by Roseanna White | Feb 9, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays
In case anyone missed my Seekerville post yesterday, I thought I’d share it here today. In case you, um, didn’t just want to go over there and read yesterday’s post . . . okay, so I’m in the middle a BIG reunion scene in my manuscript and don’t want to take time away from it to write a blog, LOL. Indulge me.
And keep in mind that the post yesterday was the last stop on my blog tour, so your last chance at a free copy of LFY Annapolis and to enter my big giveaway that way!
~*~
As a writer, I’m always aware of the importance of words. As a writer, I pay attention to any mention of them in the Bible. As a writer, I cringe when I realize how carelessly those precious, life-giving syllables are often used. Not just in writing, but in speech. In life.
We all know the beginning of the gospel of John.
“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.”
It’s a beautiful throwback to Genesis, where God spoke creation into being. A poetic illustration of how Christ fulfills the promises set forth in the very beginning. A fine example of how powerful words, the Word, really are.
Words create. But conversely, words can destroy. Why are lies so dangerous? Why is bearing false-witness one of the big Ten? Because words are one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal, and the Lord wants us to use them wisely.
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt,
that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Colossians 4:6
When we use words with the express goal of damaging others, we’re not pleasing God. He wants us to edify each other, to encourage. Even if we’re calling out someone’s mistakes (something we’re definitely told to do), we’re given strict instructions on how to do it. Why? Because it matters. Because God knows that if we just go up to our friend and say, “You’re such an idiot,” then we’re going to be hurting, not helping. Our words need to be a stepping stone for others, not a stumbling block. And so we need to take care that when we speak, it’s with the love of the Lord shining through us.
I think this is a pretty simple idea, and one that most people understand on some level. They know very well that the old “sticks and stones” rhyme is about as false as it gets. And yet, how often do we speak things we later regret? How often do we send a rash, nasty email and then wish for the backspace key? How often to do we make a dire prediction about someone, rather than going to them and lovingly admonishing them?
Are we then surprised when our predictions come true?
“As we must account for every idle word, so we must for every idle silence.”
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack
One of the ideas presented in the book of James that always struck me the most is that we’re not just held accountable for what we do and say, but for what we know we ought to do and say but don’t. God judges our hearts, our motives. That means that if the Spirit whispers Go talk to her, but we hem and haw and stay put, afraid of “not coming off right,” then we’ve done something wrong.
It’s tough, right? We don’t want to hurt people by speaking amiss . . . and we’re never quite sure we’ll say things right. We don’t want to be held accountable for using words to hurt someone . . . but then He tells us that we’ll also be held accountable for not saying or doing things? Um . . . little help, God!
“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
God doesn’t leave us floundering after giving us these commands, thank heavens. He gave us a whole Book to help us. Jesus came to help us redefine. And then the Spirit was given to “teach you all things, and to bring to your remembrance all things I [Jesus] said to you.”
We can do this. We can use our words as He ordained. Whether you’re a quiet, introspective person or an exuberant extrovert. Whether you write epics or only the occasional email. We’re still all held to that standard.
As one of those people who writes countless emails a day, who has written thousands of pages of fiction over the years, who is partly responsible for choosing which books WhiteFire Publishing produces, I think about that standard a lot. I know the fear of words being taken wrongly by readers, of them being misused, of being judged harshly for them. I know the fear of not writing things as I ought, of it being more about me than God, of getting carried away with my wisdom and so not fulfilling my ultimate goal of sharing His. That’s why I bathe my work in prayer. Day in, day out, I beg Him to help me write His words. Yes, I know they won’t hold a candle to the Word He’s already inspired in His writers so long ago—but if I can help expound on the truths laid out in the Bible . . .
“This will be written for the
generation to come,
That a people yet to be created
May praise the Lord.”
Psalm 102:18
About a year ago, a reader emailed me. She said that as she reads, she keeps a notebook handy, and when something strikes her as true, encourages her, or helps her understand a gem of the Lord’s wisdom, she writes down the line from the book, the title, author, and why it spoke to her. I was touched deeply to learn that I had a page in this notebook of hers. She shared with me how important she feels words are, how powerful, and how much she admires writers for living by them. And I thanked her for the enormous blessing she bestowed upon me by letting me see that the books I sweat and cry over have an effect. This is what God wants us to do with our words—to mutually build one another up. To encourage, to edify, to be a blessing.
“Sing to Him! Sing psalms to Him!
Talk of His wondrous works!”
