Dream It To Real

Welcome! I’m glad you’re here. And I’m glad you’ve found us. I care about teenagers or any girl younger or older trying to find her life’s purpose. This site has been created to serve as a space for you to find all God has created you to be. And perhaps you’re like me and haven’t quite been able to find it on your own. You might wonder why do I care about you. How can a complete stranger care about another complete stranger? Well, I don’t have a simple answer to that question, but I do have a long explanation.

I wanted to be a minister, but in 1985 I knew no female pastors and quickly abandoned this path. I wanted to be a basketball coach but predicted I would most likely win about 3 games if I was lucky and lose the rest. I continued to predict doom and imagined I would eventually get fired. What would I do after that? I wanted to be a marriage counselor and dad said, “No way.” That left me with two things I knew about myself: I wanted to help people, and I loved English. I didn’t want to be a doctor, nurse or teacher and felt stuck trying to figure out a major when you have two things that don’t seem to fit together.

Since I come from a family of strugglers, no spoiler here, I struggled. The only thing worse than coming from a family of strugglers is not knowing you were born into a life of struggle. Several years passed into adulthood until I finally realized life wasn’t as fulfilling as I hoped it would be because of this struggling conundrum. Struggle followed me into the worst places--my plans and decisions. When I wanted to try out a new possibility or finalize a big idea, struggle would flow through every crevice in my mind. 

I circled around and around inside a big decision continuing day after day without finalizing a conclusion. Ideas would form in my head as to why it wouldn’t work, never how I might be able to succeed. I couldn’t recognize this was a problem because I had lived with struggle since nearly the very beginning of being me.

I was voted most likely to succeed in high school. This success I had in high school, where I knew who I was and where I was going, began to whither away the day after high school graduation. I considered myself a happy, no worry teen until I turned the light off at night to go to sleep. I could invision a fantastic life and career for about five seconds until unfolding my dreams from a negative point of view. I dreamed from a bright future to dark outcomes all before I could find my favorite sleeping spot in the bed. I wondered if I would ever get married and what about kids. Not one positive outcome could be created in my mind. I was happy and cheered on everyone else without belief or enthusiasm leftover for me. How would I find what I was supposed to do?

By the start of the second semester of my Sophomore year, I changed majors three times with the final one in physical therapy a successful choice. A family friend new my predicament and suggested this career. Dad didn’t say no, and I didn’t predict failure. Years later I still have that degree and eventually went back to school for a graduate degree. I’ll never forget the many desperate conversations I had with God asking Him who I was and what would be my career.

My talents were right inside of me the whole time. Let me say that again. My. talents. were. right. inside. of. me. the. whole. time. God didn’t hide my life purpose from me until some random whenever time to reveal this news to me. He wasn’t playing tricks on me or punishing me for my sin. I wanted to be a minister, a basketball coach and a marriage counselor. I loved English and wanted to help people. I had real potential career paths. I knew my dreams by heart. The worst thing I did is panic. I didn’t believe God was for me. He had already given me all of this information about myself. I didn’t thank Him for telling me what He knit inside and ask Him to continue to show me more. I panicked.

I believe your dreams are already inside of you, too. The ones that you know about and the ones you don’t. I care not only about my dreams, but your dreams, and any dream that needs a healthy dose of hope no matter how old the dream or the person.

I have a lot of dreams for this website. I know where I want it to start and have a little bit of an idea of what it will look like in a couple of years. The thing I am happiest about is I am not predicting this project to fail. I have a more positive spirit permeating from my soul. I am predicting failure and hopelessness less and less. And I can look back and see real progress in my life from struggle and confusion to clarity.  

Maybe you’re in those most passionate years of dreaming during your senior year in high school. Or maybe you’re like me and have had lots of years go by where you still don’t think you have achieved clarity and captured all you’ve been created to do. I pray for all girls at any age from the very beginning of the dream to when it reaches real life. I pray for your dreams to really leave the ground, take off and fly higher than the eye can see.  I don’t want you to struggle as long as I did. This site is here because I still want to help people, as many as I can. I understand what it’s like to be blind to the way no matter how desperate you are to see. If you can find your way much sooner than I, then go on and go far.

Believe God is for you much sooner than I did. Thank Him for revealing and letting you know the attributes and talent He has placed inside you. Ask Him to guide you into the future and to show you more about His character and yours. This site is here to help you learn how to navigate through the great big plans you have for your life even when you don’t know what they are. I had a good life and told myself I had no right to complain. But I wanted a great life. Life will continue to bring challenge, but having a set of values can provide a steady guidance each day. Starting each day with hope can provide a more accurate outlook with better clarity about who you are. You are capable. Asking God for confidence enables us to live more deeply rooted and fulfilled than ever before. Dream with God until it becomes real. Dream, girl.