Introducing.... S.P.O.G.G.L.E.!

Hello friends! *does a happy jig*

As you can probably see (oops, I mean, read) I am super excited to be able to tell you about a little brainchild of my family's.... *trumpets and confetti please* the one and only S.P.O.G.G.L.E! 

What does that stand for?, I hear you cry! Well, don't listen to Google. I didn't come here to tell you about.... safety glasses?? Nope! Those letters stand for something.... The Society (for the) Promotion of God Glorifying Literary Endeavours, to be exact! Now you see why we abbreviate it...

And what is S.P.O.G.G.L.E about, Jemima? Well, the name is pretty self explanatory. What we do is:

1. We have lots of fun writing God-glorifying short stories, poems, tracts, haikus, essays, play scripts, narratives, novels-in-19-parts, ballads, song lyrics, *takes deep breath* etc., etc., etc. 

2. We meet sporadically, pray, and then each in turn will read our compositions to the rest of the group. Then we discuss each piece of work, encourage the author, and then possibly give some constructive criticism and say what we particularly enjoyed about it. 

3. And then repeat! It's that simple...

The point is: we encourage ourselves and other writing enthusiasts to pursue our God-given talents for His glory, our edifying (because, hey, you get such a kick when God gives you a story), and the salvation of the lost! 

Sounds fun! Who is "we"? Ah ha! That's where you guys (and the purpose of this post) come in! Currently, S.P.O.G.G.L.E is just our family of 5, an older brother in the Lord (and close family friend), and heaps of would-be members who can't get to the meetings but would love to join. (Because, eep, we haven't had one in ages...) 

So, I would like to invite you, dear reader, to join! America (oops, I mean) S.P.O.G.G.L.E needs you! If you (and/or your family) are a Christian who loves creative and fun writing, then we would love love love you to be a part of this! I already have 2 pen pals in America who want to join, and with this whole coronavirus thing we need to meet online anyway, so it is the perfect opportunity to connect with others around the globe who couldn't normally attend. 

Please tell your parents and check with them - they are more than welcome to "come along" (and also anyone else you know who might be interested)! We will be having our next meeting on May 7th, which is in 1 week and 5 days time. You can bring an old literary piece or a new; anything really as long as you feel it is God glorifying. Even if you don't want to bring a piece, but just sit in and listen, that's fine too!

 And by God glorifying, I don't necessarily mean only scripture or theology - there is God-glorifyingness (did I just make up a new word?) in many things, from a hero(ine) who makes that difficult but godly decision, to a poem about a majestic waterfall and how God creates such amazing things. A few meetings ago, I did a short story that seemingly had no Christian relevance... until I explained it actually was an allegory about a spiritual battle! There is so much, (as Anne of Green Gables would say) scope for the imagination!

We will be having our meeting via Jitsi, a free online video or audio conferencing software. If people don't feel comfortable with 

video calling, they can choose to call in just audio. Or they could even send their composition in and we will read it out to the group and post it ln the website. (Oh, zee vebsite... I forget about zat...) 

 The address is: www.thespoggle.weebly.com . It is not really up to date as yours truly has been a bit lax with posting all the recent entries from the last meeting... (sorry S.P.O.G.G.L.E.rs) Anyway, you can visit it and see (again) what we are about and also read some old entries.

Oh, yes, and we do use pen names! (Obviously my dad's real name is not Vigilantius!) Mine is Erica B. Kipling - Erica just because, and Brontë and Kipling because they are both author's names.

So... If you would like to join, let me know in the comments and then send me an email with your (real) first name and your chosen pen name, to (highlight for address) spogglers@gmail.com, and I will send you the password for the Jitsi group, the exact time and some extra details.

Anyway, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on S.P.O.G.G.L.E!

Blessings,

~ Jemima