Write His Answer

More than a Conference
Anne Johnson
Guest Blogger

The Colorado Christian Writers Conference isn’t just a writers conference, it is a family and a home.

I have attended the conference for over 12 years. Each year I learn more about my writing craft and take away nuggets of truth about God’s will for me and my writing.

I have worked closely with the conference director, Mrs. Marlene Bagnull, and have been a recipient of her overwhelming grace and generosity. When I didn’t have the money to come to the conference one year, she asked if I would help with registration, and thus I was given a working scholarship. Then next year she asked me to return and help with registration again. I have been blessed to be asked to lead morning devotions and help in other areas as well.

In 2000, I called Marlene and told her that I wouldn’t be able to come because I had a six month old daughter, Moriah, and she would probably be in the way. Marlene said, “Oh by all means, bring that special baby with you.” And so Moriah became the youngest conferee to attend CCWC. Since then, Marlene has welcomed my son, Christopher, to the conference as well. And collectively we adopted Marlene into our family as our surrogate aunt.

This year finances once again threatened to keep my children and I home. However, my children began to think of creative ways to earn money to attend the conference. We began in January selling old home school books on e-Bay. I worked a few extra shifts at work. Instead of spending their paper route paycheck the kids put it in our CCWC fund. We shoveled snow for some neighbors, watered plants and house-sat when friends went out-of-town, and the list continues.

When we approached my husband with the news that we had earned almost half of our money for the conference at the beginning of March, he was astonished. He asked the children why they wanted to attend the conference.

“The conference is like my family,” twelve-year-old Moriah said. “I can’t imagine not going. And attending Teens Write helps me to have a renewed and refreshed fire to write in the coming year.”

Then Christopher, our ten-year-old son, stated, “I love the people at CCWC. I have made many friends and would miss seeing them. And I feel encouraged to continue to write my stories and songs.”

A legacy, that is what CCWC is to my family and me. A family of believers brought together with a common goal–to serve God using the gift of writing to reach the lost and the dark world around us.
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Children and teens are more than welcome at CCWC.  Each year we’re blessed with about 30 teens in Teens Write. A growing number of them opt to attend the entire conference. (Teens get 60% off the conference registration fee.) And yes, CCWC is like family for me, too. Really it’s a family reunion, spiritual retreat, and incredible networking and learning experience rolled into 3-1/2 memorable days in the breathtaking grandeur of the Colorado Rockies. Thank You, Father, for the privilege and joy of 19 years directing this conference.