Word of the Week – Palm

Word of the Week – Palm

Since yesterday was Palm Sunday, I thought it would be fun to look at the etymology of the word palm.

Not shockingly, it’s been in English a long time–since the 1300s. And it comes from a root that means “flat.” So in reference to the palm of the hand, it’s describing the flat part of the hand.

From there, the palm trees got their names because of the flat leaves and branches with “fingers” on them. Of course, these trees aren’t native to England, so that early knowledge of the trees mostly came thanks to the story of Palm Sunday.

Why palms, though? Because in the ancient world, palm fronds were word on carried as a symbol of victory (much like a laurel leaf crown).

Did you attend a Palm Sunday service yesterday?

Word Nerds Unite!

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Spring 2025 Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #11

Spring 2025 Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #11

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

  • The hunt BEGINS on 4/10 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
  • Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
  • There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 4/13 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
  • Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m Roseanna M. White, author of a slew of historical romances, along with some contemporary mysteries from Guideposts. My real life is full (homeschooling mom of two teens, one of whom is now in college, need I say more??) but also very … ordinary. So I offset that by writing about things like spies and nobility and war and mayhem whenever I can. And with my next book, I decided to break out of my traditional writing mold even more than usual and explore another of my favorite genres: romantasy! (That’s romantic fantasy/fantasy romance, for you uninitiated.)

Arden Bleu has always known that her stepsister, Jade, was special–so special that she’d likely be shown to be magical when they undergo their Awakening Ceremony in a month. But when a dangerous contingent of mer kidnap Jade on the eve of the king’s birthday ball, they suspect she has something more than ordinary water magic. Something that called to King Seidon the moment her blood spilled into the water during the kidnapping. Arden always feared the king, the one man in all the world who could order her father away–but if they have any hope of rescuing Jade, it will take both of them working together, before the war boiling beneath the waters spills onto land as well.

I’ll admit it–The Little Mermaid was always my FAVORITE movie as a kid. Anyone else try to imitate that push onto the rock with the water spraying behind you? Anyone? (Spoiler alert–it does NOT work in a pool!) So when, on vacation a couple years ago, I decided to play with a fantasy idea, a mermaid story sounded like a lot of fun. I shared it with my husband as we took a walk along the beach, and he did what he always does. He asked questions that flipped my thoughts on their head.

“What if the mermaids are still fully human, legs and everything?” he asked. “What if they can just hold their breaths a long time, like whales, and have adapted to life under the pressure of the sea? What if their tails are just things they put on, like our swim fins or flippers?”

And then, “And what if this ‘magic’ isn’t traditional fantasy-book magic? What if something like nanotechnology is at work?”

One thing I’ve always loved about fantasy books is that the author gets to totally create the world and decide what role things like technology will play. So…why not?? I decided that my “magic system” would indeed be a combination of technology (“ancient,” lost technology) and gift from God, which have combined to create something new. Because if Jesus delays His return, who’s to say what God might do in the future?

So in Awakened, we have a new spin…or fin?…on mermaid lore, where the mer and still 100% human, just able to put on a tail to swim faster than any land-dweller, to hold their breaths for at least an hour, and who can surface from the depths without the need to decompress. “Magic” is just a shorthand word for “ancient technology plus miracle from heaven.” And we have a love story that might just melt you into a puddle, and a faith element as deep as the sea.

Have you ever pretended to be a mermaid? Share in the comments for an entry into my giveaway!

Here’s Your Critical Stop #11 Info:

If you’re interested, you can get a signed, SPECIAL EDITION copy of Awakened with PRINTED EDGES (!!) from me right here (and shop for other fun bookish things too!) or order a normal version on Amazon now. Other retailer links coming soon! (Printed edges will be available ONLY from me or the publisher!)

Clue to Write Down: Sometimes

Link to Stop #12, the Next Stop on the Loop: Robin Lee Hatcher’s site!

Special Giveaway!

But before you go, I’m offering a special prize!

One lucky winner with a US address will receive a set of sea glass jewelry in the color of your choice (based on availability at the time of the win). Available colors are aqua, sapphire, and purple.

Word of the Week – Peruse

Word of the Week – Peruse

Did you know that peruse is its own opposite?

In the late 1400s, the word peruse was created to mean “to go through something with extreme detail or careful scrutiny.” It comes from per- (completely) combined with use.

By the 1530s, it was applied specifically to “read thoroughly.”

But somewhere in the mists of time, things changed. By the 19th century, peruse instead came to mean “browse” or “read casually.”

Why? Etymologists don’t have a lot to say on the matter. They simply classify it as a “contronym”–a word that has two opposite meanings. I always love finding these–how about you?

Word Nerds Unite!

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Let’s Check Our “But”s

Let’s Check Our “But”s

If you’ve ever been a child (especially one with a sibling) or had children or been a classroom full of children, chances are you’ve encountered a situation like this: there has been an argument. It seems HUGE. There have been oaths sworn about never talking to someone again, about hating them, about being so angry. There have been threats to run away, perhaps even tiny pink suitcases packed with all the most precious things–My Little Ponies, a toothbrush, a favorite stuffed animal.

