Reader,

What will your dream ask of you?

There are the obvious answers:

Time. Money. Creativity. Commitment.

And then there are the not-so-obvious answers.

I can’t give you a list of those—that’s the not-so-obvious part—but if I describe what it feels like, I bet you’ll get there soon enough.

The first brave step is more like a tip-toe. It comes as a tender season of listening while God stirs something in you: a longing, a desire to serve, feeling drawn to meaningful work. At this point you’re still trying to figure out what it’s all about.

This early stage of the dream feels new and full of anticipation. You haven’t yet begun, so it exists mostly in your imagination.

The precise path from here is unclear. You can see today, tomorrow, and maybe next week. But next year or five years from now is a little too far to grasp.

So, naturally, the questions roll in:

How do I start?
What should I call it?
Do I need a website?
Who will want this?
How do I put it out there?
Must I show my face on Instagram Reels?
How much time will this take?
Will it be worth it?
Is it okay if I make a little money from it?
What if I don’t make any money from it?

And then there’s this one:

What will it actually cost me to do this?

This is a money question…and it also isn’t a money question.

If it’s not up to you alone—meaning you have a spouse, kids or other family members who will be impacted by the dream—the next question is:

How do I communicate about this and get their buy-in, especially if it’s going to mean giving my time, energy, and even money to this idea?

It’s a conversation most of us aren’t ready for. But we don’t realize how NOT ready we are until the words start coming out of our mouths.

Mine involved a lot of tears. Even though I have an incredibly supportive husband. I think he may believe in me more than I do.

So, why the tears?

Where were they coming from?

In think this line from a (totally unrelated) Substack article I read this week offers a hint:

Talking to my husband about funds I wanted to invest to help me go after my dreams wasn’t about getting a yes or a no from him.

I initiated the conversation because we’ve agreed not to make big or new financial decisions without talking to one another. That means we discuss the cost of my post-menopausal supplements just like we discuss our year-end giving to the church.

So when I went to ask him about using a portion of our family budget for a coaching program to help me get over the hurdles I’d identified in my dream, it wasn’t that I feared he wouldn’t get on board.

It was because of what it would mean if he did.

Those “hurdles” were keeping me safe, in my comfort zone.

And deep down, I knew that making this investment would require something of me.

The identity I’d settled into after years of trying to find my way in more traditional jobs—feeling like I didn’t fit it, couldn’t speak the language, didn’t have a career trajectory—who I was comfortable being was about to end.

This was uncharted territory.

Because the dream doesn’t have a playbook. You won’t wake up one day with “Five Easy Steps” to check off so you’ll know that you’ve arrived.

That’s not how this goes.

The dream asks something of you.

It invites you into leadership where you may have been timid in the past. Even if it’s only in leading yourself.

It asks you to become someone you might not recognize.

As God invites you into the “new thing” that He’s doing, He knows (and you know, maybe just a little) that the old you has to die in order for the new thing to grow from you.

I don’t know exactly where you are with your dream at the moment. But I do know that this shift is something that keeps you from saying yes, from opening yourself up to becoming someone new.

Because it’s scary. It is 1000% that.

But what if today, just for this moment, you took that scary realization and flipped it on its head.

Consider an oak tree. Acorns lying on the ground all around. Seemingly dead seeds. Separated from the lifeblood of the branches. Seasons pass and the acorns are buried in the dirt.

And then one fine spring day, without any pomp or circumstance, a sprout peeks out from the ground.

It is no longer an acorn. It is on its way to becoming a tree.

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Here’s what I want you to take away from this:

On those days of dreaming with God when fear steps in, you’re going to want to hide. Get quiet. Stay “safe.”

But the safest place you can be in that moment is in the middle of God’s will, taking the next right step toward the dream He’s put in your heart.

He’s the best business/dream/ministry/writing partner there is. He is sovereign and you can trust Him.

And when you feel your identity starting to shift, as if someone is pulling the rug out from under your feet, do this:

Plant yourself solidly in His will. Get in His Word and surround yourself with His Truth…about who He is, who you are, and what He made you for.

And then decide:

Is running from your potential, from what’s possible, really who you want to be? ​
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​Or are you ready to discover what the Lord has for you and willing to let the outcomes be His?

If it’s the latter, I’m here to help. My entire business is built on creating opportunities for you to invest in yourself—in what’s possible—so that you can one day see your dream sprout up from the ground.

Today is the day. Join me and the other dreamers who’ve made a decision to walk toward the unknown.

You won’t be the first person who said “yes” through her fears (or even her tears).

​The Dream Believers Community is ready for you.

Tomorrow is a new day. Let it be the day you start looking toward what’s possible (rather than fearing what might happen if you take the leap).

​Join Dream Believers now for just $49/month or $490/year (and get TWO MONTHS free)!

It’ll be the best decision you’ve made in 2025.

Will you make it?

Or is there something else standing in your way?

Either way, I’m with you, in the dream.

~ Merritt

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P.S. If you’re not inclined to click that link to join, why not hit reply and tell me what’s in the way. Don’t know? Take your best shot…or re-read this email and see if there might be something there worth a second look.

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*from Hans Hageman's Substack post "The Adults Who Disappeared"

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