When I was in high school, I saw a PBS film entitled, My Brilliant Career, based on the true story of a sixteen year old girl who had written and published a book. I was mesmerized by the idea. When my high school English teacher urged me to  enter a local college writing contest, I eagerly accepted the challenge and was thrilled to earn first place in my category.

From that moment on, I dreamed of becoming a published author. I pursued an English/Creative Writing degree in college and wrote a rough draft of an inspirational historical novel which I entitled, Under This Same Sky.

Then life happened!

After college, I started a job and then married and had my two sons. And while I wrote and submitted short-stories and articles to various Christian magazines, my novel manuscript…and my dream…lay tucked away untouched for many years.

But I never gave up hope that someday that dream would become a reality and continued to commit my writing ministry to the Lord.

Somewhere along the way, I came across this picture and it not only made me smile, but the Lord used it to give me the determination to hold onto my dream. It’s the picture of a frog being eaten by a stork. Rather than give up, he’s got a strangle-hold on the bird.

That frog has a lot of grit!

The phrase at the bottom, DON’T EVER GIVE UP, gave me courage to hold onto my dream when it didn’t seem a possibility. I pray it will you too!

**To learn how the Lord made my dream of publication a reality, visit my post Cynthia Roemer Speaks Up. Or listen to my Ideas to Books Podcast.

Do you have a fun photo or story that encourages you to keep trying? If so, I’d love for you to share about it in the comment section below!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Join me next week when I’ll review a book by one of my favorite authors!

Connect with Cynthia on Facebook and Twitter. Read more of her writing at: Putting on the New Blog.

Read how God works in the lives of Cynthia’s characters in her debut novel, UNDER THIS SAME SKY, available in both e-book and print at Amazon.com