Happy Monday, friends! Today, I have a very special post for you. My dear friend, Olivia Bell has been so kind as to allow me to use her most recent article titled, "Dreams," as a guest post here on the blog. I was very touched by her words, and believe you will be too. I would love if you'd take a moment just to comment at the bottom and thank Olivia for sharing her heart with us today! :) One more quick note: Olivia founded her own e-magazine for young ladies (as you'll read in the article), and if you would like to sign up to receive it, just please simply fill out the contact form below and I'll pass that on to her. :) You'll love the magazine, trust me! (Olivia is also a columnist in my monthly e-magazine, The King's Princess, and if you want to subscribe to that, please click here.) So without further ado, here is Olivia Bell's article... Dreams. We all have dreams that we hold onto tightly inside our hearts, dreams we cherish and think about every single day. I want to talk about those dreams because I am just like you; I had dreams in my heart that I wanted to make happen. But there was one little problem, or more like a big problem. I thought I should wait. I thought of my dreams; starting my own business, beginning a magazine to encourage and inspire Christian girls, and write my first Christian fiction novel. As I thought of these around the ages of 15 and 16, I thought, “I can’t do them now, I have to do school. I think I’ll just wait and do them once I graduate…” And so I didn’t make my dreams happen, I put them on the back burner with the thought of “someday” I’d make them happen. Now that I look back on it, why did I think that? Life is a gift, each day we have we cannot take for granted because we are never guaranteed a tomorrow. But still I waited. Then something a friend said changed my whole outlook on my dreams. She said something along the lines of, “Why waste your entire life thinking that ‘someday I will chase that dream of mine, someday I will do what I’ve always wanted to and feel called to do’, all the while wasting the years of your life until one day ‘someday’ is too late.” I felt as if she were speaking right to me in that article and it really hit home for me. She also mentioned that our youth is a gift; these years will not last forever. Look at David; he killed a giant with three stones in his youth! So, one day I decided something. I wasn’t going to wait until I finished school; I wasn’t going to wait until ‘someday’ to make my dreams come true. With the Lord, I was going to make my dreams come true right here and now and stop wasting my life waiting for that ‘someday’. I started out on the journey of following the dreams that the Lord had laid on my heart. The Lord opened a door for me to start my own craft business called, “Olivia Rose Originals ~ A Beautifully Handmade Crafts Company”. I was thrilled to be able to share my creations with others and to see them enjoy the things I had made. Then along came another dream. After contributing to numerous Christian magazines over the years, I had cultivated my love of writing. I found that expressing my heart and thoughts on paper (or computer screen) was how I was best able to convey my messages. I loved the Christian magazines I read and contributed to, and in my heart a small dream was forming like a tiny flower bud in spring before it burst into a beautiful bloom. I wanted to start my own magazine. This dream came along probably about a year ago and I decided on the name of “Sisters of Salvation” for my magazine. I do not remember exactly what happened, but I think the same old familiar excuse arose not shortly after. I decided to wait until I finished school. But, even though I was putting off my dream, I think it was the Lord’s way of saying, “Not yet, wait for My perfect timing.” It wasn’t until May of this year when my mom mentioned that I should start my own magazine (she now says she always knew as I wrote all the articles for other magazines that I would start my own someday) that I felt the Lord saying it was the right time to start the magazine. And now look where He has taken me! When I was just starting to bring together my ideas and plan how I would distribute this magazine, I never knew that in just 2 issues I would have such an amazing team of columnists and photographers, along with a large group of subscribers in such a short period of time. “Christ’s Light Magazine ~Shining Bright in a Dark World” was born. The journey that the Lord has taken me on with this magazine has been such a wonderful one and hearing from my readers that they have been encouraged and inspired by it really makes my day every single time. I am so glad I followed the dream the Lord gave me of starting a magazine, because this magazine really is not mine at all. Jesus made it happen and it is His for Him to use for His ultimate glory and honor. I had one more dream though. A dream of being published. I have been writing a continual Christian fiction story for the magazine, “The King’s Princess” for around a year and a half now. I can’t believe the time has gone by so fast and that I am now on part 12 of the story that Lord placed on my heart to share. From the beginning of that story I had dreamed of one day combining and lengthening each part to form a novel, and it wasn’t until recently that I was inspired to put this dream into action by that same dear friend with the same words she had spoken before. Why was I waiting until I finished school? This friend is my role model, an author who writes books that touch my heart and soul in many more ways than one; she is the one who inspires me time and time again. I thought of her, having published her very first book at the age of 18, and I thought, “Why can I not do that? She didn’t keep her