by Roseanna White | Oct 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today we’re moving forward into I Corinthians 2. For your convenience, I’m pasting it here, this time in American Standard Version. =)
1 Corinthians 2
1 And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought:
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory:
8 which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory:
9 but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.
10 But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.
12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.
14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
~*~
Today’s passage continues the theme we started last week about man’s wisdom v. God’s wisdom, man’s weakness v. God’s strength. But chapter 2 names it, reminding us all that it is the Spirit who instructs.
Can you share a time the Spirit spoke His wisdom to you?
Is there another part of this chapter that struck you?
by Roseanna White | Oct 20, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
I’m going to try to share news in a way that doesn’t tell what I’m not at liberty to tell yet. =) Let’s see how I do.
This much I think I can say: In the last two weeks, I’ve gotten two offers for book contracts. One for a three-book deal. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m not going to say what books or what publishers given that the contracts haven’t been settled yet, but yeah. Wow. I have been one EXCITED woman, and have done much calling to family and best friend so I can squeal. =)
The funniest part was that when I told my daughter (who will be 6 on Sunday! Where did the time go??) about the more recent of the two, I said, “Xoe, remember this story I told you about? Well a publisher bought it!” And Xoe’s eyes got really big, she jumped up and down, and said, “Where is it? Let me see!”
LOL. If only it were so quick. 😉
But it’s really neat to see how the Lord worked all this out at once, and both a relief and an excitement to know that my next writing-year is now filled. I work well with direction. =) It’s also a blessing to be working with these publishers and editors who I really admire. I’ve already had a phone call with the second editor, chatting about all the aspects she loved, the gleam that had lit the president’s eye when she described my story to him, and how excited they all are about this project. Music to an author’s ears!
But alas, after the initial jigging comes reality, which in this business means WAITING. And in the case of October, it means a lot of family activities taking my time. So these next few days I’m going to be making a birthday cake with a pirate ship, cutting out the same from a giant cardboard piece for the kids to play in at the party, assembling a variety of homemade games and decorations, and trying to squeeze research and writing in there wherever I can.
Oh, and I just got a Kindle! That, at least, is helping me with my reading. Yesterday it read to me as I packed books into envelopes. =)
Well, there you have my exciting, amazing two weeks. I’ll share the details as soon as I can!
by Roseanna White | Oct 19, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Though I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the research I need to do for my Savannah-set work-in-progress, thanks to Saving Savannah and the mountains of research the author has done, I’m beginning to get an idea of what oh-so-interesting details I want to work in.
And of course, one of the biggies is the slave culture in lowland Georgia All I knew of it was what I’d picked up from novels and movies–I’ve already learned more just from the first chapter of this book, LOL.
Most of Savannah’s slave population came from West Africa, and after their years here they developed a mish-mash of African and American ideas. Some meshed together well, other aspects seemed to clash. The culture of South Carolina and Georgia slaves has come to be termed Gullah-Geechee. Their language was Geechee–a combination of English and West African dialects. And they used Geechee to speak through metaphors, which I find really interesting. Gonna have to find a good way to do that among the slaves in my book!
The Gullah-Geechee culture draws a lot from its landscape, and the lowland, marshy regions in which the enslaved now served had a lot of similarities to their homeland, where waterways were sacred–they were in fact believed to host spirits and allow them to circulate among the living. So you can imagine that everyday life in an area spiderwebbed with marshlands fostered a spiritual existence for these people.
Which leads right into their faith and religion. Some stuck solely to West African beliefs, but even those who embraced Christianity had a unique type of it that integrated their traditions into it. Most believed in ghosts and spirits–they were a fact of life in their eyes, not up for debate. Christian baptism reinforced their beliefs about water being sacred. Their stories began to shift to include what they were taught and what was around them–another something I’m looking forward to integrating into my story!
The final detail I’ll put in here today is their trade and economy. When a slave had finished his allotted labor for the day (if he/she could finish it, which wasn’t always possible), they were permitted to work for their family. Most slave families ended up with chickens and gardens, with hogs and goods that they traded first among themselves and then were allowed to take in the cities. Some–few–ended up with a little nest egg. Mostly, though, these resources were what fed and clothed them–and the masters took it as an excuse not to do so themselves.
So there we have the first glimpse of what will be a secondary, underlying setting for my book. My little brain’s just a-turning, trying to figure out how to smoothly put a storyline in that will showcase this unique culture that would have been pulsing alongside the world of hoop skirts and balls!
by Roseanna White | Oct 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
Back in August I gave my review of
Yahshua’s Bridge by Sandi Rog, an epic tale set in first century Rome. I promised to let everyone know when it was available for pre-order, and it now is! So rush over to
DeWard Publishing’s site now and order your copy, especially if you enjoyed
The Master’s Wall. As a reminder of why you want to . . .
“Stupefying, stunning, and stirring–Yahshua’s Bridge is a tale that takes the reader from the darkest valley to the highest pinnacle of hope. For anyone yearning to go deeper, this story of hearts broken and promises kept will take you there, and leave you astounded by the beauty of our Savior.”
I don’t give words like “stupefying, stunning and stirring” lightly. It takes real skill as a writer and superb story to earn those words from me–and Sandi deserves them all. This was a story unafraid to show us the ugliness of the world, the injustices that can destroy our lives, the cruelties that might plague us. All these are written with what I can only term bravery. It would have been so much easier to tell a story with simpler conflict and a happily-ever-after for everyone involved–but as Sandi said to me, that would have been unfair to all the early Christians and what they went through for their faith.
Read My Full Review
Of course, I’m reading some new things now. =) They’re not available yet, but . . . 😉
The first one is
Before the Scarlet Dawn by Rita Gerlach. This is a story of love and faithfulness set against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War. What I love most is that the characters are both British, but have come to America for a new life, unfettered by family’s expectations. While the hero already fully believes in the American cause and knows from the get-go he’ll fight for it, our heroine doesn’t so fully understand–all Eliza knows is that she loves Hayward. Will that be enough to sustain them?
Next up is
Love’s Sacred Song, the next biblical fiction from fabulous author Mesu Andrews. I just got this one for endorsement purposes the other day, and I’m heading out this morning to buy a Kindle so I can read the PDF with ease. =) Based on Song of Solomon,
Love’s Sacred Song is sure to delve deep into a story of love and passion and ancient politics that I cannot
wait to discover!
by Roseanna White | Oct 17, 2011 | Word of the Week
Yesterday in the car, I looked out at the bright blue sky and had a Mr. Roger’s moment–I started singing “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and my daughter asked, “Why’s is called a neighborhood? Does it have anything to do with the hood of a coat?”
I’d never paused to ponder this -hood suffix, but naturally her question made me curious, so I came home and looked it up. =)
Prior to the 14th century, instead of hood we had hade, which was a free-standing word that meant “person, individual, character, individuality; condition, state, nature; sex, race, family, tribe.” Wow, right? Quite a list. Round about the 1300s hade made the change to hood and narrowed in meaning to “condition, position,” though its literal meaning has ties to brightness and quality.
So, in fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with the now-freestanding hood of a coat, which is from an entirely different root word that means, simply, “covering.” Which is a shame, because Xoe and I had come up with a nice little reason for the word to be used in such totally different ways. 😉
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.