by Roseanna White | Oct 14, 2011 | Uncategorized
Welcome to the first week of the online Bible study! Through the wonders of my random flipping through my beloved Precious Moments Bible (no laughing!), I’ve decided to start on I Corinthians. Though y’all are welcome to suggest other books after we’re through with this one.
And through the wonders of www.BibleGateway.com, I’m going to paste the chapter here for your ease. 😉 This is from the NKJV, though you can access pretty much any other version at the link above.
I Corinthians 1
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”[a]
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks[b] foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”[c]
~*~
So which part of the chapter strikes you the most forcibly, and why? Think about it for a minute and respond below, or reply to another comment. If we need a jumpstart, let’s consider this question:
Have you ever been like the Jews, seeking a sign? Or like the Greeks, chasing after wisdom?
by Roseanna White | Oct 13, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
We love to torture our kids. And by torture I mean tickle them, “eat” them up, chase them around, pretend our hand is a monster . . . you know. Torture. The sweet kind. I imagine that’s a fairly universal love of parents the world over, and it’s no great secret why. We do it because we love to hear that belly laugh, hear those delighted shrieks of “No, no! Hey, why’d you stop? Do it again, do it again!” We love to see those huge smiles on their faces.
We love their abandon.
My hubby will tickle me, too, but we often get a good laugh out of how he does the same “gobble” to me he does with the kids, and I just look at him. And usually say, “Um . . . sorry. I’m not as much fun as the kids, am I?” Which yeah, makes us chuckle. But it’s not a belly laugh. Those same simple things don’t result in such instant
Joy once we grow up.
Man . . . I sure wish they did!
The abandon of a small child has its ups and downs. It results in those moments of unbridled bliss, and it results in equally unbridled fits. Laughter and tears in equal measures,
Joy and frustration, love and rage. I’m sometimes amazed at how my kids can go from total contentment in their game with each other to hitting each other and screaming at the top of their lungs, then straight back to fun.
It’s something we learn to control as we grow up, something we teach those kids to do. Self control is important, especially when it comes to those negatives. And those who never learn it . . . end up with reality shows on TV??? 😉 Seriously, that control is a must, yes.
But what are some of your best moments from adulthood? Are they when you’re sitting there, perfectly controlled? Are they when you don’t react to something? No–our favorite moments are the ones where we regain a moment of childhood abandon and embrace the
Joy of life. When we scream our heads off on a roller coaster. When we laugh until we cry. When we let it all go and just
live.
Sometimes it’s hard to do that, especially in this stage of my life where I have to keep the Mommy turned on. Oh, I can laugh with my kids. But I’m also trying to make sure knees don’t collide with heads as we wrestle, that things tossed up in
Joy come down in one piece. I’m trying to protect and nurture and so can’t give my full attention to the game. I
have to do this. I
love to do this.
But sometimes I just wish I could let loose a belly laugh and not care.
And that goes for my prayer life too. That should be the one place I can let go completely, but even there I’m usually trying to protect–myself. I find myself praying, “Lord, you know I hope . . . you know I fear . . . I’m trying not to hope too much because then I fear I’ll be disappointed . . . I’m trying not to expect disappointment though because that would be faithless . . . I don’t want to assume your will . . . I don’t want to miss your will . . .”
But there I need to let go of the control. With the Lord, I need to be unafraid of the extremes. I need to show him the highs and the lows. I need to be unafraid of letting that kid inside me out before my Father.
I need to embrace the abandon.
~*~
On a different note, I making another change to my Friday posts and doing a Faith on Fridays theme instead of giveaways, etc. I’ll have occasional faith-themed guest posts, but mostly I’d like to begin an online weekly Bible study. I’ll post the chapter of the week and my thoughts on it, and hopefully we’ll get a discussion going on it.
So tomorrow we’ll begin with I Corinthians 1. Hope y’all will join in!
by Roseanna White | Oct 12, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I had a moment about a month ago when I was working up a new proposal idea, this one set in Civil War era Georgia. Yes, during that moment I realized my Civil War history was rather rusty. Ahem. But it was the “compared to” that gave me pause. Because you see, my Civil War history is rusty compared to . . .