Then the authority figure steps in. Oh, we all know those scowls, don’t we? We know the look on our mom’s or dad’s or teacher’s face–and if we’re parents ourselves, we know what it feels like on our own face. When it was us as the child, we felt that tightness in the chest. The burn of fury. The certainty that they didn’t understand.

Then come the words: “Apologize to your sister” or “Hug and make up” or “Sit down and work things out.”

And what is the response, every…single…time? “But…!”

Somewhere in the argument is a but. Maybe it’s the first word: “But she started it!” Maybe it’s somewhere in the middle: “I would, but…”

What happens next? Did Mom just say, “Yeah, you’re right. She’s mean. You have a right to be angry. In fact, you should hit her back. Then you should stand over her and gloat. And finally, you know what you should do? You should tell her she hates this family and is a disgrace to us all and that it’s about time she gets what’s coming to her. Oh, and while you’re at it? Tell her I told you to do it.”

Of course not. What did she really say? “I’ll handle your sister’s punishment if she did something wrong. Your job is to forgive her and ask to be forgiven. You’re not faultless here. Now go to your room and think about it.” (Okay, yes, sometimes Mom is so frustrated by now this is shortened to just, “I said go to your room!” But you get the idea.)

We’re grownups now. No Mom or Dad or teacher standing over us to referee our relationships or attitudes. But we’re not off the hook. Because we have a Father who’s even more a stickler than our parents were. And we know what He says:

Love your enemies.
Pray for those who persecute you.
Love and do not hate.
Forgive your brother seventy times seven times.
Keep no record of wrongs.
Turn the other cheek.
When they take your coat, offer your shirt too.

I am grieved at how I’m seeing Christians act today. I don’t honestly care about your politics or who you voted for or what side you come down on on certain issues. I don’t care if we agree or disagree on current events.

What I do care about is the bitterness, darkness, and gloating I’m seeing in people who are supposed to follow the Light. I’m seeing people who want to turn over the money tables but aren’t so keen on loving the money changers. I’m seeing a lot of people who, like the disciples, are eager to call down fire and brimstone on the town that didn’t accept the Gospel, but I’m not seeing many people advocating for mercy–the very mercy Christ offered those offenders.

You know what I’ve had to start doing? Every time I see a post that espouses something I don’t agree with, I remind myself of God’s perfect call concerning that person: LOVE THEM

And then I examine my gut reaction. Is it, “Yes, Lord. Help me to love them better. Draw them ever closer to you. Remove the speck from my eye so that I can love them better”?

Or is it, “But they’ve been trampling on my rights for years!” or “I do love them, but they’re getting what they deserve!” or “But they’re wrong and I’m right!”?

If my answer to “love them” includes a “but,” then I’m doing it wrong. Then I’m the one who needs to ask for forgiveness. Because my job in this world is not to be the parent, doling out punishment. My job is to LOVE THEM. God will handle the ultimate sorting, and if I’m sitting in my room smirking at the thought of those other people being punished, then I am not loving them. If my first concern is for what I stand to gain instead of what someone else stands to lose, then I am not loving them. If my attitude turns someone away from Christ and His Church, then guess what? Not only am I not loving them, I’m damaging the very thing I should be pursuing.

If I apply a label to a person, stance, or action and use that label as an excuse for why they should be dismissed or treated poorly, then I am not loving them. And if my first reaction to someone pointing it out is, “But this isn’t about God’s love, this is about justice,” then guess what? I am not loving them. God loves mercy more than justice.

Why does it matter?

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Col 3:13)

So…how did the Lord forgive us?

He gave up everything He had (a home in Heaven) to come into our filth.
He gathered not the self-proclaimed righteous, but the sinners to His table.
He healed every disease.
He welcomed the stranger.
He forgave those who hurt Him.
He died to take our sins on Himself.
He called a political dissident (a Zealot) and a tax collector for Rome and made them part of the same inner circle.

Church, we’re not just acting like the world right now instead of Jesus. We’re acting worse than the world, because we know better. We are not children any longer. When God tells us to love our enemies (which He has never stopped doing), you know what we need to do?

We need to check our “but”s. If any sneak into our response, then we had better stop right there, fall to our knees, and pray for forgiveness. There is no room for but in God’s love.

Word of the Week – -spire Words

Word of the Week – -spire Words

We know the definitions of words that end in -spire…but do we know what they literally mean? All these -spire endings come from the Latin spirare, which means “to breathe.” So let’s examine our English words!

Conspire – literally “breathe together”
Perspire – literally “through breath”
Aspire – literally “to breathe upon” (the notion being to pant after something)
Respire – literally “to breathe again”
Transpire – literally “across, beyond, or through the breath”
Expire – literally “out of breath”
Inspire – literally “to put breath into”

Then, hilariously, there’s spire…which isn’t from that Latin root at all, but is from Norse/Germanic, meaning “sharp point.” 😉

Word Nerds Unite!

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