by Roseanna White | Jan 19, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Yesterday in our homeschool Bible reading, we got to one of the best-known stories of Elijah–where he challenged the 450 priests of Baal to an alter competition. (Okay, my words, not theirs, LOL.) You remember it, I’m sure. The priests of Baal build their alter, put on their bullock, pray and pray and pray to Baal for fire to come down from heaven and light the alter.
Nothing. I love this story partially because of how Elijah taunts them. Can’t you just see that wily smile as he says, “Maybe your god’s asleep. Or on vacation. Cry louder.”
And they do, LOL. Then, of course, after that fails, Elijah builds his alter on the exact spot it should have been all these years, puts on his bullock, and has TWELVE barrels of water dumped onto the alter. Now, it hasn’t rained for years and years at this point, so that was probably some precious stuff. Elijah prayed, and fire swooshed down from heaven, devoured the offering, the water, and the very stones.
AWESOME.
But something new jumped out at me yesterday. After the priests of Baal were killed, after everyone fled, Elijah and his servant prayed again. See, it was time for the promised rain to come. Time for the drought to end. Time to bring relief for the people.
So Elijah fell to his knees and beseeched God. God, the Lord, who had just an hour earlier sent heavenly fire for him. God, the Lord, who had led him here. God, the Lord, who had promised, “And then you’ll pray again, and I’ll send the rains.”
Elijah prayed. And his servant looked out over the sea and said, “Nothing. Not a cloud on the horizon.”
So Elijah prayed again. Still, there was nothing. So he prayed again. And again. And again. And again. Each time, his servant went to check the horizon. Each time, he saw . . . absolutely . . . nothing.
This is what hit me. Seven times Elijah had to pray before that mist began to rise out of the sea. Seven times! Do you think he was wondering what was taking so long? I mean, the fire had been immediate. So why the wait now? Why was God not listening? Had He changed His mind and not told Elijah? Can you imagine that prophet looking over his shoulder and thinking, “Wow, glad all those priests aren’t watching this now.”
Okay, so Elijah may not have had those thoughts, LOL, but I probably would have. I probably would have thought round about prayer number four, “God, You promised! You promised!! ‘Pray for rain,’ You said, ‘and I’ll make it rain.’ Well, I’m praying–so where’s the rain?!”
But Elijah was faithful. We don’t know how long each of these prayers was, but I have a feeling it was a little more in depth than, “Oh, Lord, please let it rain!” 😉 This man was prostrate before the Lord, begging. Begging for the rains to come.
What if he had given up? What if he said, “Sigh. Maybe the Lord doesn’t want me to be a prophet anymore.”? Had he only prayed, say, five times, what would have become of Israel?
Doubt, discouragement is natural–the very next day, when Elijah hears that Jezebel is out to kill him, he forgets to pray and just runs. Runs. Even though God sent the fire, sent the rain, Elijah doesn’t even think to ask him to save his life. But God catches up with him on the mountain he runs to, after sustaining him during the run.
God’s always there while we’re running. He’s there while we’re hiding in the cave. He’s there while we’re praying, stirring up the mists, even though we can’t see them yet. He’s there. Not in the whirlwind, not in the earthquake . . . in the whisper. In the whisper is the voice of the Lord, just waiting for us to quiet up enough to hear Him. Waiting for us to listen. Waiting for us to wait upon Him.
How many times have we prayed for the same thing? How many times do we not see it happen and get discouraged?
But the Lord is stirring up the mists in the sea while we pray. He’s working in the mysteries we can’t understand, working within our world, our time, our reality so that everything will line up just so for us. We can’t see all that–our eyes are only human.
But He’s there. Preparing the rain.
Our part is to stay on our knees until we see it.
by Roseanna White | Jan 18, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Tableux Vivant.
Sounds pretty, doesn’t it? French often does, after all. =) And after taking a few years of it, I know upon seeing this phrase that it means something like “living picture.” I also knew when I read that these tableaux were often put on in the 1800s that it was some kind of performance, and that they were used as fundraisers in the South during the war.
As for what kind of performance–yeah, I had no clue. So if you do already, you’re a step ahead of where I was a couple months ago. 😉
My first thought was that it was a play. In fact, my assumption was that it was a play, and I started writing it into my story as if it were. My heroine was preparing a script, casting her friends in the roles. Then something went “clang clang clang!” in my brain, and I thought, “Hmmm, I’d better actually look that up.”
Good thing I did! Some quick research showed me that a tableau vivant is something unique. The performers would select a well-known painting or other work of art (statuary, etc.) and then mimic it. Strike a pose to imitate it, their costuming reflecting the original work of art, and a narrator would say something about it. Then there would be a change of scenes, and the performers would move into another pose, another painting.
