Today I have a real life story, which is in fact my own story – at least some of it (I promised to share in this story in the previous article Your Why and Your Dreams)

My Story:
Like millions of other folk on this planet, I have always loved the Disney cartoons. However I was not just interested in watching them. I also loved to copy the characters and soon found that I had some talent in this cartooning.

My parents encouraged and supported me in this pursuit and they had a cartoon course sent out from the USA at a price that was a sacrifice for them at the time. I am very blessed to have had very supportive parents. I still have that course today.

With help of this cartoon course, some of the Walter Foster books and lots of practice my drawings came to life. I loved what I was doing and began to dream of one day being a cartoonist in the Disney studios.

This dream was not a passing one, but persisted for several years, each year getting stronger.

I discovered my why.
Then one day while at a youth meeting, I discovered my WHY (or “my calling”). As the speaker delivered his message, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was called to the mission field.

That would mean leaving everything else behind, at least that was my understanding at the time. However, I was so sure that this was the path set out for my life that nothing else mattered.

I left my dream and set out to pursue my WHY:
So I set out to the mission field (in Mexico), leaving behind any dream to become a cartoonist.

At the USA/Mexico border, I met a missionary who had been in Mexico over 20 years. This gentleman gave me some very valuable advice.

Find a need and fulfill it and you will succeed.

(This is a valuable key that will lead you to succeed in any area of life).

The glaringly obvious gap in the churches at that time was the lack of attention given to the children. So I began by working directly with children. That led to looking for resources for them but there was very little children’s literature available in the Christian Bookstores (this was in 1978).

When I had taught Sunday School back in New Zealand, one of my projects was to create a children’s magazine. That led to creating worksheets for them with puzzles and quizzes. These worksheets became so popular that a large church in town asked permission to reproduce them for their children.

Now in Mexico when I saw that very little children’s literature available, I sat down to write AND draw.

A series of booklets entitled “Templos Vivientes” or “God’s Templos” was born.

These were cartoon illustrated booklets which were sent out to Mexico and Central America in large quantities.

My dream fulfilled:
No, I did not become a cartoonist in the Disney Studios, but YES I did become a cartoonist on the mission field.

My WHY did NOT conflict with my dreams.
The dream was simply tweaked on the way to fulfilling my WHY (my call or purpose) and as far as I am concerned my dream was fulfilled, and I sense there is still more to come.

So to sum up, here are:
Three steps that WILL lead you to success (including the fulfillment of your dreams):

• Find you WHY.
• Go after your WHY.
• Within the scope of your WHY, find a need and fulfill it.

Go after YOUR why, because: