I am so honored to have Mindy Bess guest blog for me today! She has persevered through hardships, set backs and heart break. Her story is the perfect example of what faith, endurance and never giving up on a dream looks like. Today she is the founder of the James Bess Foundation, a dream that she never gave up on.
Dare to Dream; Mindy Bess
I am what you would call a dreamer, and I have two mottos; 1) dream big or go home, and 2) if your dream isn’t big enough to scare the living daylights out of you, then it is too small! We are called to be world changers and we can’t do that without jumping in feet first and partnering with God to do the impossible.
In 1998 my life was turned upside down when my dad (who was 38 at the time) was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given just six months to live. Miraculously he lived four years and passed away in 2002, at the age of 42.
Around 2000 I tried to grant him a wish that he had, but due to the lack of resources, I was unable to fulfill it. That failure, if you will, became the catalyst for a world changing dream that did indeed scare the daylights out of me; the dream, a national organization that fulfills bucket list dreams to terminally ill adults. For the next sixteen years I tried to get this dream off the ground, but each time I tried, I ended up falling flat on my face! However, each year that passed I tried again and again and again, never losing hope that one day it would launch and become that world changing company.
In 2015 I relocated to my promise land (Nashville, TN) and again tried to launch this dream, and in 2016 I finally began operating as a nonprofit. It is now 2019 and over the last three years my company has been on a very slow crawl, a pace I struggle being frustrated with and wish would pick up, but hasn’t yet.
I understand not all dreams are as big as the one I am pursuing, but every single person has a dream if they would just dust away the cobwebs of life and allow themselves to let their mind begin to dream and imagine. The hard part comes when you come up with that dream, and you start the pursuit of said dream! Timing is always important, but it’s also important to never give up on that dream no matter how long it takes! It took me sixteen years, 16, of holding steadfast to my dream for things to start moving and even though it’s moving at a snail’s pace, at least it’s moving.
Has the journey to now been easy, ummm . . . that would be an extremely hard NO! Lol! There have been many, and I do mean many, ups and downs, tears and failures along the way, things that would force anyone to throw in the towel and give up, but luckily for me I’ve had (and still have) people in my corner who believed in me and my dream enough to not let me give up.
What I’ve learned over the course of those long sixteen years is that the trials I faced helped grow my maturity and character. In order to operate in my specific dream, I must be able to handle what my dream throws at me, and in looking back, sixteen years ago I would not have been able to handle and navigate what my dream now requires of me.
“What I’ve learned over the course of those long sixteen years is that the trials I faced helped grow my maturity and character. In looking back, sixteen years ago I would not have been able to handle and navigate what my dream now requires of me.”
Even now, I am still having to face the ups and downs of running a world changing organization, and when challenges hit (as they often do) I know I need a little shot in the arm to keep me moving forward, so I turn to music. One of my go to songs for inspiration and encouragement is called “Dare” by the tenor group Gentri. Here are the lyrics;
I see the path staring me down
I take a deep breath, feet firm on the ground
My heart’s racing fast, beating in time
Counting down
I scream at the voice inside of my head
That whispers my dreams are gone and dead
But the harder they push, the stronger I fight
For what’s ahead
I’ve charted my course, to answer the call
I’ll fight ’til I win, proud of the cost of my battle scars
I’ll never cave in, won’t question or pause
I’ll climb to the ledge, jump off the edge and rewrite the odds
And dare, to dream
I push through the pain, and claim what I earn
Ready to take the lessons I learn
And pass them along, taking my turn
To make my mark
I’ve charted my course, to answer the call
I’ll fight ’til I win, proud of the cost of my battle scars
I’ll never cave in, won’t question or pause
I’ll climb to the ledge, jump off the edge and rewrite the odds
And dare, to dream
Dare
Dare to dream
The words of this song speak to the emotional hard aches of dreaming big, but it also speaks of what the journey of dreaming will require if we are up for the challenge of daring to dream!
There are lots of things required of you when you are on the journey of fulfilling, and walking in, your dream, and for Kingdom minded individuals, one of the most important things that is required is simple obedience, even when the request doesn’t make a lick of sense.
I remember a while back the Lord impressing it upon my heart to go visit my Grandma, even though our relationship was extremely distant. I didn’t make sense to me at the time, and even now, I still don’t fully understand, but even though I didn’t understand the reasoning behind the request, I listened and went. Before I left I told a handful of people that I was going and three very powerful leaders and prayer warriors felt led to stop and pray into it, making it all the more mysterious! With my heart aware and open, I left Nashville and headed south to an extremely small town in southern Alabama, and I do mean small! I spent a couple of days there fully expecting God to move in some big and showy way, but He didn’t. Instead, I loved and served my Grandma to the best of my ability and she enjoyed every moment of it, and so did I.
When it came time to leave, I still wondered why I was sent down in the first place, but still no real answer. However, just before stepping into my car to leave, I received a phone call from a potential client; something that hasn’t happened in about a year! Also, along the drive home, I received texts and phone calls regarding breakthrough in a couple of other areas I’ve been contending for over the course of several months; it was completely amazing and very exciting! My consensus to the timing of everything is that even though we may not know why God is asking us to do something, but if we listen and obey, He will reward us!
In closing, I challenge everyone reading this to dig deep and dare to dream! If you accept this challenge, get ready for the wildest and fulfilling ride of your life!! It isn’t easy, but the pursuit is worth every penny!
Author Anne Day 