The Final Froctober Edition

 

I can't believe we are about to enter our last week of October? What the frock? So to end this month is true Froctober style I am re-capping one of this years favourite events.

This year I ran the Shine program at school for year 7 girls. The foundational concepts of the program are worth, strength and purpose. You can read more about the program here. To end the nine week program we ended with a special high tea. The girls brought a dress to wear, a present and word of encouragement for another girl and were escorted to the hall where a beautiful high tea awaited them.

 PICS:

 

TIPS:

1. The space we used was quite large, it is a school hall so we had to be strategic in decorating as the area was so-large. We decided to focus only on the front part of the hall close to the stage so we could use it to present their awards and certificates. This way we could use all our efforts to decorate a smaller area. If you have a large space, then a good tip is to focus on making one area of it look really good.
2. We borrowed a lot of things for this event. Table cloths, glass vases, beautiful tea pot sets, props for the photo booth-all borrowed. I had two friends who were recently married so they still had things left over from their decorations, do you have any recently married friends you could ask? This helps to keep things cost effective.

   TRICKS:

1. The trick that I think really set this event apart from other events we've held there would have to be the choice we made to hire chair covers. The chairs are these big plastic things which are blue and green, I knew if we went all out with everything except the chairs, it would not look as good. We saved money in a lot of other areas and I managed to find them for around $3.00 a cover including the organza bow. If you really want something to look special, then make sure you ensure the chairs are decorated to fit the theme. 
2. I used a pinterest inspired project to personalize mugs for each of the girls. I used the good old sharpie and bake trick to create mugs with the word Shine, their name and the words-worth-strength-purpose. I baked them for an hour at 350 degrees celcius. Aside from the mugs the girls received a certificate of completion and a gift from another student. 
3. Food wise we kept it nice and simple with sandwiches and scones with jam and cream. I made the scones the night before using this super simple recipe, 3 ingredients is all it takes. 

This particular event was one of my favourite to organize and hold. The girls were in disbelief when they saw the hall, as it had never looked so good (if I do say so myself). The girls truly felt treasured and blessed by the effort we put in to making them feel valued. It was the perfect ending to our 9 week program.

I hope you enjoyed the Froctober series. 

xo

Flaunt Your Cause

I was so-very excited to have discovered this whole "Flaunt Your Cause" thing, not only to obviously share about something I am passionate about, but also to read about other people passions and ways they are investing their time to live a life of More Than Words....

The cause I want to flaunt is more of a program that is committed to the cause of instilling Worth, Strength and Purpose into women both young and old. A program called Shine.

I personally, am passionate when it comes to women and seeing them live their life to their fullest God-given potential. When I lived in India, I used to travel to the villages running anti-trafficking and safe migration seminars, along with Princess Parties. See, it was at the Princess Parties where we were able to address the root issue of where women find their value and worth. When a woman believes her value and worth is found in what she does, provides, looks like etc then she is more likely to fall into the trap of migrating to bigger cities chasing, fame, money and a more glamorous life. When a women is secure in who she is according to He who created her, then she can say no to that which is contrary to her unique calling. So, yeah when I lived in India, myself and an American lady who is living in India would travel to villages as well as local schools and Church groups running Princess Parties. 

We had women young and old attend our parties...for some it was the first time for them to be made to feel like a Princess

This is a party we hosted in a village where we had the women make "dream journals"

This is a program we ran at a school.

We tried to work within the local traditions decorations to make them feel special and valued with decorating the rooms

We would give each woman a tiara for her to keep:)

Now that I'm living in back in Australia my passion for speaking into the lives of women has not gone away. I work as a Chaplain at a local primary school. I am so-blessed to work alongside passionate teachers who are so-committed to the children. It is a christian school located in a low socioeconomic area. We have students from Christian, non-Christian, poor and privileged backgrounds. We also host a large number of nationalities at our school with over 38 different countries being represented. Needless to say, working as the Chaplain at this school comes with its challenges, but it is equally matched with its blessings. One of those blessings is, this year- starting next term I have the privilege of facilitating the Hillsong Shine Girl Program. 

The aim of the program is; "For each girl to develop understanding of her own personal worth, strength and purpose and realise the potential within her to fulfil her desires". Some facts about the Shine Program:

• Used in over 30 nations
• Used by over 1000 organisations
• Estimated participation of over 20,000 girls and women
• Outreaches to refuges, schools, ethnic groups, religious groups, rural communities, indigenous communities, correctional centres, war-torn countries, girls homes and so forth.
• Translated into seven languages

There is Shine Girl (years7-10), Shine Women (18 years +)  and Shine Hope (For middle school years to 18 years with an anti-trafficking educational prevention element). The program is run in such a way where you have teaching elements, practical/experiential elements which relate directly to issues girls and women around the world struggle with. I am in the process of looking into different grants I can apply for to get some money to help cover the costs of running this program and making it as special as possible for the year 7 girls.

I am so-excited that I get to facilitate this amazing program at the school...if only every school had the capacity to run it...If you are passionate about working with women/girls then I could not more- highly recommend the Shine Program which is changing lives and equipping women for greatness. 

 “I believe the seeds of greatness are within us all. They key is in creating the correct environment for them to then surface into reality” – Bobbie Houston

Be sure to check out the hosts of this link up -Lindsay and Emmy's blogs to read about more inspirational causes...