To coincide with yesterday’s post, Things You Don’t Have Time NOT to Do: 1) Dream, I’m posting a review and giving away one of my favorite books on topic of living your dreams, The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkenson. Keep reading to learn how you can win a free copy.
You may recall that Bruce Wilkenson is also the author of The Prayer of Jabez, which sold more than 20 million copies.
The Dream Giver is made up of two parts. The first part is a parable about Ordinary, a Nobody who leaves his home in the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. The story illustrates pattern that Wilkenson says is repeated throughout the Bible whenever God’s people reach for the dream God has given them. In the second part of the book, Wilkenson serves as a “dream coach” and explains the 7 steps to pursuing a God-given dream illustrated in the parable.
Personal Thoughts
Pursuing a big dream is big, scary undertaking. That’s why most people never pursue their dreams. There are also a lot of myths and unrealistic expectations about what will happen when pursuing a dream, and as a result many people give up before they get there.
What I love about The Dream Giver is it not only encourages dreamers to pursue their dreams but explains the obstacles dreamers will face on the way to their dream and why those obstacles are critical to achieving the dream.
I believe (and so does Bruce Wilkenson) that God gives each of us a dream, something He wants us to accomplish. But fulfilling the dream isn’t the only thing God wants to accomplish. He also wants to grow our character and our faith in Him on the journey.
If you have a dream – and everyone does, I can’t recommend strongly enough that you read The Dream Giver.
Get a Free Book
I want to give a copy of The Dream Giver to someone who will really benefit from it, someone who is really serious about pursuing their dream. Maybe your dream just in your head and you haven’t even told anyone much less taken the first step. Maybe you’ve been pursuing your dream and you’re so close you can taste it. Or maybe you’re somewhere in between. If you’d like a chance to win:
- Tweet this post or share it on Facebook.
- Post a comment telling us about your dream and where you are in the process of pursuing it. (And include the Twitter/Facebook account where you shared this post)
I’ll announce the winner at 5 PM Eastern time Monday, January 10. Or, you can just buy a copy of The Dream Giver now.
I have always felt that I was meant to do something special, but I keep waiting for it to “happen”. Since I have refocused my life to listen for God’s direction, I sense that feeling even more. I have always wanted to write and have always been creative, but I now see that what I wanted to do is not what God had planned. Walking with Him more closely has shown me what type of writing I should do and who I am supposed to reach. Now I just need to take that first step and start that first blogpost, first tweet, first chapter. I love Bruce Wilkinson’s works. They are inspiring. @wls1961, Wanda Simpson, FB
That’s great Wanda! What kind of writing are you feeling led to do and who are you feeling led to reach?
I read the Prayer of Jabez and really liked it. This one seems compelling as well. I’ll tweet this post from my @hmx5 twitter account and you already read my dream manifesto on my blog. Thanks for the entry!
This is one of my favorite books of all time. We took a group of college kids on a retreat several years ago and used The Dream Giver as the basis for the retreat. The feedback we got on the retreat was phenomenal. I still recommend this book regularly.
That’s great! Thanks for sharing that.
It is my heart’s burning desire to minister the heart of God to the hearts of women. I want them to know how God truly sees them, how much He loves them and what great plans He has for them.
I twitted your link on my @edwinacowgill twitter account and I’ll post this comment on the same. Thanks for the opportunity to win your book!
That’s a big dream Edwina. Are you already doing it or still figuring out what that looks like?
Hey Paul,
I have a dream of traditionally publishing my spiritual memoir. I have been writing it off and on for two years. I recently completed the book proposal and manuscript. Praying for direction to pursue a literary agent. I’m tweeting this post now from @asistasjourney (and twitter posts are linked to my Facebook account). I like your blog. Blessings, Natasha
Neat dream, Natasha! And it sounds like you’ve been working hard and taking steps to achieve it. Way to go!
One big dream that I have is to educate my children at home. It’s my desire to teach them according to their own God given strengths and interests at their own pace. Thankfully my children are still small and I have time to build up my business which will eventually (prayerfully!) bring me the time freedom that I need to reach this dream. (I tweeted this post from @growwithstacy)
Cool! Thanks for sharing your dream, Stacy.
My Dream right now is to be a Pencil in the hand of God.
http://strandofpearlslife.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
How am I writing this love story? I am doing this by strengthening my family, by supporting my husband as he struggles to heal from scars both emotional and physical scars, and by allowing myself to see the potential that God has for me in my personal and professional life. A big dream- but is becoming more and more tangible to me.
Retweeted at:
http://twitter.com/#!/APearlLife
And the winner of The Dream Giver is…
Natasha Robinson aka @asistasjourney. Congrats Natasha!
Thank you to everyone who commented/tweeted/shared about the giveaway. If you have a dream – and everyone does – I encourage you to pick up a copy of The Dream Releaser. It will really help you understand the barriers you’ll face on the way to achieving your dream.