Wednesday, June 11, 2008

National Youth Workers Convention 2008

Thinking about attending the Nashville youth workers' convention hosted by Youth Specialties this November (http://www.nywc.com/)? I'll see you there! I'm leading two workshops: one on "The Role of Imagination in Spiritual Formation" and the other on "Re-imagining Confirmation." The topics will expand on some of the ideas in my book "The God-Hungry Imagination: The Art of Storytelling for Postmodern Youth Ministry" (see link at right), though you won't have to read the book to get what I'm talking about (though, of course, reading the book would only enrich your experience, but then again, I'm slightly biased). let me know if you plan to attend, and maybe we can connect. One of my main stations will be the Upper Room booth in the exhibition hall (more info to come). Looking forward to seeing you there!

Devo'Zine

I forgot to mention that one of the devotions I wrote for the youth magazine DEVO'ZINE (published by Upper Room) won the award for Devotional/Inspirational/Short Format at the Associated Church Press conference in April. The devo was entitled "When Words Fail" and appeared in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue. It was an exciting surprise to get the note from my editor. I work with simply amazing people in the publishing world!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Facebook

I caved.

I'm on it.

And addicted.

After all my griping and complaining about "virtual friends"! After all my doom and gloom prophecies that we will all be on more antidepressants than ever because we can be rejected or ignored by the click of a button!

Yep.

So if you are, in fact, friends or family with me (I mean, if you know me personally, not just through my books--sorry, dear readers), stop by. Invite me to be your cyber friend. Say hi. Write on my wall. I promise, I will not reject or ignore you, even if I'm silent for a long time while writing my next project or paper. Jesus loves us all.

Summer Update

For those of you who have begun to wonder if I dropped off the planet, no fear: I'm still here, enjoying my summer off from graduate school--hurrah!--in my hometown of Petoskey, Michigan. Yep, we moved. Again. For the fifth time in three years. And we'll move again in late August, back to North Carolina for my final year of graduate school at Duke Divinity School. (And then--yes, you guessed it--we'll move AGAIN once I'm graduated next spring, though we don't yet know where. And I wonder why I'm tired all the time?!)

So, we're living in our old house, which has been a bit neglected since we left in '05, and once things are cleaned up and settled I plan to do some writing. And don't you wonder what it will be? Stay tuned! In the meantime, there are some great new movies to watch about some of my favorite people, including a young fellow named Caspian and a young authoress named Jane Austen (if you haven't seen Becoming Jane, you MUST!). Rumor has it, The Hobbit isn't far behind. "The road goes ever on and on," as a famous literary character has said. I'll keep you posted on where my road is headed--as soon as I know more myself.

Have a blessed summer, and keep walking with Jesus! sarah@saraharthur.com

"It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to child or man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears, as keen as that given by any form of literary art, and having a peculiar quality."
- J. R. R. Tolkien"On Fairy-Stories"