Guest blog from 2012 GPCWC Conferee
Marianne E. Parker, RN  

Cold air blasts as I sit in the dark corner.  Six twenty-one shines in the corner of my computer screen.  I quietly type, trying not to waken my daughter.  Ideas swim in my head like young children enjoying the pool outside my hotel window.  I am still.  Still.  Still small voice; come to me Lord.  Be glorified today.

Gratitude enters as I ready for the final day of this year’s Greater Philadelphia Christian Writer’s Conference: Write His Answer.  Habakkuk 2:2 (TLB), “Write my answer on a billboard, loud and clear, so that others may read it and rush to tell others” undergirds the bridge Marlene Bagnull co-labored in love over twenty-nine years ago as conference founder and director.    I imagine her prayer this morning; “To God, be the glory.”

Marlene and all who have been called to come alongside her have accomplished their mission: “Encouraging & Equipping you to write about a God who is real, who is reachable & who changes lives.”

Jim Watkins shared during the Friday opening session that 10,000 hours are required to become proficient in any field.  So, I pulled out my phone started to calculate.  Hmm.  I would like to be proficient in 1 year (remember, I’m a beginner) so 10,000 divided by 365 is the realization that I need 27 hours a day to make that happen. OK then, I start multiplying.  Three hours commitment a day multiplied by 365 equals ten years.  I look up and say to myself,

“OK God, do what only You can whenever You want”.

Personal perspective and heavenly perspective met that day.  Your team also gifted me with healing perspective.  I may not yet know how to write a magazine article or a novel, but I can offer an honorable thank you.  So, from the bottom of my broken heart (that story is not yet ready to tell-thank you Sue Cameron), I so appreciate that you all have heard the voice of our loving Father, walked with His Son and stepped out with His Spirit.  You are blessing many.  Continue saying; “Yes, Lord”.  We need your gifts, talents, leadership and fine example.

It will be my privilege and expectation to see you again next year, if not sooner.

Sincerely,

Marianne E. Parker, RN
(Gratitude and redemption writer)
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Thanks much, Marianne, for sharing your heart. It’s not too later to register for the July 31 – August 3, 2013, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. If you want to stay on campus, however, you need to register by July 15. Same with meals in the campus dining hall. After July 15 and until July 24 meals can still be ordered but they will cost 50 cents more a meal. After July 24, you’ll have to eat off campus – not ideal because of the fellowship we share around the tables I the dining hall.