by Roseanna White | Jul 8, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
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The last time my family took a vacation was September ’08, when Rowyn was 7 months old. Last summer we just couldn’t take the time–and this summer we expected to be crammed full of travel for book promotion.
But since the Life & Faith Tour was canceled because of the extreme weather this summer, my hubby looked at me two weeks ago and said, “So when are we going to the beach?” In an act of semi-spontaneity, we scheduled a vacation 10 days before said vacation would start. Which is now only two days away. Woo hoo!
Of course, I’ve yet to start packing, though I’ve started making lists. And I’ve been trying to get done all the stuff I need to (including blog posts for next week, since I already had two interviews scheduled). Plus, I’ve been getting back on the writing horse. Yesterday I managed 4,800 words, and I feel like I’m finally in that place where finishing the book’s going to be like falling down the stairs–a series of boom, bang, booms, all downhill from here. There’s still a lot of story to get through, don’t get me wrong, but it’s all action. Yay!
I’m one of those nuts who hopes for lots of writing time on vacation (the beach is just so inspiring!). Granted, I also want lots of nothing-time, lots of beach-time, some shopping-time, walking-time . . .
Naturally, it’s calling for rain all week. Isolated, so it could totally miss us. And even if it doesn’t . . . well, it’s true what they say. “A bad day at the beach beats a good day anywhere else.” =)
by Roseanna White | Jul 1, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Yesterday, while the rest of the country’s newspapers probably had headlines about Russian spies, oil spills, or presidents, the Cumberland Times-News dedicated its front page to prayer. Oh, it might not have known that’s what it was doing. But we did.
See, the front page story yesterday was about how one of our own was coming home from Johns Hopkins hospital.
Those of you who know me fairly well have heard about Vanessa. She’s 16, the daughter of my sister’s dear friend, and a country girl through and through. Well, a couple months ago she was roping a steer and got dragged and trampled. They rushed her to hospital and she was soon heading for Baltimore. The initial fears were about internal organ damage.
The people took to their knees. Everyone I know around here contacted everyone we know elsewhere to get people praying. The doctors weren’t sure she’d live through the night.
She did.
The next concern was brain damage. Vanessa was in a coma, and everyone knows brain injuries are unpredictable. For weeks she lay there, sleeping. We prayed that God would use that time of rest to rebuild her from the inside out.
During this time my sister made countless trips down the road to visit Vanessa and her mom. She came back with updates, prayer requests, and an assurance. “I prayed before I went back to see her,” my sister said, “and I got the feeling that she’s going to be okay. Might take awhile, but she’s going to be okay.”
Vanessa started coming out of the coma. It was a slow process, and an MRI revealed separation of the hemispheres of her brain. She would squeeze a hand but couldn’t open her eyes. Then she could sit up, but not open her eyes.
We kept praying. My mom prayed, “Let her next hurdle be speech. Let her say, ‘Mom,’ Lord.”
Two days later we got the report that Vanessa said “Mom.” The next day she was singing the Barney song. The day after that, a country tune. She was recognizing people and greeting them by name. Still, the doctors were worried. Some of her behaviors indicated severe brain damage, the kind people don’t recover from.
When has that ever stopped the Lord?
A couple weeks ago, we got the report that Vanessa was eating, out shopping, learning to walk again, doing art projects, and stealing her mom’s cell phone to call her brother and beg to be taken home.
Yesterday, she came. And Cumberland praised God.
There are times I miss the culture and opportunities available in Annapolis or other larger areas, but you know, in times like these I’m so very glad to live in a small town. I love that everyone here knows that we’re praying for a teen named Vanessa. I love that her recovery has made the front page.
Most of all, though, I love my God, who hears our cries and responds.
by Roseanna White | Jun 30, 2010 | Remember When Wednesdays, Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
“Whatever the condition–be it snowing, raining, blazing hot, or dark–they never fail to complete their assigned journey in the fastest possible time.”
