Book Release! | Interview with Livy Jarmusch from Crown of Beauty Magazine

Today we have a special treat on the blog! We are interviewing Livy Jarmusch—founder of Crown of Beauty Magazine, songwriter, and author of several books! She has just released her FREE ebook—Dream to Destiny! We are celebrating with her and we are quite honored to have her here with us today.

Here’s a little bit about her book!

Welcome to Morning Glory, Livy! We are so glad you’re here, and we’d love to get to know you a little bit! Describe yourself in three sentences.
            I am a creative, daydreaming, visionary. I love Jesus, His Word, His presence, and sharing the things He teaches me with others. I'm also obsessed with song writing, storytelling, and inspiring others to be all that God has created them to be!

Tell us a little about your book! What inspired it?

            'Dreamto Destiny' is all about inspiring young women to live out their God given dreams. I strongly believe that our dreams are my silly or random. They are much needed answers from Heaven that will touch this world in a unique and powerful way! Just like Jospeh, God wants to use each of us to greatly impact our generation.

            I get a lot of emails from girls asking for tips and advice about how to start a blog, website, or magazine, or some other project that God has placed on their heart. So, I decided to write some things down that the Lord has taught me through my own personal process of starting Crown of Beauty Magazine, which was one of my dreams.

What would you say are the biggest struggles or lies that girls face when pursuing their God given dreams?

            I think there are several big ones, (and I talk about them in the book) but the first one being the lie that says we have to do everything perfectly. Oftentimes when we have a dream, we're afraid of messing it up or taking a wrong step, therefore we just sit on it and don't do anything. Sometimes God just wants us to take the first step (even if it's not perfect!) and learn as we go! 

            When pursuing dreams I find myself saying, "I have no idea what I'm doing!" And God says, "Good! I know that you've never done this before, so give me your weakness and I will make my strength perfect in you." He gets SO much glory when we step out with simple childlike faith.

So true. How did you know Crown of Beauty was a God-given dream?

To be completely honest, I wasn't! I was fighting against what we were just talking about, that fear of messing up. I didn't know if starting Crown of Beauty was God's "ultimate will" for my life, and I didn't want to miss out on what I was truly made to do! But instead of staying frozen in fear, the Lord encouraged me to simply go for it anyway. I was so afraid of being wrong, and messing up my life - but God reassured me that even if I WAS wrong, and happened to take a misstep, that He could totally handle it! I could still rejoice because I was learning through the process, as well as impacting others’ lives for eternity.

You're sitting with one of the junior high or high school girls reading this drinking your favorite tea or coffee drink. What has been on your heart recently that you want to share with her? Any practical advice?

            The Lord has been speaking to my heart a lot about comparison lately. I think this is something every young woman struggles with, so I would reach across the table and encourage my fellow tea-drinking sister: your uniqueness is so valuable and SO needed!

            It can be all too tempting to compare gifts and talents and opportunities, and even something as foolish and trivial as Twitter followers: but the enemy is sly, and sometimes we find ourselves wishing we had something our sister does. My biggest practical advice, is to go deep in your relationship with God and go deep in His Word! 

            Ask Him the hard questions. Ask Him, "Lord, what were you thinking when you made me? What was I created to do? What is my royal identity, and how can I walk in that?" 

            The more confident and secure we are in our identity in Christ, the easier it is to embrace who He's called us to be, and stop comparing ourselves to others.

Wonderful, Livy. It’s been a pleasure having you here on Morning Glory! Anything else you would like to share before we wrap up?

            Yes! The Lord has AMAZING plans for your life! It doesn't matter how stuck, or broken, or weak you feel...God can take you through a process to bring you into a place of freedom. He LOVES being the hero and getting all the glory from our stories! His strength is made perfect in our weakness!

            Following your God-given dreams is a lifelong journey...breakthrough doesn't happen overnight. But if you're willing, God can use you to touch SO many people along your path. Thank you so much for this sweet interview and I hope it's encouraged and inspired those who are reading, in some way! To get a free digital copy of Dream to Destiny, just go to www.crownofbeautymagazine.com and click on the 'Dream to Destiny' tab under 'Books'. 💕

I hope you will all grab a copy of Livy’s FREE new book Dream to Destiny and Crown of Beauty Magazine! Have you heard of Crown of Beauty before? Are you excited about her new book? Share in the comments!