Gigi

My feet are killing me tonight but my heart is full.
We spent the last two days at the Northwest Ministry Conference at Overlake Church in Redmond, WA. It was a great chance to see all the ways God is reaching out using the hands of His people.
www.ministryconference.org
Once again, it was a successful venture for our nonprofit organization, Gabriel’s Foundation of HOPE. We had a booth where we shared our desire to help families who deal with disability by encouraging them to overcome and persevere.
This year we focused on promoting Gabe’s speaking availability. I think we’ll see more churches and camps inviting him to share his C.L.E.A.R. message.

We also revealed the cover of his new book.
I’m co-authoring it with him and we are both excited to share his story.
I can’t believe he is going to be twenty-one years old next week. We’ve been on a wild ride together in our journey through life.
My Message is C.L.E.A.R. – Hope and Strength in the Face of Life’s Greatest Adversities will be published by Winepress Publishing later this year.
Now it is time to follow up with all the incredible people we met so we can continue in the ministry that has been Steve’s dream for a long time.
Next year I’ll be promoting my book too!
Come back and learn about all the exciting things happening in my life.
God Bless Your Heart.

It feels like the train is finally moving out of the station headed toward more speaking opportunities for our son Gabe. With that I’ve been focused on helping him book the speaking engagements and creating marketing materials. It is an exciting time to watch God move in our lives.
But the reality of it means my writing time has moved down on the priority list. So I’m taking ten days next week to get that train moving too.
I’m headed to the Jerry B. Jenkin’s Christian Writer’s Guild Conference – Write for the Soul in Denver. Then I get to spend some time at my sister’s house in Montana.
I hope and pray that whatever season you find yourself in

• Waiting to figure out your priorities? – haven’t bought your train ticket yet?
• Waiting for God to make a move? – Sitting at the station waiting for the train?
• On the train and pulling out? – Good for you, you are moving forward.
• Traveling down the path God created for you? – I’m so excited for you and can’t wait until I’m there.
• Changing trains? – I pray God will show you the next station on your journey.

I think I can….I think I can….I think I can…. is the montra I’ve been repeating as I face the completion of these two books I’ve been working on for all too long.
God keeps whispering new ideas in my ear. While I listen closely, I’m working on some other things in my life too.
God bless your journey on whatever track God has you riding.
Gigi

 

 

I was praying for you today.
I was wondering what you are doing to prepare for a new year?
This morning I worked through a devotional in The One Year Book of Hope by Nancy Guthrie. I picked it up where I had left off sometime last year.
And as God always seems to do, His timing is perfect.
This devotion encouraged me to clear the path to make way for God to work in my life. What a great thing to mediate on at the start of a new year.
Yesterday I watched a video of a one-hundred car pileup near Fargo, ND. There were cars strewn across the freeway making it nearly impossible to navigate forward. Everyone was stuck until the path was cleared.
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/30/100-car-pileup-in-north-dakota-blizzard-video/
So I asked myself, what is stuck on the pathway to forward movement in my life?
Do I need to call a tow truck to get rid of some broken down obstacles on my path?
Is unforgiveness or bitterness in the way?
Are unhealthy habits keeping my tires spinning instead of taking me where I need to go?
How do I get the plow to clear the road and make it an easier journey?
One word: Repentance
Repentance clears the path for God to move in my life.
Much like the snow plow clears the snow and ice off the road making it passable.
Much like the tow truck removes the broken down cars that prevent forward movement on the highway.
So I seek to turn away from anything opposed to God.
I’d like to start off 2011 with a clear path for God to work in my life.
How about you?
God Bless your heart with a clear path.
Gigi
https://gigimurfitt.com/
The One Year Book of Hope is written by Nancy Guthrie. Here is the book description found on Amazon.com: This book is for anyone who has been hurt in life and would benefit from a hope filled daily companion. http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Book-Hope-Books/dp/1414301332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293907027&sr=8-1

God is doing amazing things in my life with regard to my writing and speaking. Over the summer I completed a Writer’s Digest course where I submitted 35,000 words from my latest manuscript for critique.
The biggest lesson I learned was that I need to be more authentic in my writing. I heard it from so many people – most importantly GOD – that I’m changing my manuscript a bit. No, I’m changing it a lot!
 
Rather than skim over some of the challenges I’ve faced in my life story, I’m sharing from my heart and telling more of the journey to wholeness and healing.
It’s scary. I’m afraid. But I’m working it through.
The other cool things happening on the writing and speaking front involve a writing conference I’m attending this month and an intensive speaking class and one day workshop I’ll participate in next month.
Here are the details of the one day workshop open to members and nonmembers who want to improve their craft:
October 9, 2010: One Power-packed Day, 2 Incredible Choices!
Both sessions run from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
BILL BUTTERWORTH – Finding Your Speaking Voice (www.BillButterworth.com)
In this one day event, Bill will cover Putting Together a Successful Presentation, Humor, Storytelling, and How To Be More Persuasive in Your Speaking. The intent is to help you take your speaking to the next level.
Bill Butterworth’s extraordinary ability to blend humor, story-telling, wisdom and practicality has made him one of the most sought after speakers in venues throughout North America. Through his wit, warmth, insight, and realism, he brings help and hope to his audiences everywhere. Because of his remarkable abilities, Bill was awarded The Hal Holbrook Award by the International Platform Association, whose past and present members include Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Bob Hope, and Elizabeth Dole. They consider him one of the select few to be named a Top Rated Speaker.
In the writing world, Bill’s latest contribution is a series of business books with the overall title On The Fly. The first two books are called On The Fly Guide to Balancing Work and Life and On The Fly Guide to Building Successful Teams. They are being published by WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House. Besides the On The Fly series, Bill has written over a dozen books including The Promise of the Second Wind and When Life Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned.
REBECA SEITZ – The Publicity Process & Powerful Strategies  http://www.glassroadpr.com/about/seitz.php
Part 1: Wanted: First Time Published Writers Who Have No Idea What To Do Next. What does it mean to publicize a book? How does a literary publicist let readers know your book is coming? What can you do to join in the process? Which things should you do and which will your publisher accomplish? For those who are just beginning their trek into the world of literary publicity, come have your questions answered and learn the process that most books follow from acquired manuscript to publicized book.
Part 2: Powerful Publicity: Building Book Sales. Do you have two or more books just sitting on bookstore shelves? Perhaps you’ve wrestled with the disappointment of not hitting the best-seller list right out of the gate and yet you’re certain this is what God created you to do—write. Agents and publishers have warned you if your sales don’t increase, you’ll be hard-pressed to continue finding book contracts. What can you do to help increase sales of your books? Publicity!
Rebeca Seitz, President of Glass Road Public Relations and author of five novels, has assisted a wide variety of authors from debut novelists to New York Times best-sellers. She’ll share strategies that you can employ to raise awareness for your books among consumers and get those sales numbers climbing. Also, if you’ve tried publicity tactics in the past but experienced lackluster results, be sure to bring your stories to this workshop! Rebeca will help you determine what didn’t work and why so that you can begin practicing effective, powerful publicity.
NCWA Member Rate – $115 – Non-Member Rate $135 – includes lunch and snacks
Location: Northshore Baptist Church, Bothell WA
http://nwchristianwriters.org/events.html
 I hope you feel God’s touch on your life today.
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi