Word of the Week: symphony
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... you are one beautiful instrument!
(Having trouble viewing this message? See it online here: http://www.aweber.com/t/PW90o.) Dear
,
Thanks for making the "music" only you can make, through your writing and through your life. It's a joy to share the power and beauty of language with you, and I'm grateful to connect with you each week.
This week's word is inspired by WordPlayer Judy Huitt, who phoned me yesterday to let me know she was doing a TV interview about her new book today! (You'll meet Judy and her book below.) Recently we laughed together as we reminisced about her first phone call to me, when her book was nothing but a burning idea and she didn't even know what question to ask but Can you help me?
Was it easy to get from there to here? Heck, no! Was it worth it? Of course! Your writing dreams are worth it, too. And mine as well. (If you haven't yet seen my first ever video about my writing dream come true, Spinning Words into Gold, you can view it here:
https://vimeo.com/53594492)
And if you haven't heard yet about the "Black Friday" special on all Spinning Words into Gold orders I'm running from now through this Friday -- free shipping and glitzy gold gift wrapping! -- here's the lowdown on that:
FREE SHIPPING AND GIFT WRAPPING ON SPINNING WORDS INTO GOLD
If you or anyone you know is ready to take on a writing dream (whether it's the "face-the-fear-and-just-do-it", the "I'm-ready-to-make-the-time-for-what-I-love, or any other variety), you can order one or more copies online by clicking here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=SBAE3KS9GQXY4
(if you have any trouble, copy and paste the link into your browser). Or, if you prefer, you can mail in your order by clicking this link and printing out an order form: http://www.wordplaynow.com/WordPlay_Book_Order_Form.pdf
Just leave the shipping and gift wrapping lines blank. WORDPLAY GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE
Would you prefer a gift certificate? I'd be happy to create one for you or anyone else (including someone who may want to gift YOU) for any amount. Email info@worplaynow.com for details.
Here's to being a player in the great symphony of life,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
For information about other offerings happening soon, visit www.wordplaynow.com/current.htm
WINTER WRITING RETREAT
Renew and delight yourself. Seasonal retreats are opportunities to create new pieces of writing and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they have not failed to elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you'll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You'll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch.
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
When: Saturday, December 22 10 am - 5 pm
TO REGISTER: Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in.
Or register online: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NMECPYT88NT6W
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WordPlay Success Story "Maureen is so accomplished -- an acclaimed writer, a sharp editor, an amazing teacher who not only engages her students but also helps them to grow, to be what they were created to be.
"
Meet Judy Huitt
Judy Huitt, a Bible-study teacher, seminar leader, Christian mentor, and longtime writer of Bible studies and devotions, has served as a teaching leader for Bible Study Fellowship, lay campus minister, and denominational state evangelism chair. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in psychology, minor in religion and has studied theology at the post-graduate level as well. Judy and husband, Sig, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, have two married children and four grandchildren.You can visit her online and order copies of Our Beloved, Our Friend at
http://goindiebooks.com/358733/.
What Judy says about WordPlay
Has there ever been anything that you knew you HAD to do? That is what happened 10 years ago -- in 2002 at a conference. Deep in my soul there was a burning to help others get to know the Love of my life, Jesus; a yearning to give back what I have been given and help others to do so as well. That is when the seed, the idea of writing a book was planted deep within me. However, a challenge was before me. Even though I had written and taught Bible studies, presented devotions and led seminars, I had never written a book before. Knowing I needed to learn how to write to reach readers, I called Queens University to see if they had classes on writing. Well, that was a divine appointment! You KNOW who the teacher was!!! Maureen Ryan Griffin!
Maureen is so accomplished -- an acclaimed writer, a sharp editor, an amazing teacher who not only engages her students but also helps them to grow, to be what they were created to be.
