Dreams Bigger Than Texas

Book excerpt: Dreams Bigger Than Texas: A Story of Faith, Purpose, Perseverance, and Growth into Womanhood, will leave you daring to DREAM, reimagining your own story, and passionately pursuing purpose. Born to a 19-year-old heroin and cocaine addict on the rough South Side of Chicago and raised in abject poverty amid the perils of drugs and violence, Dee uncovers some of life's most challenging lessons at an early age. Miraculously, she survives, becoming the first in the family to graduate high school and attend college. The rich cultural and life-changing atmosphere of a Historical Black University is where Dee's true self-discovery begins. Outwardly, she thrives, a poster child for resilience. But privately, her life is in shambles as she wrestles with depression and demons from her past. Embarking on a desperate quest to find self-worth and purpose, as well as love from her absentee father, she turns up short, allowing her "daddy issues" to lead her down a bleak path of poor decision making, promiscuity, and defeat. But unbeknownst to her, she is divinely guided, protected, and powered by a seemingly invisible and everlasting presence that she later acknowledges as her "help." This "help" energizes a vivacious raw seed, eventually revealing her purpose and developing her into a force to be reckoned with. She identifies this "help" after an epiphany following a breakup with an ex. A rose-from-concrete, hood, hope, and love story, Dreams Bigger Than Texas infuses comedy, insight, and faith. Dee's life story is raw, revealing, relatable, and flat-out inspiring. The transparency and authenticity of her personal triumphs, along with her discovery of her help's identity will leave you empowered to: 1. Reconcile your own traumas and self-sabotaging cycles 2. Understand that your past doesn't dictate your future 3. Believe that you, too, are divinely guided and protected