by Roseanna White | Jul 11, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Thoughtful Thursdays
Day 10’s winner of Ring of Secrets is…
Sarah Keimig !
Keep entering all week for a chance at the daily book drawing AND Friday’s drawing for winner’s choice of one of these two necklaces by Susie Finkbeiner of Inspired Novelties.
And for today:
Thoughtful About . . . Words of Blessing
I decided, rather belatedly, to do the Bible-in-a-year schedule in the back of my new chronological Bible. I began on July 1, went through and penciled in all the new dates over the ones listed in the back, and got down to business last week.
As I’m reading through Genesis again, some things are jumping out at me that never have before. Today I read both Abraham’s blessing of Isaac and Isaac’s blessing, intended for Esau but given by deceit to Jacob.
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| Isaac Blessing Jacob by a student of Rembrandt |
Now, I’ve read these things half a gazillion times. I’ve heard sermons on them. I’ve wondered about them. But today, as my kids run through the room laughing while I read, I thought about them in a new way.
What was it about those words that these men so craved? What made them so important? So special? So binding?
I don’t exactly have the answers to that…but I have some thoughts. All through the Bible, both Old Testament and New, we see the power of words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
was made that was made. In Him was Life, and the life was the light of men. And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
John 1:1-2
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt,
that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Colossians 4:6
“So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let
none of his words fall to the ground.”
I Samuel 3:19
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and
Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by
grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good WORD and work.”
II Thessalonians 2:16, 17
Words created…words bless…words curse…
And we often use them so thoughtlessly! I’ve mused on this before, but today I’m thinking especially about how we use them with our children.
It wasn’t some random king that gave these blessings to the patriarchs. Sons didn’t vie for the blessing of their neighbor. It was always their father whose words they wanted. Their fathers who gave them words not only about the physical belongings he himself would pass down, but about how his son’s family would be received by the world for generations.
What is it about a parent’s words that can do that…and am I keeping that in mind when I talk to my kids?
Our local bishop tells a story of an extremely popular, powerful evangelist who had brought countless souls to Christ over the years. Every night of his childhood, this someday-preacher’s mother would kiss his forehead, give him a hug, and say, “The Lord has great plans for your life.” He grew up knowing that it, he lived the promise, and we now, years later, can see its truth.
So what truth am I speaking into the lives of those I love best? What am I teaching my kids, yes, but more, what am I promising them?
Because one thing I know for sure–God doesn’t change. If He honored the blessings spoken by a father upon a son in Abraham’s day, He’ll still do it today. If He poured out His peace upon a people at the word of their spiritual father in the New Testament, He’ll continue pouring it upon us now.
And that means a lot of responsibility to us–responsibility we often ignore, are ignorant of, or–dare I say it?–embarrassed to use. We feel silly saying such deep things to our little children, who just want to play Hulk or Princess or Super-Spy. What do they care about blessings?
Maybe nothing yet–but they will someday. And I should be looking ahead to that someday. I should be speaking blessing and promise and love upon my children each and every day, binding them not only to my heart, but to the Father’s.
When I was a girl, my parents always, always said, “You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do.”
That’s a blessing I’m living now, fueled by their faith in me and our Father. Thanks, Mom and Dad. 😉
Now what about me and my kids? What about you?
My question to you today:
What’s one promise or blessing or encouragement that has stuck with you through the years?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 8, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Word of the Week
The winner of day 7’s drawing is:
Amy WV!
As a reminder, every entry this week keeps you in each day’s drawing for a book, and also for winner’s choice of one of two necklaces from Inspired Novelties–so keep those entries coming, and please do share! Last week we ended up with over 1,000 entries, which was pretty awesome! =) Let’s see if we can get it even higher this week. =)
Now for today!
Word of the Week . . . Sleight
I admit it–this is one I’d never paid attention to before. I’m sure I’ve seen “sleight of hand” written out correctly like so, but I never paused to realize it was spelled with an ‘e’.
And I’m not the only one who has written this as “slight of hand.” Slight makes sense there, implying light, nimble fingers. There’s even a phrase from French that means “light of hand” literally, used the same way.
Sleight, however, comes from a whole different word. An Old Norse one that made its way to English waaaaay back in the 13th century. It means “cunning.” Which makes even more sense in “sleight of hand,” doesn’t it?
That phrase, by the way, has been around since 1400. Whodathunk it was so old?
My question for you today:
Have you seen any sleight of hand tricks lately that really got ya?
We just saw a magic show last weekend–favorite trick was one where the guy turned $1 bills into $100 bills. Don’t we all wish we knew THAT one? LOL
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by Roseanna White | Jul 7, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests
Yesterday’s winner of Ring of Secrets is:
Amy Putney!
Keep entering! Every entry you make this week increases your chances to win a copy of the book, AND this week’s bonus winner will have a choice of one of two one-of-a-kind necklaces from Inspired Novelties!
Tomorrow I’ll be back with my Word of the Week. For today, here’s your question:
If you could travel anywhere in the world on a
dream vacation (cost being no issue), where would you go?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 1, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Word of the Week
Much as I can’t believe it, there is only ONE MONTH before the release of Whispers from the Shadows, book 2 in the Culper Ring Series!
Man, the last six months have flown by!!
And you know what? I still have boxes and boxes of Ring of Secrets sitting here, just waiting to find happy homes. So…how better to get them into eager hands than with a massive giveaway??
Excellent question. Answer: there is no better way. 😉
So [insert trumpet blare here], allow me to introduce the great, the magnificent
30 Days of Giveaways!!
Each and every day for the month of July, I’ll be giving away 1 copy of Ring of Secrets (if you already own RoS, you can have another of my books. If you have them all, then someone else’s). PLUS, once a week (drawn on Friday), I’ll be giving away a bonus gift. First up:
A $15 gift card to Bath & Body Works
Now…confession. This giveaway has an ulterior motive *gasp*. No, not that I want to suck you into my series with book 1 and thereby cajole you into ordering book 2. Well, I man, obviously that, but it’s not what I mean. 😉 I’d also love to get y’all talking more on the blog. So. If you think I’m discontinuing my normal blogging…think again.
Did you know that Mondays are Word of the Week days around here? Seriously! And this is the sort of fun we have on Mondays.
Today–nickname. Ever wonder where that word came from? No, not from all the Nicholases that came to be called Nick. 😉 Nope. It’s from eke.
Wouldn’t have guessed, would you? But it is. Eke, which means “to lengthen or supplement” (usually laboriously), was added to “name” back centuries ago as an “additional” name. But over time, “eke-name” got shifted and mispronounced and became “nickname.”
Fun, eh?
So my question to you today is:
What’s the funniest/strangest/sweetest nickname you’ve ever been called?
My answer: Boat. Wanna figure out how I got that one?
Now–get entering! And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Day 2, and more fun stuff. =)
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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.