Dreams Really Do Come True!

ACFWAdvice, Authors and writing, Friends of ACFW Leave a Comment

By Lillian Duncan

I wrote another post with this same title after receiving my first contract from a traditional publisher. It took 15 years of writing before I received that contract. So you can well imagine I was a little bit excited.

Now three years and seven contracts later, I still get excited. I just don’t cry quite as much!
Redemption
REDEMPTION, my sixth book with my publisher released last week. Anyway, I thought I’d take a moment or two to reflect on dreams.

I believe God gives each of us many different dreams during our lifetime. Different dreams for different times of our lives, but there’s also that special dream – The Big Dream. For me that was becoming a writer, and it’s probably yours as well since you joined ACFW.

So why doesn’t everyone pursue their Big Dream or even quit before they reach that elusive goal of becoming a writer? I can think of a few reasons:

It’s not practical.
It can never happen.
I tried but it’s not working.
I don’t have time.
I don’t know how to do it.
What if I fail?
What will people think?

The list of reasons can go on and on, but I think you get my point. I can tell you that I told myself all of these reasons (and more) during those many long years I didn’t get a contract. But every time I quit, I eventually started writing again. Because I didn’t feel complete when I wasn’t writing so I kept writing.

I’m not going to tell you that going for your dream is going to be easy, or even that you’ll get there. But there’s joy in the journey as well as in the destination. Even had I never gotten a writing contract, I would never say my time spent pursing my dream to be a writer was wasted. Why? Because I love writing stories. It was fun for me then, and it’s still fun!

Of course, that’s easy for me to say now that I have a contract – or seven of them!

One of my favorite Bible verses relating to my writing dream is Hebrews 11:8: By faith, Abraham when called to go to a place he would later receive his inheritance obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

I think this is a perfect description for anybody following a God-given dream. By faith, we obey God and pursue the dream He’s given us. We follow him down the path that He’s given us without knowing where we’ll end up.

I can’t guarantee you’ll end up as a published writer, only God knows the destination of your path. But one thing I do know is that if you quit on your dream, I can guarantee it won’t happen. If I’d quit in year fourteen, I wouldn’t have received that first contract or the seventh. So keep writing!

Lillian DuncanLillian Duncan: stories of faith mingled with murder & mayhem!

Lillian is a multi-published writer with several Amazon bestsellers, including The Christmas Stalking and Betrayed. Lillian writes the types of books she loves to read-fast-paced suspense with a touch or two of romance that demonstrates God’s love for all of us Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit: www.lillianduncan.net. To enter a giveaway celebrating Redemption,, go to Tiaras & Tennis Shoes, her personal blog at www.lillian-duncan.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *