
What is your dream? What’s the first step you need to take to pursue your dream? Share in the comments so we can encourage each other.