* The Greco-Persian War
* The uprisings in Roman Jerusalem
*The Revolutionary War (and its aftermath)
*The War of 1812 (okay, this earns a sort-of)
* Certain key aspects of the Napoleonic Wars
And that’s where my bafflement came from. How in the world did I become a writer of war novels??? I mean, seriously. I write romance. Love stories, if they’re not typical romance. My stories always come to me as boy meets girl, they’re driven by the characters.
Yet here I am again . . . plotting out a book set during a war. I shake my head at myself. And laugh. And get down to history. =)
I started with the things most pertinent to this story–the Confederate Raider ships and the Union blockade on the Southern ports, and finally the Battle of Port Pulaski. Really, this is barely a slice of Civil War history. In a way, that’s going to make the research easier. But I still have to get the broader scope in my research so I know the hows and whys and whats and wheres that always enrich a story.
I’ve done some basic internet research, and now I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a book through the wonders of ILL called Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War, by Jacqueline Jones. I’m really looking forward to devouring this book, which promises a fresh look at race relations, the impact of the war, and a look at everyday life in Savannah during the war. Exactly what I need to know. =)
So this not-a-war-writer who somehow keeps coming up with stories set against a backdrop of war is diving into yet another one. With the happy thought that some of my research will be able to double for another, later book I have planned too. You know, the one in the series that covers three different (you guessed it) wars.
Sigh. LOL.
by Roseanna White | Oct 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
The last two weeks in home school, I’ve been reading My Father’s Dragon to my daughter. This is part of our curriculum, but it was so delightful that I figure I’ll talk about it here, just in case anyone wants to take note. 😉
One of the most interesting features of this book to me as a writer is the fact that the narrator is apparently the child of the main character–who is himself a child in the story. I found this so neat. We know the name of the character–Elmer Elevator–but more often than not the story is told like this: “So my father set sail for the Isle of Tangerina.”
Now, there are a few reasons why this book was a hit in my house. First of all, though it’s a chapter book, it has fun illustrations throughout the book, which my daughter took especial delight in. Second, it’s a story of imagination and even critical thinking. As Elmer Elevator sets off on an adventure to find and rescue a baby dragon who’s being abused by the creatures of Wild Island, he has to solve problems every step of the way–and most of those problems are the wild animals on the island who have enslaved the dragon and who are fiercely protective of their island against “the invasion”–namely, Elmer.
Luckily, the old tomcat who told him of the dragon also gave him advice on exactly what to pack in his knapsack. Those items save the day at each step, and it was tons of fun to figure out how he would use things like 17 lollipops, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and chewing gum to get himself out of impending doom.
Fanciful enough to engage the kiddos and clever enough to grab the parents, this is a book I highly recommend for you to get and share with your kids. And if yours are anything like mine, you’ll end up with some adorable pictures of this dragon that spring from your little one’s imagination throughout the story, before we get to see the illustrator’s interpretation at the very end.
A delight for the whole family, it’s easy to see why this won the Newbury Honor when it was written!
by Roseanna White | Oct 10, 2011 | Word of the Week
It’s always baffling when I think to look up a word that I take for granted and realize that it’s a relatively new addition to the English language. I had this experience with the words fiancee/fiance a couple years ago, when I first began writing Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland. My characters are engaged at the beginning. The year is 1783.
But she isn’t his fiancee. Nope, that word didn’t come into use until 1853. And interestingly, the male version “fiance” didn’t follow until 1864. An eleven year gap between calling the woman a fiancee and the man a fiance! Interesting, isn’t it?
This seems like an incredibly late addition to me . . . at least when I consider how many stories I have that take place prior to 1864. 😉 It took me a good long while to figure out how to get around that one in a way that sounds natural.
But no fear–we still have options. “Intended” and “betrothed” are legit. So in
Annapolis, for instance, Lark fights with her intended in the first chapter. And later in the book Emerson chases after his betrothed. (Not that those are gender specific, mind you.)
Yet another example of how learning something was at first a pain . . . but you know, it actually helped me create the voice I needed for the time period, so I’m glad to I thought to look it up. =) It’s the little things that make a voice. 😉
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.