The Dreamer’s Update

So I can’t believe it, but our precious God Sized Dream group is winding down and with it our weekly communal posts in connection with Holley Gerth’s vision to help us get women moving on their dreams. 

As we write our dream “wrap up” post, Holley asked for an update on our dreams.  I went back and read what I wrote initially about what my dream was in Texas Dreamin’.  Little did I know then the strides that would come and the friends I would make through this remarkable group.  I think this dream of mine to develop a place of refreshment and connection for working women is something that will develop for years to come.   But there are definite changes that have happened in this first half of 2013 that could only have happened because God orchestrated these opportunities:

1.  I started a new job in February.  I love this job.  I’m happier with my career today than I have been in 15 years and that’s saying something because I have loved all three of my previous jobs as an attorney.  My career transition has still allowed me to have time in the evenings to write for this blog and for my book. 
2. I’m getting braver.  I’ve talked a lot about the fears that come with your dreams, but I’m learning to trust whatever this is that God is going to do, regardless of what it looks like.  I just know I’m supposed to write, and keep writing, and then we’ll see. 
3. God provided old and new relationships that helped me believe and dream.  Oh the friendships that have grown these past six months – from my friend of a decade Amy who can slap me around to get me focused on what is really important (in the absolute best way – you need someone to tell you to stop whining if you’re WHINING!) to my new friend Christine who is dreaming such big dreams that I’m just excited to be in the boat with her.  Watching God do big things in other people’s life affirms how improbable dreams launch all the time.
4. My first book comes out in August.  Ack!  Isn’t that crazy?  Learning to Lead is at the printer as we speak.  My headshot was sent off last week along with my author bio.  It’s a small book with a small release, but I will have written a book.  About leadership.  For working women.  And though it’s not faith-based, I know that this is a step on the path to publishing more.  Working to get a couple of my other books out there over the next few years.  That gives me goose bumps.  Talk about improbable dreams.  A book. 

I know I’ve shared this once before, but I leave it with you because you can’t hear it too much.  Keep dreaming friend.  From Holley’s You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream:

At some point in pursuing your dream, you will get tired.  You will sit down on the side of the road and say, “For crying out loud, if I knew it was going to be this hard and take this long, I never would have started down this path.” Your job in those moments is simply this: don’t quit.  Because just over the next hill, just around the next bend is the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for, and you will miss it if you stop now….What’s most likely to defeat you isn’t external circumstances or challenges, it’s you!  Don’t give in to discouragement, doubt, or fear. Don’t let the enemy tell you that you’ve goofed this up for good and it’s over.  Just keep going.  You will get there, one way or another.