If you feel like your dreams are on hold or under attack, this episode is for you.  I'm with the Grammy and Dove award-winning Ryan Stevenson to talk about calling and dreams and the amazing backstory of his music career.  We chat about his fascinating journey from a paramedic in a tiny town to a smash hit songwriter in Nashville, what an emergency ambulance call had to do with funding his first album, and how he bounced back stronger than ever after being cut from his first record label. We also talk about: -The hit song he wrote "just for fun" -What the songwriting process looks like for him -And why no one is an overnight success. Favorite quotes: 1. Looking back, every moment has been so crafted by the Lord. Just painting a picture and using even my mess-ups, even my mistakes, even my brokenness, even my wounds, and my scars. The things that I didn’t do or say right. The things that I didn’t get right. He even wove those into the story and has made such a pretty mosaic out of every experience. Not just the good stuff.  2. Sometimes it’s easy to let a dream die when we don’t see the results that we think should be there. 3. We weren’t made for the mountaintops. We’re made for the valleys. 4. When our heart is totally lined up with his, our dreams line up with his.  5. If my songs and my music are not pointing people to the healer and the comforter, in the hope of Jesus- I am just making a bunch of noise and I will not do that. 6. Hearing other people confess the dirty parts of their life and the broken parts of their life heals us. There’s something so special and spiritually profoundly healing when we’re able to testify and share our stories. In this episode I answer the question, “Does God still do miracles?” Great things we discussed:  1. Ryan Stevenson  2. Weathering the Storm book 3. Weathering the Storm Podcast  4. Someone You Loved  5. Clouds  6. Yellowstone  7. The Shack  8. Costco’s Dried Figs 9. JFK  10. Standing Strong www.alliworthington.com/podcast/ryanstevenson