by Roseanna White | Jul 11, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Thoughtful Thursdays
Day 10’s winner of Ring of Secrets is…
Sarah Keimig !
Keep entering all week for a chance at the daily book drawing AND Friday’s drawing for winner’s choice of one of these two necklaces by Susie Finkbeiner of Inspired Novelties.
And for today:
Thoughtful About . . . Words of Blessing
I decided, rather belatedly, to do the Bible-in-a-year schedule in the back of my new chronological Bible. I began on July 1, went through and penciled in all the new dates over the ones listed in the back, and got down to business last week.
As I’m reading through Genesis again, some things are jumping out at me that never have before. Today I read both Abraham’s blessing of Isaac and Isaac’s blessing, intended for Esau but given by deceit to Jacob.
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| Isaac Blessing Jacob by a student of Rembrandt |
Now, I’ve read these things half a gazillion times. I’ve heard sermons on them. I’ve wondered about them. But today, as my kids run through the room laughing while I read, I thought about them in a new way.
What was it about those words that these men so craved? What made them so important? So special? So binding?
I don’t exactly have the answers to that…but I have some thoughts. All through the Bible, both Old Testament and New, we see the power of words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
was made that was made. In Him was Life, and the life was the light of men. And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
John 1:1-2
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt,
that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Colossians 4:6
“So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let
none of his words fall to the ground.”
I Samuel 3:19
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and
Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by
grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good WORD and work.”
II Thessalonians 2:16, 17
Words created…words bless…words curse…
And we often use them so thoughtlessly! I’ve mused on this before, but today I’m thinking especially about how we use them with our children.
It wasn’t some random king that gave these blessings to the patriarchs. Sons didn’t vie for the blessing of their neighbor. It was always their father whose words they wanted. Their fathers who gave them words not only about the physical belongings he himself would pass down, but about how his son’s family would be received by the world for generations.
What is it about a parent’s words that can do that…and am I keeping that in mind when I talk to my kids?
Our local bishop tells a story of an extremely popular, powerful evangelist who had brought countless souls to Christ over the years. Every night of his childhood, this someday-preacher’s mother would kiss his forehead, give him a hug, and say, “The Lord has great plans for your life.” He grew up knowing that it, he lived the promise, and we now, years later, can see its truth.
So what truth am I speaking into the lives of those I love best? What am I teaching my kids, yes, but more, what am I promising them?
Because one thing I know for sure–God doesn’t change. If He honored the blessings spoken by a father upon a son in Abraham’s day, He’ll still do it today. If He poured out His peace upon a people at the word of their spiritual father in the New Testament, He’ll continue pouring it upon us now.
And that means a lot of responsibility to us–responsibility we often ignore, are ignorant of, or–dare I say it?–embarrassed to use. We feel silly saying such deep things to our little children, who just want to play Hulk or Princess or Super-Spy. What do they care about blessings?
Maybe nothing yet–but they will someday. And I should be looking ahead to that someday. I should be speaking blessing and promise and love upon my children each and every day, binding them not only to my heart, but to the Father’s.
When I was a girl, my parents always, always said, “You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do.”
That’s a blessing I’m living now, fueled by their faith in me and our Father. Thanks, Mom and Dad. 😉
Now what about me and my kids? What about you?
My question to you today:
What’s one promise or blessing or encouragement that has stuck with you through the years?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 10, 2013 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Day 9’s winner of Ring of Secrets is:
Amy Campbell!
And as a reminder of what you’re entering for this week…ta da! 😉
Now. It’s “Remember When” day around here…but I’m excited. So we’re tweaking. 😉 You see, this arrived from FedEx yesterday:
How exciting is that?? My first order of business was to pull out a few for my family, closest friends, and critique partners. They all got personal thanks for their part in this crazy writing journey.
But then I got to thinking. What am I going to write for autographs in general? See, I’ve given each of my books a little message that I write in them when signing.
A Stray Drop of Blood, which pivots around the life-changing events of the crucifixion and resurrection, says:
May His touch leave you forever changed.
Jewel of Persia, which is about how our faith can save us when we’re surrounded by the enemy, says:
May the Lord be your Light.
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, which touches on the price of liberty in a nation newly formed, where freedoms were still as tenuous as peace:
May you find true Liberty in Him.
And most recently,
Ring of Secrets uses a line from the book itself, appealing to how we find the Lord in our quiet moments, often where we least expect Him:
May you hear Him in the echoes of silence.
So now, here I am with
Whispers from the Shadows in hand (squeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and I need to come up with my little note for it. I could use your help!
Whispers has a couple themes. I wove the title all throughout it, a very subtle but always present illusion to the spiritual battles going on around us. Whenever evil is at work in the book, there are shadows lurking. Sometimes the heroine hears the whisper of voices trying to destroy her, and then finally she hears the whisper of the Lord, giving her hope. And my hero has finely tuned his spiritual ears and is guided more by that awareness of the Holy Spirit’s urgings than his own intuition or skill. Trust is another huge theme–these two are on opposite sides of a war, but have to trust each other to survive someone who threatens them both.
I was considering something like “May you learn to know His whisper” but that might be too close to
Ring of Secrets”’. I like them to be a sort of benediction or prayer for the reader though. (Hence why they all thus far begin with “may…”) Thoughts? Suggestions? I hope so, because that’s your question for the day:
What message should I use when signing
(Special bonus: if I decide to use yours verbatim, I’ll send you the first one I write it in!!)
