“Nobody will take your dream seriously until you do.” — Katie Ganshert, author of The Art of Losing Yourself

I discovered this quote this past week and it resonated with me something fiercely. You see, for the past two months, I have been pursuing a dream. And I’ve been doing it seriously. Suddenly it seems that the people around me — including family — are starting to believe in that dream.

A little backstory . . .

When we left Ecuador to return to the states, I was a little lost. Honestly, I had no idea what the future held, and even worse, I had no idea what I wanted the future to hold. Sure I was excited about the new mission God had called us too, but so much of it was unknown that I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. While the missional call was for both Keith and I as a team, I still felt like there was something that I needed to pursue – something that used my talents and my passions.

I floundered around for almost a year and half — living my days somewhat aimlessly — yet very busy. Then Keith informed me he had contacted a life coach to chat with me so that I could find some direction. I was a little surprised as well as excited. I had no idea exactly what a life coach did, but I sure knew I could use a little help navigating the future.

So here I am after several conversations with the life coach, pursuing something I feel passionately about: writing and mentoring. I’ve been pursuing my writing gift for over 10 years now, and I’ve been mentoring others since I left high school. Now God has planted a dream in me to mesh these talents and passions together as a Writing Coach.

So many times as a writer, I would be frustrated because I had legitimate questions about the writer’s life: publishing protocol, writing practices and techniques, writing conferences. But there was no one willing to take time to answer my questions. I felt alone and frustrated. How could I learn if no one was willing to teach me. I research many “classes” but couldn’t afford them. So I decided I wanted to help novice writers and do for them what I felt was lacking for me. I wanted to offer a personal help to those just starting out or simply wanting to develop their writing skills.

So LiveLoveWrite was born. This new venture fills me with excitement for the future. I love teaching; I love mentoring; I love writing. And I cannot wait to share what I’ve learned over the years about writing, publishing, and blogging. Even more, I just want to encourage those who feel like the don’t know how to share their stories, or even if they should.

For my readers, if you want to hone your writing skills so you can share your life stories with your children or grandchildren; if you want to encourage your fellow believers with lessons learned along your faith journey; or if you simply want to tell the stories that linger deep in your heart, join me on this writing journey.

I cannot wait to get started!  First workshop begins in just over a week. You can sign-up here.  If you aren’t the writer but know someone who is, please share this info with them. Thanks for supporting each post that I write and coming back to see what’s happening as I continue to unpack life and find the souvenir in each journey that God calls me on.