Psalm 105:2
Have you ever noticed how everything in the Bible ends in praise? Read the Psalms. Even the ones that are lamentations end in hope, end in glorifying the Lord. With a few exceptions, each and every song written by the psalmists will show a heart poured out and then given over to the Lord’s will, which by nature requires praise. In the epistles, the writers will admonish, direct, guide . . . and end with prayer and praise. Why? Because that is what our words are meant to do. We are to Shine for the Lord, to glorify Him through the words of our mouth, just as He breathed life into us with His.
He guides us. He calls us. And when we say in response, “Here I am, Lord,” then we are fulfilling our potential.
My ultimate prayer is that I can be like Samuel.
“So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him
and let none of his words fall to the ground.”
I Samuel 3:19
Lord, let my words never fall to the ground. Let them all fly heavenward to You, for You . . . that through them You may Shine.
by Roseanna White | Feb 8, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
First, today is the LAST STOP of my
Annapolis blog tour, and I’m going out with a bang–on
Seekerville! Talking about the importance of our words, both the ones we speak (or type) and the ones we don’t. Head on over! And now for your regularly scheduled programming. 😉
~*~
I finally, finally reached a critical turning point in my manuscript–my hero, long stranded in Cuba, gets to come home. But as I sat down, fingers poised over keyboard and ready to make his dreams come (momentarily) true, I paused. And said something like, “Aww, man. How am I supposed to get him there?”
I knew all along this would be tricky. In 1861, it was, shall we say, a bit difficult to gain entrance to the Confederate States of America. See, there was this little thing called the blockade . . . LOL. I had a plan for it, but it was a loose one. Based upon a few quick searches, some squinting, and a couple, “Eh, good enough for now”s.
But it wasn’t good enough for the real thing. So my internet searches got more intense, and where they failed, I looked for help. By the end of my work day on Monday, I’d exchanged about a dozen emails with six different historians. And I had enough to go on.
I’d determined that the most likely port of entry from Cuba would be Cedar Key, Florida. So my search started with the lovely, oh-so-friendly folks of
Low-Key Hideaways, who had a plethora of historical information about their little island on their website, including a wonderful hand-drawn map from the 1880s. I emailed the info address on their website and within
minutes had a response, which was also forwarded to a friend of theirs who knew the island’s history well.
Said friend applauded me for making the Cuba-Cedar Key connection and referred me to others from the town who had written books about it during the Civil War, so could answer any questions I had about the town’s layout at the time.
That was a lovely start to my day, that verification that, hey, I’d landed him in the right place! Phew! And it was a good spot, because it was the western most terminus of the Florida railroad. Surely, surely, that would make it easy, right? I could just stick my hero on a train to Savannah.
Except, er, there seemed to be no train from Florida to Georgia. Um . . . I found a map that had a connector line marked as “built during the war,” but it didn’t tell me when. Argh! This was the point where my hubby said, “You just need that one railroad buff who can answer your question off the top of his head. Find him.”
I started doing random searches for “Florida railroad Civil War” and came across and article sourced from the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. Needless to say, their website was my next stop. I found the email address for their historical editor, sent him a few questions. Which he forwarded to the historian at the Florida East Coast Railway. Who forwarded it to a professor friend who’d just written a book about it.
I’d found my guy! He emailed later that evening answering my exact question–and giving me the year on that connector line, which was, sadly, two years too late. =( But I now knew that my hero could only take the rail from Cedar Key to the other side of Florida, Fernandina. From there, it would be a stage coach to Savannah.
Not what I’d planned on–but doable. And right. Oh, how I love knowing I’ve gotten details like that right!
All that research made for not as much writing time as I’d liked, but it was well worth it. And now I have a host of oh-so-helpful people who are on my acknowledgment list for this book. =) And more information on Civil War Florida than I ever thought I’d need to know. 😉
by Roseanna White | Feb 6, 2012 | Word of the Week
Cool. It could be argued (successfully, I think) that cool is a word that not only gets used, but over-used. It’s the word we use to mean someone is hip, fashionable, or has that certain something that sets them apart as desirable. Or, spinning off that, it’s the word we use to say we really like something. It’s the word we use to tell someone to stop (cool it!). And of course, it’s a temperature word, too. =)
Last week I found myself wanting to write “cool it!” so I looked it up. Well, I didn’t find the etymology of that particular use in my quick browsing, but I did find a few of the others interesting. I tend to think of “cool” as a modern word, and that “fashionable” meaning is indeed rather new, coming from 1933. But still, it’s older than I thought, and comes, so it is said, from the jazz movement. Which makes sense, because I can totally hear Louis Armstrong in my head going “Cool, man. Cool.”
