Over the past few years, I have been very excited about what God is doing with the Gospel Songwriters Music Workshop.  Although we have had our struggles in the past and may experience some different ones  in the future, I am excited to see what new and glorious things God can do as we move forward in the 21^st century.  As in the past, moving forward requires patience, persistence and commitment in order to realize a dream.  Dreams don’t just come true, but they require thought, planning and execution before they can be realized.  I have found many talented people get caught up in the dream, but never wake up to the reality that something has to happen in order to make that dream become a reality. 

During the past 15 years, I have met so many wonderful and talented people who have a dream of becoming a songwriter or a singer with plans to make lots of money with their gift.  This is a great dream, but the reality is that many hours of time and preparation must be given to make this dream happen.  Sometimes years may elapse before a dream can be realized.  This doesn’t mean that you give up, but it means that you must continue to make preparations as you work toward your goal.  I think the hardest thing to maintain is your commitment to your goal.  Most of us become discouraged when things don’t happen as quickly as we would like; however, we must learn how to maintain our level of commitment even when we feel like giving up.  Commitment is that ability to stay focused, dedicated, ever vigilant and unyielding in your determination as you move toward your goal. 

I am not suggesting that we should have unrealistic goals or dreams, but what I am suggesting is that we make plans and prepare ourselves for the things that we want to achieve.  A person who wants to become wealthy, but refuses to work or educate themselves will probably not attain much wealth.  Is it possible that someone could come along and give them a million dollars?  Yes, it is possible, but highly unlikely.  The best way to achieve what you want is to make a plan and make plans to execute your plan.  If you want to be a great songwriter, singer or musician, then you must be ready to devote your time, energy and resources to making it happen. 

The Gospel Songwriters Music Workshop has been a labor of love over the past 15 years and we have gone through many changes in order to get to the point where we are today.  If God blesses us to continue, I am sure we will go through many more changes before we become the premiere workshop that God intends for us to be.  The workshop received its 501 ( c ) (3) status in 2006 and now we are embarking on a new era to bring a different kind of light to those who have visual impairments because we will be “Singing For Sight.”  Singing for sight is a way we can help fund research, prevention and training for those individuals who have visual impairments.  We will be raising money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) and Independence For The Blind of Northwest Florida (IB West ).  Our mission is to bring light to a dark and a dying world through music and song.