January 31, Newsletter and Extended Learning

January 31, Newsletter and Extended Learning
Friday, January 31, 2025 by Cindy K. Sproles

That was what I said today after 14 hours of working on taxes, editing, mentoring, and this. I'm tired. Yep, pooped. But we'll talk about that later.

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Extended Learning is up - and Denise Loock has knocked it out of the park with the mistreatment of our sweet nouns. Andrea addressed the word WAS last week, and today, Denise is walking you through another important basic in writing. What I love about these ladies who do our blogs is 1) they are both amazing editors and 2) They know exactly what to teach you. While neither knows what the other will write, God orchestrates things so they work perfectly together. The new extended learning is up by clicking here and reading Inequality in the Kingdom of Nouns by Denise Loock.

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?For all our new arrivals to ACWC (those who have registered in the last week. We want you to catch up, and though our contests have closed, there may still be some mentoring or critique services available. Go to our site and click the following tabs to catch up:

?Critiques and Mentoring Check and see if there are still spaces available by contacting Terri. Her email is on that page.

?Newsletters This is past newsletters and weekly from Jan. 1 until conference time. Stay in touch with us.

?Conference Updates Check-in information, forms, you know...the STUFF.

?Remember to mark us as a safe site and email so we don't go to your trash or spam.

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?MP3s - I spoke with our tech guy this week, and all of our sessions are set to be recorded. This includes our keynotes. We charge a small fee of $50 for you to purchase the entire conference on MP3. I encourage you to purchase these. WHY? Well, because you can't be in every session, and when you purchase them, you can focus on what you need face-to-face at the conference and still have the luxury of having the remainder of the conference on your desktop. I get the conference recordings at every conference, and I've used them over and over as my personal extended learning. It's a small investment to have these recordings FOREVER on your desktop. You can purchase the MP3s from our bookstore beginning Friday night through Sunday morning, or you can purchase early by clicking HERE. We'll have a list of those who purchase. It generally takes about a month for them to be converted and for Eddie to get them uploaded. But we will let you know when they are available for you to download.

?FACULTY - IF YOU HAVE HANDOUTS, send those to Eddie at [email protected] so that he can upload them to the .live site for conferees to download. Saving them as PDFs helps a lot.

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?Shepherd's Inn - So, I told you we'll be in Shepherd's Inn, which is directly beside the Training Center. Parking. You will park to the left of Shepherd's Inn. As you make that downhill turn to the Inn, you'll see parking to your left. That lot extends all the to the front of the Training Center and there are steps from that portion down to the Center. Remember to leave your luggage in your car until after the Early Bird sessions. You can't check into your room until 3:00 or 3:30. The Cove staff are working hard to turn over 100 rooms. So, be patient.

?Pick up your name badge from Shepherd's Inn Lobby when you arrive. Denise and Andrea will greet you there with all you need - your packet, liability release, and any thing else you might need. Grab your tag and head to the Training Center next door. Once there, take the elevator upstairs to the 3rd floor. The girls there will point you in the direction of the classes. After classes, you'll have plenty of time to go back and get your room key before supper. Again, you must wear your name tag at all times.

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?Be thinking about one or two lines about when you felt the call to write. We're going to ask you to write those down and hand them to us. Eddie and I pray over those and bury them on the mountain at the feet of God. Start thinking.

?And finally...

?The Old Grey Mare Ain't What She Used to Be

??And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. - 1 Peter 5:10 NIV

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?I've never thought of myself as aging. I get up every day and juggle the things that I need to do, manage to accomplish them, and then sit down and take a breath. It has, however, been increasingly more evident that I'm not the spring chicken I used to be.

?Getting up and down these days is a chore. I have those sudden memory lapses (Prevagen may be in my future, alongside the added vitamins and supplements that line my shelf). The little things I used to do in a hurry take a little time.

?Though I may tease about aging, the fact is, age is creeping up on me. I suppose the reality of that came at Christmas when my youngest son (who is 43) came home to visit. We were eating at a local restaurant when I caught him rubbing one finger over the top of my hand. Being a mom, I took this gesture as sweet, but it ended up being a reality check. He rubbed my hand a few times, then picked it up, "Mom!" He rubbed my hand harder. "Your hands are getting wrinkles. Oh, my gosh!" Of course, he was being silly and though we all had a laugh out of his revelation, the fact was, for the rest of the night, I found myself rubbing at the fine wrinkles. At one point, I started to sing that old elementary school favorite, The Old Grey Mare Ain't What She Used to Be. ?Another dose of reality, my kids had never heard that baby boomer tune.

?My point, and yes there is one, is that our God is so loving that He, Himself will restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast. Aging in Christ is an amazing gift - a package papered and bowed by the Master. But the gift is not permission for us to sit down and wait God out. It's a call for us to continue to move ahead until the day He restores us.

I love to work, and though it's not always things I like to do, the joy in accomplishment means something. And when I work for a Master who waits for me, the rubbing out wrinkles isn't such a bad thing.

There are times when you will grow tired of your writing. You'll think there is nothing left to write about, or you may simply be spent. We all hit those spots. So, take a step back. Rest for a bit -- but only a bit because our work in Christ never stops. And our work in serving Him as a writer continues as well.

This old grey mare ain't what she used to be, but she ain't out to pasture either. Work with joy in your heart. Work with the anticipation of He, Himself restoring you, making you stronger and steadfast.

There's work to be done. Get with it.

Cindy

Comments

Tim Eichenbrenner From Matthews, NC At 2/1/2025 6:56:51 AM

Welcome to my world, Cindy! (But with age comes wisdom.)

Reply by: Asheville Christian Writers Conference

LOL! Good to know I have fellows TIRE PEOPLE.

Carol Abbott From Greenville SC At 1/31/2025 10:32:22 PM

God bless you Cindy! Ty for the encouragement and for your prayers. I have been praying for you, the speakers/teachers and my fellow attendees! Be so blessed!