I wondered about you today. Are you enjoying these lazy days of summer?
We had a fabulous vacation at a Joni and Friends Family Camp in Murietta, California. We spent time with my California Devine cousins and even took in a day at Disneyland. I’ll post about that over the weekend.
Now I’m feeling called to write again. It is scary.
The past two years have been focused on the book I wrote with my son Gabe. We published it on April 13, 2012. It has been a fun journey of promoting this book and traveling with Gabe as he shares his message of HOPE with thousands of people.
My Message is C.L.E.A.R. – Hope and Strength in the Face of Life’s Greatest Adversities
If you haven’t read it yet, it is available on Gabe’s website at http://GabeMurfitt.com
We’ve traveled to schools and churches where he has shared his courageous story of living in his unusually formed body. He is gearing up for the fall speaking season. If your school district needs a dynamic speaker, contact him for more information.
Now it’s time to have courage to begin again.
My next writing project is taking Gabe’s story a step further and creating a character development curriculum.
Next week I will be teaming up with some amazing teachers to chart out the lessons to help young students develop characteristics that include Courage, Leadership, Endurance, Attitude and Respect. These are the five letters in the acronym Gabe uses to tell his story. It is an exciting project!
We’ll start with Courage.
What does courage mean to you? I liked this definition.
What area of your life are you asking for more courage?
I hope you’ll let me know on my website (in the comments section below) so I can pray for you.
Let’s have a courageous week – seeking the courage to do the things we are called to do. The courage to start or to begin AGAIN…
Bless your courageous heart,
Gigi
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I feel like God is moving in my family in enormous ways.
This “GRACE FLOW” talk started when our counselor was praying for us.
He blessed us with eyes to see the flow of God’s Grace upon our lives because we are willing to work on some “stuff” that has kept us stuck in our communication and family life.
He asked us to read Arthur Murray’s book, Humility. Out with pride. In with humilty.
We were challenged to release the wounds of our past. Healing begins.
We began to focus on how we could act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God in all areas of our life. Love grows.
Bondage that has kept us stuck is being removed. Grace flows.
Photo from WheatonBible.org
Whew! Can I say OVERWHELMING!
So many beautiful things that are evidenced in a life surrendered fully to Christ.
We have trusted God for our marriage and our family.
Here are just a few things that have happened in our GRACE FLOW
- **Our book, My Message is C.L.E.A.R. was a finalist in the Reader’s Favorite book contest. We didn’t win but we made the top five in our category.
- **We recorded the audio version of My Message is C.L.E.A.R. AudioInk it is producing it in record time. Watch for news on this soon.
- **I orchestrated a successful writer’s retreat for The Northwest Christian Writer’s Association.
- **Steve and I had a blast speaking together at The Father’s Network conference last weekend.
- **Our oldest son, Zane, and his beautiful wife, Kelsey, are expecting their baby girl any day now.
- **Our youngest son, Gabe, is off on a whirl-wind speaking tour where he’ll touch thousands of lives in the state of Montana.
- **My Ebook, Caregivers’ Devotions to Go, was #1 on Amazon this past week when my publisher promoted it free for a day.
- **We have been blessed with some nice donations to our foundation.
- **We received an unexpected bonus.
- **Gabe is signing books tonight for My Message is C.L.E.A.R. at the Billings Barnes and Noble
- **Steve and Gabe will be speaking to a Businessman’s lunch in November
- **Several schools in Washington state have booked Gabe to speak in the new year.
Like I said – WHEW. GRACE FLOW!
I am truly humbled by the magnificant change taking place in my family and ministry life.
My friend. I want to see the flow of Grace in your life too.
I pray for you so often.
I pray that whatever might be keeping you in bondage and blocking the flow of God’s grace will be revealed to your willing heart.
I pray God will bring people into your life to speak open and honest truth.
Please email me or comment on my blog so I can pray for you about any area of your life.
God bless you with GRACE! Let it FLOW!
Gigi
I pray for you every time I think of you. Oh, how much I appreciate your support!
I’ve been busy promoting our new book, My Message is C.L.E.A.R. – Hope and Strength in the Face of Life’s Greatest Adversities, which released on April 13, 2012 on Gabe’s 22nd birthday.
We had a fabulous launch party at a gorgeous house – Serenity House – a gift from Gregg and Lafon Jantz. There were about eighty people who came to support us and hear Gabe’s “Endurance” message.
Available on www.GabesHOPE.org, Amazon or Barnes and Noble
I co-wrote this book with my son, Gabe. It was a blast writing it with him.
It is even more fun as we head out to promote it.
We leave Tuesday, May 8, 2012 on a road trip to Montana to get the word out about this latest book.
Gabe will be speaking at the Anaconda Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday from 3-4 pm.
Thursday, May 10, 2012, he will be at Beyond Necessity Gift Shop from 3-6 for a booksigning open house that should prove to be a whole lot of fun!
We are planning other book signings later in the summer at the Barnes and Noble stores as well as a few gift shops. So the rest of our time in Montana will be spent planning those future events.
FIVE STAR REVIEW!!
We were delighted to get a five star review this week from a book review website – Reader’s Review.
http://readersfavorite.com/review/6180
Hope to see you under the full moon sky this week. It is a SUPER moon and I think we are going to have a SUPER road trip.
God Bless your heart
Gigi
I hope you are faring well and are staying warm.
In spite of the epic storm that hit the Seattle region this week, I stayed warm and comfy.
I hope you did too.
Snow in Seattle January 2012
My job allows me to work from home so I didn’t skip a beat.
