If you haven’t noticed, Dare to Dream is my passion! Let me tell you how it all began…
It was a beautiful morning in June of 2010. I was happily walking the Burke Gilman Trail when all of a sudden God started downloading the vision for Dare to Dream. It was so big and so vivid, and I knew my life would never be the same.
I was shown that Dare to Dream would be a faith-based approach to personal growth and transformation, firmly rooted in principles God had been teaching me for decades.
God Goes Silent
After dramatically blessing me with this vision, God was silent for two long years before giving me the green light to proceed. It was clear from the beginning that He would develop Dare to Dream in His own time and in His own way.
I have since been on a journey I never could have imagined, full of many unexpected twists and turns that have profoundly changed my life. That’s what God’s dreams will do.
I taught my first 6-week Dare to Dream course in 2013 to a select group of Christian clients. Following God’s prompting, I further refined the course and published the curriculum in two books in 2015 and 2016. Much to my delight, both books became Amazon #1 Bestsellers. I have been using the Dare to Dream curriculum with coaching and counseling clients since that time.
Dare to Dream Evolves
In 2023, I developed and offered a 6-week Dare to Dream course entitled Anatomy of Change: A Faith-Based Approach to Personal Growth and Transformation. I consider this a prequel to my original Dare to Dream curriculum, as it focuses on creating a strong, supportive relationship with oneself and a deeper relationship with God. Both are critical to successful long-term change and growth in any area of life. Stay tuned for the next Anatomy of Change course to be offered in 2024!
God continues to give me new insights and tools to strengthen the Dare to Dream curriculum. God doesn’t waste a thing. He continues to build Dare to Dream through my own life experiences, shaping and molding me into the woman He created me to be. It is an honor and a privilege to share Dare to Dream with you and with others who are committed to their own personal growth and transformation.
I thought I’d give you a sneak peak into the first Volume of Dare to Dream: The Art of Co-Creating with God to give you a little more of the story behind the story. Please enjoy Chapter 1!
Chapter 1 – The Dream
Dare to Dream: The Art of Co-Creating with God is not for the faint of heart. It is for the heart that wants to soar. It is for the soul that has not yet taken flight but cannot rest until it does. It is for the man or woman who has lost sight of their dreams and needs help getting back on track.
It is for the hopeless individual that wants to believe there is more to life but does not know how to pursue it. It is for those who want to learn to co-create with God.
It is with excitement and some trepidation that I share this book with you, as I know it has the power to change your life. Why trepidation? Because co-creating with God requires a brave heart.
The rewards of this journey are greater than any human can provide, but the costs are great. You must let go of what you believe to be true in order to embrace the truth of God.
The road ahead will take you on many unexpected twists and turns that will leave you exhilarated, breathless, confused, clear, terrified, fulfilled, undone, and ultimately blessed beyond comprehension.
How do I know this? Dare to Dream: The Art of Co-Creating with God is the fruit of my own life experience and walk with God.
I am honored to share this journey with you along with the lessons I have learned about walking hand-in-hand with the Creator of the universe.
The Birth of Dare to Dream
I was walking the Burke Gilman Trail early one morning in June of 2010 when God downloaded a dream that was so big and so vivid, I felt like I had been shot out of a canon!
For years I had been feeling that my life was ready to take off, so I was sure this was it. I couldn’t get home fast enough to reserve 11 URL’s I was certain I would need to fulfill this calling, and I knew this was just the beginning.
I have since been on a journey I never could have imagined. I look forward to sharing with you how God has prepared me over these past five years to step fully into this calling and how learning those lessons became the core of the Dare to Dream curriculum and ultimately this book.
My Story
I have always loved personal and professional development seminars and have taken many since my early 20’s. I’m sure my initial interest was an attempt to fix myself, but I believe now that it was my love of learning and my destiny that kept me going.
It took many years of attending seminars to recognize that a very distinct pattern emerged with each workshop. I felt very encouraged and excited to be there. I absorbed a lot of valuable information about how to move forward in life, and I went home very motivated to implement the teachings.
The excitement generally lasted a few days, and then my motivation invariably waned to nothing. This pattern happened over and over again. It did not, however, stop me from taking the next workshop.
It finally dawned on me that I had never taken a workshop that truly addressed this phenomenon. None of them focused on WHY my enthusiasm waned or WHY I couldn’t seem to follow through after each seminar. I truly thought something was wrong with me.
At some point I realized that it wasn’t just MY issue, but that it was very common for people to lose motivation and to stop themselves from pursuing what they truly want.
Soon I realized, with great trepidation, that I wanted to be the person in front of the room delivering workshops. How would that ever happen if I was so easily discouraged and unable to stay motivated long enough to do what other seminar leaders told me to do. Yet somehow I knew that was what I was called to do.
I knew it wouldn’t be enough to offer just another workshop with good ideas about how to pursue dreams or how to get ahead, because many people had simply given up on their dreams knowing they would never follow through.
Sadly, it is often easier to give up than to repeatedly face the pain of failure. To encourage people to dream, I knew I first had to give them hope that it was possible to identify and overcome their internal obstacles.
I offered my first Dare to Dream Basics course in May of 2013, and it was designed to do precisely that. It helped participants identify how they stop themselves, provided them tools to overcome those obstacles, and gave them real life experience applying the tools and strategies to an area of their life they wanted to improve.
I truly believe that in order for people to fulfill their God-given dreams, they must have a toolbox full of strategies to manage whatever comes along to derail that pursuit. The most important tool in that toolbox, and the one that was missing for me in the early years of my life, was a working relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Dare to Dream was God-breathed, and He has continued to remind me of that all along the way. Psalm 127:1 speaks to this beautifully – Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. Whether your dream is to lose 10 pounds or to change the world, God is the author and finisher.
The Evolution of Dare to Dream
The Dare to Dream Basics curriculum continued to evolve after I offered my first course, incorporating more tools, strategies, and lessons as my life unfolded over the next two years. In early 2015 I began to feel God urging me to turn the curriculum into a book.
As I began to consider book titles, I realized the title ‘Dare to Dream Basics’ did not fully capture the heart of the material I wanted to include. My relationship with God has deepened considerably over the previous two years, and I knew the title needed to reflect what I had learned about walking hand-in-hand with Him to pursue this dream. The book title ‘Dare to Dream: The Art of Co-Creating With God’ truly reflects that walk.
This book has been written in two volumes. If you did not read the Introduction, please do so now before proceeding. There is very important information about the purpose of Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Co-Creating with God is both the most wonderful and the most challenging thing you will ever do. I want to prepare you well for the journey.