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by Roseanna White | Jul 9, 2013 | Uncategorized
Day 7’s winner of Ring of Secrets is:
Elizabeth Riggs!
Remember, every entry this week keeps you entered for every drawing! Both of the daily book and for winner’s choice of one of these two gorgeous necklaces. =)
Today, another installment of Story Time Tuesday.
Story Time . . . The Sky Beneath My Feet by Lisa Samson
I just finished this one for my book club’s July read. I have certain expectations when a book has “Lisa Samson” on the cover…and I had certain expectation based on the cover, LOL. Namely, I expected the book to be about the main character, Beth, taking her old VW van to the beach. The offer comes in chapter 1. So…okay. A road trip book, right? Sure.
Um, wrong. LOL. But I got over that expectation pretty fast and settled in with my first one: namely, that anything by Lisa Samson is going to be great.
Yeah–that’s a safe assumption. =)
Beth is disillusioned with a lot of things. Her husband has been dubbed the “men’s pastor” at a megachurch in the D.C./Baltimore area–though no one’s really sure what that means. Her eldest son has gone ultra-conservative just so he can better argue with his father, and her younger son is an expert at issuing a “whatever.” Beth, feeling far as could be from her Quaker roots, belongs to two book clubs, countless small groups and Bible studies…but has never been so lonely in her life.
She can’t remember the last time she really prayed. Her husband’s turning into a stranger–who decides he has to cut himself off from the world by living for a month in his shed. Her teen sons never respond like she expects them too. And whenever she looks at her life, all she sees is the lack–not of things, which she’s long ago learned to live without, despite her church’s hugely affluent demographic. But she feels a lack of purpose. A lack of dreams. A lack of relationships. And when she looks in the mirror, she sees only a glimpse of the girl who wanted to do so much with her life…and has been swallowed by the woman whose life has gotten away from her.
I expected a journey–and I got one, some of which was indeed behind the wheel of her VW van with its “ironic” Jesus fish on the bumper. But this wasn’t just a journey to the beach house offered in chapter 1. This was a journey to the mansion next door, the Catholic church on the hill, the mean streets of Baltimore, a peace demonstration in D.C. with a “rent-a-mob,” and back in her memory to a Quaker meetinghouse with a skylight in the roof for watching the sunset.
This was a journey to the place within herself where every act of the church wasn’t just a demonstration to attract the crowds. To a place where God was real…and had a real purpose for her.
What I loved about this book was that it didn’t pull any punches about its realism. This is a woman like so many women, whose life has its totally-unique quirks, sure, but who could so easily be me or you. This is a woman who’s not sure what the rhetoric means anymore, who doesn’t quite belong anywhere she’s made a habit of going, who chafes against the expectations and longs for real purpose. This is a woman who can’t quite chuck the mold but is tired of living within it. All she wants is that one real experience with God again.
The characters in The Sky Beneath My Feet are perfectly drawn and beautifully flawed. The cast will make you laugh sometimes and sniffle at others, and as Beth finds her footing in her undulating world, you’ll feel yours rocking along with hers. Her story will make you question. And will show you some beautiful answers. Whether or not you agree with her wondering or her solutions, your heart will be expanded on the journey.
So lay back, open your eyes, and watch the sky change beneath your feet.
My question to you today comes from Beth’s experience in that sunset Quaker meetinghouse:
Do you have one moment that stands out above the rest
when you’ve really known God is there with you?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 8, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Word of the Week
The winner of day 7’s drawing is:
Amy WV!
As a reminder, every entry this week keeps you in each day’s drawing for a book, and also for winner’s choice of one of two necklaces from Inspired Novelties–so keep those entries coming, and please do share! Last week we ended up with over 1,000 entries, which was pretty awesome! =) Let’s see if we can get it even higher this week. =)
Now for today!
Word of the Week . . . Sleight
I admit it–this is one I’d never paid attention to before. I’m sure I’ve seen “sleight of hand” written out correctly like so, but I never paused to realize it was spelled with an ‘e’.
And I’m not the only one who has written this as “slight of hand.” Slight makes sense there, implying light, nimble fingers. There’s even a phrase from French that means “light of hand” literally, used the same way.
Sleight, however, comes from a whole different word. An Old Norse one that made its way to English waaaaay back in the 13th century. It means “cunning.” Which makes even more sense in “sleight of hand,” doesn’t it?
That phrase, by the way, has been around since 1400. Whodathunk it was so old?
My question for you today:
Have you seen any sleight of hand tricks lately that really got ya?
We just saw a magic show last weekend–favorite trick was one where the guy turned $1 bills into $100 bills. Don’t we all wish we knew THAT one? LOL
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by Roseanna White | Jul 7, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests
Yesterday’s winner of Ring of Secrets is:
Amy Putney!
Keep entering! Every entry you make this week increases your chances to win a copy of the book, AND this week’s bonus winner will have a choice of one of two one-of-a-kind necklaces from Inspired Novelties!
Tomorrow I’ll be back with my Word of the Week. For today, here’s your question:
If you could travel anywhere in the world on a
dream vacation (cost being no issue), where would you go?
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Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 