Post Office motto? Well, not the one you’re thinking. That’s actually what Herodotus says of the Persian post system. It’s actually really cool, and might put you Americana folks in mind of the Pony Express.
See, the kings had had outposts built at precise intervals along major thoroughfares. At these outposts waited fresh horses and riders. Whenever messages or mail was sent, these riders set out as quickly as they could to the next outpost. Handed off their message to the next guy, etc.
The result? “There is nothing mortal faster than the system the Persians have devised for sending messages,” says Herodotus.
This comes up at the end of the war. When Xerxes burned Athens, he sent a message of his victory. The folks at home in Susa were so overcome with Joy that they strewed myrtle in the streets, burnt perfume, held feasts, and pretty much declared it a holiday. Then, well, just a few days later came the news of defeat at Salamis. Joy turned to mourning, clothes were ripped and weeping and moaning could be heard in the streets. They were especially worried about Xerxes–apparently the news didn’t include how he fared, and the people were terrified something had happened to their king.
Goes to show how loved he was, eh?
Anyway. I love that this system of theirs is so renowned for its efficiency that it has influenced our own postal system. Just goes to show ya that it doesn’t have to be digital to have virtual wings.
by Roseanna White | Jun 24, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
A couple weeks ago in one my daughter’s Famous Fits of Four-Year-Old Frustration, she tossed out that she hates being alone in her room (and tacked on that I don’t care because I’m mean). Which made a strange idea click into me head. Me, the queen of One Child Per Room, thought “Huh. I wonder if it could work to move them into one room.”
The other day we did it. Stacked their bunk beds up (not that Xoe will sleep on the top yet–she’s been camping on the floor for the past two nights) and turned the nursery into a school room.
And you know, I gotta say–I love it.
See, I’d been kinda panicking at the thought of getting started with home schooling this year, even though I knew it was what I wanted to do. Much of it was apparently rooted in the fact that I had no good place to DO this schooling. But as soon as I considered making the nursery into a school room . . . wow. I was actually excited.
So on Tuesday I put Xoe’s new desk together (all by myself), moved a bookshelf in, organized the bedroom into a mish-mash of boy/girl kid stuff (other than the pink curtains, it was fairly neutral anyway–being very Pooh-ish), and Xoe and I had our first day of school.
It was so much fun. I decided to start with the Five in a Row system and got the book that will take us through kindergarten, and which I can also use with Rowyn. FIAR basically guides you through using actual kids books as your basis for subject-learning, by reading the same book each day for a week and looking at different aspects of it. So, for instance, you’d read a book about a panda–Monday you’d then study bears, Tuesday you’d study China, Wednesday you’d look at vocabulary words, etc.
At the pre-school/kindergarten age, it’s not so much academic as just looking at different aspects like patterns and rhymes, and then trying to incorporate it into your day. We’re also doing some basic letter/number stuff, Bible stories, coloring . . .
My highlight thus far was when we were reading about Adam and Eve eating the apple and sinning, and I explained how that meant they couldn’t talk to God like they had before, because they’d disobeyed him. And she piped in with, “But now we can again, because Jesus died and took the punishment.” A close second is that the American flag is important “because it reminds us of our country and Jesus, because he and God made the world and gave us our country.”
I’m having a blast gettin
g a peek into the mind of my sweet little girl. And my adorable little boy loves being in what was formerly Xoe’s room, and also loves the school room, where he plops down on his belly with paper and a pencil and goes to town. Overall, a great solution–and a new adventure.
by Roseanna White | Jun 17, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Nine years ago today, I pledged my heart, body, and future to David. The man I loved since I we were 15, the man I knew with all that was in me was The One. Sometimes, I think he’s much more than that.
It seemed an appropriate day to muse (not for the first time, I know) on Love–and to share some of the awesome pictures from our gorgeous beach wedding. =)
Through my life
, I’ve known a lot of love.
That feeling that Mom and Dad will always be there, always encourage, always believe in my dreams–even when those dreams defy convention (like when I get engaged at 17 and married just before I turn 19).
I’ll always have a place on Daddy’s knee.