While house bound, I was also able to take care of some final work on Gabe’s book.
I am happy to say it is finished! And I hope that is the final word.
Last night I uploaded a few minor changes to my publisher’s website.
The next step is to agree on the back cover. Then it is off to the printer!
YES and AMEN!
During the week, I also had plenty of time to format the e-book and upload it to Kindle and NOOK.
E-Book Cover!
It wasn’t as difficult as I thought. I learned a lot and I’ll share what I learned in a future blog. I sent the ebook to a couple of reviewers and so far everything looks good.
I get so nervous when I picture you reading Gabe’s book. It tells a wonderful story of courage and hope but it was an emotional process to tell it all.
I want you to fall in love with Gabe. He is one incredible young man! I cry every time I read it.
We really appreciate your patience and support in this long process of getting the book published.
I guess when the authors share the entire journey, the readers get a better feel for how long it really takes to get a book from the idea to print.
For me and Gabe, this has been almost a six year process!
So you understand I’m like a pregnant mom just weeks from her due date, anxiously waiting to see her baby.
It is hard to wait and wonder, isn’t it?
I don’t know what you are waiting for.
But I want to encourage you that God sees you while you wait. He knows the desires of your heart.
Just like we waited for snow plows this week to move the deep snow out of our path, God is moving obstacles to make your way clear.
He knows the perfect time to say, “It’s time to move forward.”
I pray for peace and patience in the process.
God Bless Your waiting heart. Please tell me what you are waiting for so I can pray for you.
Gigi
PS – When I get the go-ahead from the publisher I want you to be the first to know. So I set up an email list for people who want to hear it from me first. If you’d like to receive an email when the book is released, please sign up below by entering your email address.
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Recently, I was on a two day writing retreat at Camp Berachah in the Auburn-Black Diamond area of Washington State. My plan was to enter the final edits of my son Gabe’s book titled My Message is C.L.E.A.R., and enjoy some quiet time all by myself. When I arrived, I was given a tour of the grounds.
As I walked the path past the cabins, the pool, the dining hall and the sanctuary, my mind was flooded with memories of the week Gabe attended his first summer church camp at this facility. That was eleven years ago, but it felt like yesterday as emotions I hadn’t felt in years rose in my heart.
That summer of his fifth grade year, he had a wonderful experience at camp, but it was one of the times Gabe was reminded of his limitations. We had not been prepared for the disappointments he experienced when he couldn’t climb on the climbing wall. He was sad when he was unable to participate in the obstacle course. Many of the games we played in the gymnasium were too difficult for him. We had to figure out how I would help him in the boy’s bathroom without embarrassing him or the other campers.
I remembered trying to encourage him at the end of each day while I helped him get ready for bed. We brainstormed alternative ways to participate with the other campers so he didn’t feel left out. For most of the activities we found a way for him to join in, but there were some things he just couldn’t do. Gabe was discouraged and sad. I prayed with him asking God to help us figure things out.
I didn’t want him to feel my own sadness so I maintained a positive attitude whenever I was with him. At night, however, I cried myself to sleep in discouragement and disappointment at the realization of how different Gabe’s abilities were compared to the other kids. It was a very hard time for me but I didn’t want anyone to know I was struggling. I simply stuffed my pain, put a smile on my face, and moved through the days.
Even with these disappointments, there were treasured moments of seeing God at work that entire week. Gabe felt close to God as he made new friends. At most meals, a whole group of girls asked him to eat with them at their table. The camp counselors did a good job trying to accommodate our unique needs.
I call these moments when I sense God at work “kisses on the cheek from God.” These are reminders that He is with us even in the hard times.
One of my favorite memories was when the worship team led the campers in a beautiful song that encouraged them to give their struggles to God and to “come just as you are.” I watched Gabe get out of his wheelchair and walk to the front of the church. A group of new friends surrounded him with prayer as he set his discouragement on the altar before God. It was a sweet moment, and felt a little bit like heaven to see these young people ministering to my broken-hearted son.
By the end of this week of camp, Gabe sensed God’s plan for him to share his story with other kids to encourage them in their own disappointments. Even as a young fifth grade boy, He knew God would use his story to help others. Two years later, he joined a school assembly program and started sharing his story.
You can imagine the emotion welling up in my heart as I sat in my room at the camp, all these years later, finalizing his book in the very place where God met Gabe and ministered to his broken heart.
After entering the edits on the book, I took another walk around the campus and allowed God to minister to all the sadness I had stuffed so many years ago. I listened to worship music on my I-pod and let the tears flow.
It was such a sweet moment to see how God had taken all of us full circle in the process of laying our burdens at His feet. Now as Gabe speaks to thousands of people and as we near the date this book will be released, we can see that God had a plan all along to take Gabe’s disappointments and turn them for good.
I’m thankful for the healing that took place.
This photo is a perfect reflection of how I felt as the healing took place.
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I will send what I have written to an editor friend for critique and keep writing.
Friday we will be presenting a workshop about our nonprofit foundation at the Northwest Ministry Conference at Overlake Church.
Gabe speaks on Saturday at the workshop about his C-L-E-A-R message of Courage, Leadership, Excellence, Attitude and Respect.
He did a wonderful job presenting this message at three schools this week in Billings. Check out his blog to read about his time at the schools. http://www.gabeshope.org/
I am on the plane ready to take off headed home to Seattle.
Anxious to see Steve.
Excited to share about our nonprofit this week – Gabriel’s Foundation of HOPE
http://www.gabeshope.org/
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi ]]>