Hey there, Mama. What are you dreaming about these days? Do you have a small business budding in the corner of your heart? A side-hustle you think about while folding clothes? I’ve been there. In fact, I’m still there.

Nearly seven years ago I founded a small non-profit organization called Expectant Heart Pregnancy Center (EHeart). It was the ride of a lifetime; and, while most people think they could never do something like that, I’m here to tell you, you absolutely could.

I no longer work at EHeart, and for many years I thought I had done my “one big thing” in life. But shortly after leaving, God began to speak a new dream into my heart. And that is the one I am walking in right now: the dream of being a writer.

So what do you do when you feel a new dream unfolding? It can feel impossible, overwhelming and even selfish. But to that, I call a hearty B.S.! Today I want to share a few thoughts with you and I hope they will encourage you to birth whatever is growing inside you.

Speak your dream out loud.

This is perhaps the most powerful step you can take towards your dream; and, it’s one you can take today! While it seems like a simple thing, verbalizing your dreams enables you to take ownership of them.

When I first began talking about EHeart, I met with my friend, Deena, for lunch and spoke my dreams out loud. What to me was a potential idea, a far-future opportunity, was in Deena’s mind, a done deal. From that point on, she began to introduce me to others as “Mary K., the one who is building a pregnancy center”. At first, I would correct her,  “No,” I’d say, “I’m just dreaming about it!” But after hearing her talk to me about my dream for a few weeks, I began to own it. Because of her kind encouragement, I was able to go from dreaming about EHeart to building it.

My writing journey has seen a similar path. I have friends who insist on introducing me to others as a writer. “No,” I’d say at first, “I just blog sometimes.” But after a year or so of this confirmation, I began to take ownership of my dream. I am a writer- even on this small scale- I am a writer.

Take one small step….and then another.

Building a non-profit is a terribly intimidating task. There were days I would look at my vision for the organization and feel like there was no way I could accomplish it all. But one day, my dad advised me, “Just take one small step every single day.”

So, I wrote out my vision and began to work backward. If I wanted “A” then I would need to do “B”, and if I wanted to do “B”, then I would need to do “C” first…and so on.  When I had finished, I had a handful of “to-do”s that felt more like stepping stones than death-defying leaps. And every day, I would look at that list and choose one small thing to do, and then I’d do it.

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I share more three more thoughts in the original article! You can continue reading at East Texas Mom’s Blog by clicking here.