Mom will always be there carry my burdens with me.
That knowledge that for every storm (like the one that raged up the coast the day before The Day) in life, God sends me a rainbow.
That we have friends and family willing to travel hundreds of miles to share our Joy. And that after traveling all day, they’ll put more hours into decorating the rental house hosting our big day.
Love is looking into David’s eyes and knowing, each and every time, that this is the man God planned for me, and for whom I was planned. Knowing we are perfectly matched, perfectly balanced.
Love is that security that comes with resting my head on his shoulder.
Love is laughing over nothing, rejoicing in each moment.
It’s dancing barefoot in the sand when you forget your shoes for your own wedding (ahem, David!;-)
It’s standing together, beside all those that matter. It’s standing together always, through whatever the years bring you.
These days, love is also cuddling warm little bodies with damp curls pressed against your cheek, it’s helping put on dress-up costumes and pretend to dash powder onto little noses. It’s laughing over toddler knock-knock jokes–and looking over into each other’s eyes and thinking, “This is us. These are ours. This is family.”
Love is building a life on much more than one day. It’s building a life on every day.
Thank you, Lord, for all those you’ve put in my life. For my family, for my friends. For those who have emailed encouragement, who know how to read my heart in the lines that I write.
Thank you most of all for the man who bends over backwards to make my dreams come true–who not only believes in them with me, but who chases them down for me when my legs begin to fail.
David–you’re my everything. Here’s to way more than 9 years to come!
by Roseanna White | Jun 10, 2010 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
I’m writing a book right now that’s way more spiritually charged, spiritually involved than I imagined it would be. There are a lot of beyond-your-vision battles raging, and that means a lot of Roseanna praying before writing–I so don’t want to get this stuff wrong!
And then this weekend, we had the honor of hosting visitors (a couple and a good friend of theirs) from Ohio who offered to do a faith building and healing service at our church. These people . . . they are so genuine. So humble. They just want to teach what they’ve learned and be the instruments of the Lord. And boy, did I need a good dose of the Spirit.
Ever since a revival swept through our town two years ago, I’ve been keenly aware of how different I am when in touch with the Spirit versus when I let life get in the way. And lately . . . life has been seriously in the way. Which made me not really enjoy the details of my life. My kids were getting on my nerves, I was constantly exhausted, and I couldn’t seem to find the quiet time I needed with God. So I went to this service knowing exactly what I needed from it.
After a while my wonderful hubby took the kids down to the nursery, which let me really listen, really feel. The teaching time ended, and the prayer began. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. Should I just charge to the front and say, “Pray with me please so I can get the kids home to bed?” No, they asked for someone with a specific issue . . . so I just closed my eyes, prayed, privately and determined to soak up the Spirit–not too hard, since he was saturating the room. And, I’ll admit it, thought, “Well, Lord, you might just have to send one of them back to me if this isn’t enough.”
Then the husband of the couple came over to me. He’d walked by several times, but this time he crouched down and asked, “Can I pray with you? I’m sensing you’re not here for healing but that you have something you need prayer for.”
!!!! I nodded as tears surged (I’m not a cry-er, FYI) and asked if he would pray for rejuvenation. That’s all I said–rejuvenation. But you could see the light go on inside him. He took my hands and prayed for rejuvenation, for rest, for exactly what I needed. And told me I needed to take the time to pray for that every morning, and pray every night for my rest to be sufficient.
Um, yes teacher.
Seriously, ever since then . . . there’s a calm inside where irritation had been. There’s Joy again. And I am so, so grateful that the Spirit always knows exactly what we need and meets us there. There have been times over the years when he swept over me in my dreams and I wake up like this. This time, he came while his servants were here and used them to bless me.
Now I’m praying that my words (mostly thinking of those spiritually-charged chapters I’m writing) can somehow be used to bless others. There is so much to all this stuff, so much I can never quite get a hold on.
How awesome to know I don’t have to get a hold of it all–I just have to hold his hand. He’ll show me how to handle the rest.
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.