Don't Give Up On Your Dreams

Do you have a dream that compels you so strongly you wonder if you have the option not to pursue it?                                

                                      That's how I feel about writing.

I began writing when I was six. I was compelled.

I wrote a poem with some first grade friends, and that's when I decided to be a writer...and an Egyptologist and marine biologist, (until I realized I was terrified of fish).

I got my first paycheck at the ripe old age of nine. I received $ 35.00 from a woman's magazine for a tip I wrote on how to iron a sharp crease in a pair of pants.  For someone who wasn't even allowed to hold an iron, it was better than Christmas.  I was hooked!

The writing life is lonely though. Sometimes I pull out that old poem as a reminder that I didn't choose writing; writing chose me, and it's hard. And what happens just when I feel like I'm starting to get in the groove?
                       
                                  Fibromyalgia comes along and threatens everything.

Have you ever had your dream threatened? That's when we need to run in the opposite direction - we need to run toward the dream.

For me, that meant attending a writer's conference in Florida. It meant that I needed to embrace the tension and not allow myself to sink into a pit of discouragement. Even though I had to wake up at 3:30 AM, carry heavy luggage and spend seven hours in the orlando airport...

my dreams are worth it.
                                                        And so are yours.

Living with pain can make us feel alone, but it doesn't have to rob us of our dreams.

So what do you dream about?

                                                       How can I pray for you?
                                       

Chasing Dreams

Right now I'm at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer's Conference (brmcwc) in North Carolina. This is going to be a short post because I am exhausted. Lately, something odd has been happening to me. I'll be doing some chores around the house and all of a sudden, voices, scenes and dialog will start playing in my head. It's been disturbing, and yet, I feel like I'm supposed to do something with it.

All my life I've dreamed of writing stories for children and I think this may be the beginning of that dream being fulfilled.

Today, during a workshop with author Ann Tatlock, she explained how she outlines stories and said, "I hope your characters are speaking to you."

Oh thank God, I thought I was going crazy!

Then later, I had an appointment with Steven James, a novelist and world class storyteller. I pretty much flat out asked him if it was "normal" to hear characters talking in your head, and he told me that no one's really normal. We talked a bit more, and he said, "This is what you're going to do for the rest of your life."

Then he explained that it's a gift, and God is the giver of all good things. Somehow that was very freeing for me. So, I'm giving myself permission to tune into the voices and let them have their way.

     Only God knows where it'll take me.

God has given each of you a spiritual gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.  1 Peter 4:9-11