Living the Dream….

This week has been a huge milestone for me.
Something that God planted in my heart so long ago has come into fruition!

2 years ago this month, while at a #DOT-K weekend, God said to me:
“Kathy, this is really great, but what about all the girls in your community who don’t get to come?”

And from that statement until this week I have been on a journey to discover what that looks like.
There have been moments of pure excitement as I dreamed of what it could be, and then there were those moments of sheer despair as I hung my head with tears streaming down my face from the frustration and the lack of traction! Talk about a roller coaster ride.

Hour upon hour was poured into curriculum writing before I finally admitted to myself that I am not a curriculum writer!
Month after month passed and I started to wonder if I had heard God right!
Did He really ask me to do this? And if He did why was it so hard? I mean, I know no one said it was going to be easy, but I felt like I was making absolutely no progress at all.

My prayers of excitement and wonder turned into prayers of frustration and wondering!
But I decided that anything worth having is worth pursuing. I am not a quitter, in fact, when I get an idea in my mind I can be outright stubborn!

So I continued to pray and share my crazy dream with a few close people. And then out of the blue (I love how God does that!), I had a random conversation with someone who I barely knew about a curriculum written from a Christain perspective but for the secular world.

I cried.
Everything that was in my head and my heart, everything that I was trying to write was in this curriculum…..everything! And it was beautiful, and it was honoring, and it was everything I wanted, but so much more!

As I shared this with a few more people, I found like-minded women and all of a sudden, my crazy dream had turned into a team of 6 women who are just as passionate about helping young women as I am! And there are women waiting in the wings to get onboard…..say what?!

So “Shine Collective” was birthed. A community where we help women, young and old, realize their potential. To help them dream big and to discover their worth, strength and purpose. To help those who are struggling, to be their biggest cheerleaders, and to build a community where we make a difference!

Seriously, God blows me away with His faithfulness.
This week we launched ShineGIRL in 2 primary (elementary) schools in TA. And it was a hit. And the girls love it. And I cried. And I thanked God. And I cried again.

I believe this is just the start! I have so many more dreams swirling around in my head. And I know that if I will just persevere, just push through, stay close to God and listen to His whispers, then I can be the agent of change He is calling me to be!

And for that my friends, I am so thankful!