The Power of Love and Perseverance

Does your dream seem impossible?

Oh, sweet friends, I have been there. I’ve been to the place where it all seemed impossible. And, if I’m honest, for me it was. I couldn’t make things happen.

Did you know it took me seven years to publish my first book? Seven years of doubts and uncertainties, seven years filled with rejection after rejection, seven years of trying to make it happen without any success.

Essentially, I had to give up and put it in the Lord’s hands for it to happen.

Sometimes, I like to think about the moment when I tucked Zippy in the very back of my drawer. It devasted me to close that drawer. I honestly thought it was over for Zippy. In my mind, I vowed never to send that manuscript out to inquire about publication again.

I thought I buried Zippy, but God had a way.

Just because we give up in our minds doesn’t mean that our hearts let go. My heart held onto Zippy with an unexplainable love and strength. Zippy held my life’s purpose. With him was the deepest desire of my heart.

God understands our desires. He’s the One who gives them to us. So, I imagined holding my Zippy book every night before I drifted off to sleep. I could see and feel it. In my vision, kids surrounded me as I read them Zippy. And they loved it. Every night, I drifted off to sleep with that image in my mind.

Not long after that, God turned my dreams into a reality. Every time I visit a school and share Zippy with hundreds of kids around me, I feel so very blessed. Fourteen years later, it has never gotten old to me.

Even though I couldn’t make it happen, God did. He opened doors for me that I couldn’t even see, and he blessed me in such beautiful ways.

Everything changed when I stopped trying to make it happen and focused on the joy of it happening. In my visions, there weren’t any doubts or fears. No one rejected Zippy anymore. They just loved him.

That’s really what my dream represented—love. I loved Zippy, and I loved that he helped kids. I loved being an author. I loved helping others. I loved doing school visit presentations. I loved sharing how God blessed my life.

When we focus on love, God can make it all happen. Love can move mountains and make a way when there isn’t one.