Two weeks from TODAY!!!!!!! (This deserves a ton of !!!!!!!!!!)
Two weeks! Monday August 11th the fun begins.
I keep pinching myself and wondering if this is real.
I'm so excited to gather with some of the most incredible young women in the valley for the first ever Abound Writing Workshop.
I think about EACH one of these girls every day. I wonder about them. I pray for them. I already feel like we're gathered around the table and the conversations is in full swing.
I can hardly wait until their pens hit the paper. And mine!
Why a writing workshop? Why a writing workshop for teen girls? Why writing?
In my preparation to sit down with these gals for a full week, I've been doing a ton of research, writing, studying, praying, and remembering.
This workshop is not about the journal. It's not a craft camp. It's not a summer camp.
This is a writing workshop for life.
This workshop is about creating a space, a sanctuary where these girls can find their voice, quiet the chatter of the world, and find the words where all the disparate elements of life can merge to give a sense of wholeness and coherence.
It's about skills and practices for life. For personal and academic writing. It's about leaving the table with tools to last a lifetime.
My English major and grad work brought dividends this week because I found, through some small miracle and guidance from above, a handful of peer-reviewed journals on the very topic of girls, writing, spirituality, and well being. Holy Cow! It was confirmation the platform and premise for Abound is square on! It was heaven's gentle way of saying, "Keep working hard. You're on the right track. Prepare yourself to give these girls everything they need."
My favorite gem-of-a-find was the notion that we gain strength as we express our thoughts in journals or diaries, particularly the ordinary combined with eternal questions. Eternal questions! Don't we all have a set of these questions? This came from one of the articles found in the International Journal of Children's Spirituality.
Writing is just one of the essential ways girls, soon to be women, can find solid footing in the world around them.
So-----Why Write?
That's the question of the day!
Every writer has to live into the answer to this question.
Why a Writing Workshop for girls?
These words from Mark Batterson's book All in pretty well sum up my answer to this question:
"It's not about what you do.
It's about why you do what you do.
Ultimately, it's about who you do it for.
In God's kingdom, it's our motivations that matter most. If you do the right thing for the wrong reason, it doesn't even count. God judges the motive of the heart, and He only rewards those who do the right thing for the right reason. To be perfectly honest, I think much of my reward has been forfeited because I did things for me, not for Him."
Abound Writing Workshop is for Him.
Abound Writing Workshop is a place where I can partner with heaven and get some real work done! Soul work.
This is a camp for girls with open hearts, ready to stretch, think, grow, and learn.
It's for girls who want to find their voice and the words to tell their story.
Girls who need more confidence with writing and sharing their voice and experience--it's a builder of these as well.
Abound Writing Workshop is about shaping writing instruction into the spiritual realm to bless the lives of these beautiful, bright, intelligent, spiritual daughters of God.
Why Write???
Writing is one way to Love Who You Are!
Two Weeks.
Just Two weeks from today!
In the meantime, spend 10 minutes today with a pen to paper. Sit on your porch. Unplug. Disconnect from the world chatter to connect with your soul, your underground, and your inner self.
It will bless you beyond words.
Now go.
Go write for ten simple minutes!
Maybe you can begin with your Eternal Questions.......