Last night I went to see my friend Christiana and her band, Something Special play.  It was her album release party and it was fantastic!  She’s always been a percussionist but somehow she found time to learn how to play the bass guitar.  As long as I have known her, she talked about this moment in time and last night, she pulled it off.  I watched for three hours straight and every time I felt the funk, my body responded.  I should mentioned, I love to dance and in those three hours, I met my cardio needs for the weekend.

Here’s what you need to know.  Christiana is a 58 year old believer.  What I love most about her story is that I got to watch this story being written.  In the last 20 years, she never once stopped dreaming and believing that last night would come.  For years we talked about our dreams, envisioned the outcome and smiled.  We knew that God had the vision and the plan, we just had to do the work and learn how to be patient.  One thing for sure, she definitely did the work; and last night, it showed.  The Grand Ballroom, a historic masterpiece on Chicago’s south side was packed with round tables and guest dressed to impress.  Christiana did it all. She led her band, played the drums, the bass guitar and sang.  At one point, I thought I saw a reincarnation of all the greats, Lena Horn, James Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Commodores and Chic, all coming through her small blond frame.  To see her last night and to recall her journey, it was clear that her talents were never lost even when the road seemed weary.  What kept her going was her unrelenting faith and the promise that His will would be done.

I would be lying if I said that turning your dreams into a reality is easy, because it’s not.  Sometimes it’s the people around us who can be dream crushers and sometimes we crush our own dreams just by doubting.  My mother use to say that doubt kills more dreams than fear ever will.  And then she would go on to remind me that the opposite of doubt is faith; for faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.   So, to all you folks out there thinking that your opportunity to be your best self has passed you by, I say to you turn your dreams into reality.  Don’t let age, circumstances or doubt tell you it can’t be done.  Like my friend, it has taken me my entire life to realize that I was meant to create characters and weave stories like my ancestors and this year I get to share my stories with you.  Just like my friend, I had some roads to travel.  Some I enjoyed, some broke my heart and some showed me that despite my circumstances my Father was always with me.  All I needed to learn to do was trust Him with all my might and lean not on my own understanding and in doing so, He would give me the desires of my heart.  Christiana trusted and as a result, I am certain that God and his legion of angels were far up in the clouds watching and feeling the funk too.  The moral of this blog…keep the faith, don’t give up, do the work and trust when its time, He’s going to show up and show out.

Here’s what Christiana and I know.  If you want to make your dreams come true, you have to have a plan.  But to have a plan, you have to be clear and honest with yourself in order to make it real.  That said, here is a question to think about: If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

Oh yeah, one last thing. Check out Christiana and her band at www.somethingspecialproductions.net  and let her know that Lydia sent you!

 

Remember, never tell yourself no! Dream crushers are waiting in line!!