Pretty neat, huh? Of course, it threw a wrench into my plan for my writer-heroine to be putting her brilliant wordsmithing to work . . . so I had to get creative–er, have her get creative. 😉 In my story, my heroine, Cordelia, writes a story to pull together these well-known paintings and has gathered all her friends together (those left in the city, that is–most had already fled inland, away from those blasted Yankees) to strike the poses. Their goal–to raise funds for the Confederacy. It is, of course, a smashing success.
Tableaux are still put on today, so some of you are probably familiar with this interesting type of performance. But I can honestly say none of them had made it to my neck of the woods, so it was fun and interesting to learn about them, and integrate them into my story. Vive les tableaux!
by Roseanna White | Jan 16, 2012 | Word of the Week
As usual, my word of the week comes from last week’s writing experience. =) My heroine has just spent weeks preparing a performance, which went off without a hitch. Her father comes up and says, “You were a . . .” Sensation is what I want to say. But that sounds a bit too modern, doesn’t it?
So I look it up. As expected, I discover that “sensation” in its physical sense–a reaction to stimulation of the senses, so sensation of cold, hunger, etc.–is old. From 1610. I knew it would be. But what about the secondary sense? I was expecting mid-1800s, I’ll be honest.
Nope. That one, the definition of “state of shock or surprise within a community” is from 1779! Definitely safe to use in my story, which was good. So out of curiosity, I looked to the next entry, sensational. As in, aiming at producing said shock within a community. That one was more what I expected, dating from 1863. And sensationalism in literature is recorded two years after that.
Hope everyone has a sensational Monday!
by Roseanna White | Jan 12, 2012 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Last year when I prayed for a word from the Lord to encompass my year, I received it in a thunderbolt of realization. A chill up the spine, a near overwhelm of feeling and knowledge. I was waiting for that again this year . . . but since when does the Lord do what we expect? 😉
These past two weeks as I prayed for His message for me for 2012, I had slow, gentle trickles of inspiration–the kind I easily mistake as my own thought. But the more I pondered and prayed, the more I circled back again and again to a theme encompassed by these two words: Thirst. Savor.
I try to ground myself in the Word and in prayer daily. But so often I get sidetracked or distracted or just plain forgetful. How do I stay focused on You, Lord?
Thirst.
No one (generally) has to remind me to take a drink of water. Why? Because I get thirsty. This year I’m praying that I stay thirsty for the Lord and for His word. That I wake up every morning hungering for that quiet time with Him. That it isn’t duty, that it isn’t obligation, that it isn’t habit or rote–that it’s need. Longing. Yearning. Thirst.
But that wasn’t the only thing that I kept thinking. Because what do I do once I’ve drank of the Living Water, once I’ve imbibed from the Word? What do I do with the blessings He pours out into my soul and my life?
All too often, I get excited at first and then let the irritations distract me. I get frustrated with what looks like a lack of progress. Or with demands on my time that interfere with what I want to be doing. How do I manage that, Lord? How do I make sure I don’t just gulp down what You pour out and then forget you ever did?
Savor.
When the Lord gives us a gift, we shouldn’t act like my 3-yr-old boy does on Christmas and go, “Wow! Cool!” then toss it aside and beg for the next one. I know I sometimes do this, so this is a crucial word for me. I need to dwell on gratitude. To appreciate each and every place God puts me in, and each thing He brings into my life. To savor.
I’m yearning, Lord, and I’m lingering on what You give me, tell me, show me when I seek You. I’m thirsting. I’m savoring. And with Your help it’s a lesson I’ll learn all the better in 2012.
by Roseanna White | Jan 11, 2012 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Ahem. Well, I got your attention with that title, didn’t I? 😉
Much of my past week was spent doing one final edit of Sandi Rog’s Walks Alone. In this truly excellent historical romance, heroine Anna gets kidnapped by a band of Cheyenne and taken to their village in the Rockies. There, she learns so many interesting things about the tribe’s culture.
I’ve long been intrigued by the Native Americans (American Indians? Which is The Way to Say It these days?) and know a good bit about some of the different tribes. I’d never studied the Cheyenne though and found some of the details Sandi brought to life to be truly fascinating.
Especially some of their traditions that are remarkably similar to Old Testament instructions, like how one is to treat a woman in her monthly time. The parallels to the Law is striking, not only in that they’re considered unclean for those days, but also in the ritual surrounding cleansing from it.
I was also super-interested to learn that in a Cheyenne marriage, there is no consummation until ten days after the wedding ceremony–who knew?? Loved learning that sort of detail! Ranked right up there with learning that there are those in the tribe who keep a pictorial record book of the tribe’s history–basically a picture book denoting wins and losses in battle, great hunts, and the other defining moments of a tribe’s history.
Cool, eh? And you can rest assured that Sandi got it all right, because it’s been read and approved by a Cheyenne chief, which is yet another coolness-factor in its favor. =)
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.