What’s Up With Your Pumpkin?
Keys and Steps to Reaching Your Dreams
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Some of you have gone through tough times and had unfair things happen in your life. Perhaps life hasn’t turned out the way you had hoped it would. You could easily be discouraged and give up on your dreams. I know; I’ve been there. I have gone through so much stuff that I thought all my dreams and aspirations in life were over. Yet, in my darkest of moments, God reminded me of a young man in the Bible whose name was Joseph. If Joseph were to speak to us today, he would say, “Don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up on your dream. I had a dream, and I knew God’s hand was upon me even though my brothers were against me. For many years it seemed like there was no possible way my dream would be realized, yet I didn’t give up. One day, God turned it all around and brought it to pass.”
So, what’s up with your dream? What’s your story? God put that dream seed in your heart, yet you have been reluctant to plant it. Maybe you’ve had one of those daring dreams where you believed you would one day parachute out of an airplane, free falling thousands of feet before your parachute opens and glides you gently to the ground. Maybe it’s a book you’re always going to write, a preparedness program you are going to do, an invention you are going to create, an exercise program you are going to start, or a business you dreamed you would start.
Jon, my good friend and business owner, had a dream. He had been homeless on the streets of Seattle for nine years when one day God got a hold of his life and changed him. He filled Jon with hope, planting a dream seed in his heart to start a cleaning business. Jon persevered with newfound faith. He worked diligently. He prayed as if it all depended on God, and his dream was eventually realized. Today Jon runs a very successful cleaning business, making a significant impact on the community. Life is full of dreams and ideas.
As you travel with me on my journey, I ask you to ask yourself this question: “What’s up with your dream?” You see, my dream started when one of our board members of the foundation I lead was sharing on growing your business. He likened it to a farmer who has to go out and plant his seed to receive a harvest. He encouraged us to plant our dreams, and with those dreams, to walk in significance. To illustrate his point, he gave us all pumpkin seeds, challenging us to grow a pumpkin and then to come back to share our journey in so doing. I bought into the challenge. I grew a pumpkin and a very large pumpkin at that. It was a simple dream but very meaningful, having lasting effects on my life. Now you might be thinking, “What in the world is there about growing a pumpkin that can affect your life? Is this just another bedtime story I can read to my children or grandchildren; or is it really something that goes much deeper than that?” Well, I will leave it up to you at this point. However, you might just find that those ideas and those dreams you have had might just become a reality. They just might happen. SO GET READY.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Do you have unfulfilled dreams left on the shelf of life? Perhaps you've brought a dream off the shelf once or twice, and maybe you've even dusted it off a little and thought, Wow, this is a great idea! You've probably talked about your dream and told others that you were going to do it someday. Well, someday has arrived, and it's time to plant the seed of your dream!
In What’s Up With Your Pumpkin?, author John Dammarell shares his own journey to pursue his dream—a dream seed that God planted in his heart, and one that John would learn to cultivate as it grew and grew. Though his story begins as a captivating allegory of how and why we should pursue our dreams, John also provides practical, down-to-earth advice for how to actually achieve your goals, whether for business, family, or beyond.
All dreams begin with a seed, and discovering why and how to plant the seed—and then tending to it with all your body, soul, and mind—will give you a renewed purpose. Whether your dream seed is a pumpkin, a tomato, a new business idea, joining the ministry, or just being a better Christian, What’s Up With Your Pumpkin? can show you the way to honor God with a passion to plant His seeds and make them grow.
About the Author
John L. Dammarell is the Executive Director of Liberty Road Foundation, a non-profit organization in the Greater Seattle area that serves several other under-resourced non-profit organizations by connecting them with for-profit businesses. John also served as senior pastor of Valley View Christian Church in Kent, Washington, from 1976 to 1992, and was the Community Relations Director from 1997-2007 for City Ministries, a food distribution ministry of The City Church in Kirkland, Washington. John, a former US Marine, also holds a Bachelor of Theology from Northwest Christian College, a Master of Divinity from Phillips University, and a PhD in Practical Ministries from the California Graduate School of Theology. Today John lives with his wife, Karilyn, in Redmond, Washington; between them they have six children, twenty grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.