dreams bundled up until the day she finished school; she stepped out with Jesus and made her dream happen.” I knew in my heart Jesus wanted me to write a book, and my dear friend was just the right person to inspire me to make it happen. I am now in the process of lengthening and combining each part of my story into a Christian fiction novel that I am hoping and praying every day to be able to self-publish when it is finished. The Lord is making my dreams come true, and He used that dear friend to be His messenger to inspire me to step out and make them happen. I am forever grateful and thankful to Him for making my dreams come true and for bringing that friend into my life in the fall of 2015. She is my dearest friend and constant encouragement, she has never let adversity in her own life pull her down and crush her dreams. She has overcome a lot of things in her life, very hard things, things that would crush me, and how she has every single time trusted the Lord and overcome them has been the biggest inspiration to me. I look up to her, she is my source of inspiration and encouragement, she will never know how much she has affected my life and inspired me to dream with Jesus. My dear friend, you know who you are, I thank you for being you, the one and only you that the Lord brought into my life to inspire me to do big things for Him. I love you. And now I am following Jesus on my biggest dream of all. A dream of becoming a missionary to the African country of Uganda. I know in my heart that the Lord has called me to be a missionary there, and I pray every single day about it. That same friend knows in her heart that the Lord has called her to Uganda as well, she has known from a very young age where as I have only known I am called there for about a year or so now. What are the “odds” that I would have just happened to find a friend who shares the same calling as I do? There are no “odds”; it was the Lord at work in my life working out His master plan. I pray, pray, and pray some more that soon my friend and I will be able to go and serve together in the beautiful country of Uganda. I know the Lord has big plans for us, but you know something else? He has big plans for you, too. So take those dreams you are holding in your heart that you know are from the Lord, take them and with Jesus make them happen! Don’t waste your life waiting for that ‘someday’, do it now—today. The Lord is only waiting for you to step out; will you take His hand and let Him lead you on that incredible journey? Olivia Bell is The King’s Princess magazine columnist for the “Story Nook”, writing a continuation to her on-going book each month. She also has her own column entitled, “Serving the Lord from Craft Room to Kitchen” where monthly she shares a how-to craft tutorial from her own studio or a delicious recipe straight from her kitchen. She frequently publishes articles according to the magazine’s monthly theme, or to what the Lord is leading her to write. Olivia is a young lady in her teens, residing in the Pacific North West. Some of her many interests include: reading God’s Word, reading and writing articles for Christian magazines, making creations for her small craft business, baking and cooking treats, photographing nature, writing letters to her many pen-pals and publishing her own, free bi-monthly Christian magazine for girls titled “Christ’s Light Magazine ~ Shining Bright In A Dark World”. To subscribe, please contact her below. She aspires to acclaim Christ’s glory and honor through everything she set’s her pen to.
18 Comments
Grace
9/18/2017 04:56:27 pm
Thank you for the encouragement, Olivia!
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/18/2017 10:20:04 pm
You're welcome, Grace! I'm glad it was of encouragement to you! =)
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/18/2017 10:21:08 pm
Thank you so much for posting this, Bella! You are so sweet and thank you for being such an encouragement to me in the area of dreams, you're the best! =)
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Bella Morganthal
9/21/2017 02:52:09 pm
Thank you for encouraging ME and being willing to let me share your words here! <3 :)
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April Olivia Mom
9/19/2017 03:48:20 pm
The LORD blessed your father and me with such a beautiful girl and now a young lady who is devoting her life to CHRIST. I'm humbled and so very honored to be your mom. Let the LORD continue to lead you in all HE gives for your life. HE will do amazing things if we let HIM have HIS way with us.
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/19/2017 03:49:58 pm
Aww, thank you oh so much, Mom! You're the best and thank you for everything you've ever done for me! YOU'RE amazing. ;)
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/22/2017 02:52:24 pm
Why thank you, sweet Allison! I am so glad you love my magazine! Keep chasing your dreams too! =)
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/22/2017 04:14:00 pm
You are welcome, Sarah Faith! I'm glad it was of encouragement to you! =)
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Bella Miller
9/22/2017 05:23:49 pm
Amen Olivia! Love the article!
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/22/2017 08:22:03 pm
Thank you so much, Bella! =)
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/24/2017 06:58:41 pm
Thank you, sweet friend! I am so glad it was inspirational to you! =)
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Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
9/28/2017 10:03:37 pm
Thank you ever so much, Megan! You are so sweet and thoughtful! :D
Reply
Olivia Bell (aka Livy)
10/4/2017 07:37:06 pm
Your are more than welcome, dear Chloe. =)
Reply
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