At the beginning, I didn't know how the book would come together. I just started writing! As the pieces I wrote in class grew, so did the plan for the book. God gave me the idea to put them in a format, a Pattern taken from Psalm 119 with progressive steps that embody a living relationship. As Maureen shared her expertise truthfully and tactfully, as she critiqued
Our Beloved, Our Friend honestly and lovingly, it grew into the book it is today -- forty Bible study devotions, the Pattern, and a practical Appendix to explore the Word, experience Jesus, and share His love. She is indeed the doula of Our Beloved, Our Friend...
A long process, arduous editing, intensely fulfilling to sit at His feet ... and listen. With heartfelt thanks to Maureen and all glory to God! Featured Writing
Here is one of the devotions from
Our Beloved, Our Friend:
God's Symphony of Spiritual Gifts
by Judy Huitt
Just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us ... to serve others faithfully, administering God's grace in its various forms (Romans 12:4-6; 1 Peter 4:10).
My husband and I had returned from an evening at the symphony. The music was as melodious as a consortium of sparrows singing in springtime, as moving as a congregation of clouds whirling about the heavens. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a part of that kind of endeavor? Each instrument -- from bassoons to bass drums, harps to horns, trumpets to tubas, violas to violins -- played a vibrant, vital part in the composition. Each was equally independent and interdependent. Each was necessary for the composer's purpose to be accomplished. How meaningful it must be to take part in performing a musical masterpiece.
Whether or not you have ever touched a musical instrument, in Christ you are part of a symphony, the most significant symphony on earth-God's symphony. You are God's created instrument with an essential part to play, a part only you can play at this time and place in history. When you became a child of God, He gave you your instruments to play-your spiritual gifts. Different spiritual gifts-teaching, encouragement, and service, to name just a few-are given to each of us for the good of all. Using our unique gifts helps others to use their gifts. For example, teachers share the way of Christ from the Word with those who serve, and those who serve help teachers through their practical support. Jesus works through us, using our gifts, to help others and accomplish His purposes.
Just as the symphony needs a composer and a conductor, so do we, the members of God's symphony. Not only is God our Composer, our Creator, and the Giver of spiritual gifts, but He is also our Conductor and our Guide. And just as a symphony has a purpose -- to perform a musical masterpiece, we have a purpose -- to be instruments of God's glorious and generous grace. Our indispensable, independent gifts are interdependent and intrinsically interwoven, fulfilling God's plan-not as one playing a solo but as part of a symphony. As Scripture tells us,
From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:16). What are the instruments, the spiritual gifts our Composer and Conductor has given you to play in this symphony of life? How are you using them to make majestic music to lift hearts heavenward and lighten loads of others? Do you feel that your life lacks direction and purpose? Look at the world around you. In what situations-how could you contribute to the music of life through the spiritual gifts God has given you?
Prayer: Lord, thank You for giving me a unique place in and specific gifts for Your symphony of life, where I am not only needed to help others be what You created them to be, but I am also helped by their gifts to be what You created me to be. Thank You that all these gifts are from You and are unique yet equal in Your eyes. Thank You for being my Composer and Conductor, for giving my life purpose and direction, for enabling me to be an instrument of Your grace. Help me daily to use my gifts to help others and glorify You. In Jesus' name, Amen. See: Psalm 68:18; Romans 1:11; 12:4-13; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 12:1-13:13; 14; 2 Corinthians 8:7; Galatians 3:5; Ephesians 2:10; 4:7-8, 11-12; James 1:17; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 John 4:1.
From Our Beloved, Our Friend (http://goindiebooks.com/358733/)
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "symphony."
I love Judy's reflection on how moving it must be to be a part of a symphony, creating something beautiful by playing one's own instrument along with others playing there. We writers often work solo, but I'm betting that we have all had the experience of being part of a community where the sum was greater than its parts. This week, make a list of times you (or a character) participated in such an endeavor. Then, pick your favorite and write about it, in prose or poetry.
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
Send in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words to WordPlay here and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and
When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! 
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