Where it surprised me, though, was that its use of being attached to a sum to give emphasis to the amount is from 1728. You know, like “He won a cool million in the game.” I had no idea that one was that old!
In 1825 it adopted the meaning of “calmly audacious.” That, I daresay is what made the way for the above-mentioned “fashionable,” since, well, it’s pretty cool (ha ha ha) to be calmly audacious. =)
I hope everyone had a great weekend and is gearing up for a stellar Monday! Time for me to get down to business–I’m going to finish this manuscript I’m working on in the next three weeks, even if it kills me. So if you have the urge to say a prayer that I survive it . . . 😉
by Roseanna White | Feb 2, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Monday and Tuesday of this week, I had the joy of attending the Christian Product Expo in Lancaster, PA. I went with CAN (Christian Authors Network), who was hosting the breakfast on Tuesday. Each author sat at a different table so we could chat with the retailers. After that, we each gave a five minute speech. And then we all had books to sign and give away to the retailers.
This is the first trade show I’ve ever attended–the closest thing to it was the Home School Fair I went to last spring. Otherwise all my big events have been writers conferences, so this was a great new experience for me–a glimpse into another, critical side of the industry. It was so interesting to sit at the tables and heard the store owners talk about how they got into this, how long their stores have been open, what they use for engraving, what sells best in their stores, how much they charge for certain things . . .
But of course, one thing I really loved was hearing, “Oh, that’s where I know you’re name! I carry your book!” and “The Love Finds You line is so popular!” =)
Though for me, the absolute best part was the signing. Getting to chat with each and every retailer, seeing where they were from. I had a box of
Love Finds You in Annapolis to give away, and also a box each of
Jewel of Persia and
A Stray Drop of Blood. I knew going in that most of them would already carry the LFY line, and none would carry the WhiteFire titles. So I was really, really intrigued to see that they were just as interested in my Biblical titles as
Annapolis. =) One retailer apparently even started reading JoP during the morning activities and was raving about it over lunch, LOL.
I think so often we get caught up in OUR part of the world, our specialty, our corner, that we tend to be oblivious to the other sides. Or at least I am. 😉 This reminder that those other sides of the coin are still part of the same was wonderful. To realize that we’re all working toward the same end, joint parts in the body of Christ, striving to do the same things–reach others for Him, and tend His flock. It was an experience I’m eager to repeat, and one that will affect how I see my own side of the coin from now on.
by Roseanna White | Feb 1, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
First, I want to thank everyone for sharing my excitement and offering your congrats and encouragement on my Big News. Being able to talk about it at last makes it so new and real, LOL.
I was tempted to talk about the Christian Product Expo I just attended in Lancaster, but since that’s not historical, ha ha, I figured I’d better spare you all those details that probably wouldn’t interest everyone. 😉 So instead, I thought I’d share some of the things that have struck me in the memoir I’ve been reading for research.
Last week I downloaded a dozen free books on the Civil War, most of them original texts from the era. The one I opened first was A Confederate Girl’s Diary by Sarah Morgan Dawson. Sarah was a young lady in Baton Rouge during the war, and getting her view of events has been so interesting. It isn’t just the events through her eyes that get me–it’s her outlook on the whole state of affairs.
What strikes me most is her casual acceptance of looming death. One of the parts I just read says something along the lines of “I assured Mother that Charlie could protect me. And of course, should he be killed, I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself.”
As they’re evacuating the city during a brief shelling, they go by a camp of guerilla soldiers, and she and her sister call out something like, “Die protecting us!” Even when it’s her own brother’s and father’s lives on the line–or extinguished–it’s told in her diary with grief but no despair. But rather with a calm acceptance of whatever life might give.
And yet there’s also the kind of scattered delight that reminded me of a character in an Austen novel. When Sarah is telling about the above-mentioned escape from the city, she gets only a block away before her shoes become so uncomfortable that she decides to turn back and get different ones. And of course, once back in the house, she thinks she had better grab some spare clothes. And of course, then she must gather some ribbons . . . and a comb . . . and her letters–but which ones?
The picture she paints of herself, comically oblivious to the shells whizzing overhead when it’s about something as critical as finding her favorite belongings, is that of someone who has adjusted in ways she never imagined to a world gone quite mad.
And that, in my opinion, is one of the most amazing traits of humanity–our ability to adapt. No matter the era, no matter the circumstances, as a whole we will change as our circumstances dictated.
Much like this Confederate girl who mourned the loss of the Sarah of old . . . but didn’t let it render her speechless.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, 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, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.