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Today, I'm posting another devotion geared toward ladies. If you are reading this and happen to be a gentleman, please check out this one instead!  Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. Proverbs 14:1 (King James Bible) There has been a lot of talk about building walls and tearing them down in the last few years. To be honest, how you feel about that is between you and God. I’m not here to get political. But I do think it’s interesting that the Bible talks about women building a house.
I mean, I don’t think there were any females working in the construction business in the Bible days or until the 1900’s for that matter. So why would the Bible refer to a woman building a house? Well, if we are taking this as the physical building of the house, it doesn’t make much sense. But what if God is talking about the spiritual, atmospheric building of the house? I think we can all agree that this is what is meant. But how can we build up or tear down a home? Let’s see… We’ll start with how to tear it down (since I want to end on the positive!) We can tear it down by:
We can build it up by:
And of course, once you are married (or if you already are) these apply to spouses and children as well. God has called us to be homemakers and part of our job is to set the tone for home. So, when you have a bad attitude, no doubt you’ll pull others down with you. Purpose in your heart today to be a wise woman, not a fool. Let’s be builders, not the demolition crew! Have a Lovely Day! Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Hello everyone! I hope you are having a lovely day and enjoying the opportunity to learn more about what today is…the 75th Anniversary of one of the largest amphibious attacks in American history: D-Day. I’m not well versed myself, so I’m planning to learn more.  I do know that the battle took place on June 6th, 1944 on the beaches of Normandy, France. It marked a crucial turning point in World War Two as Allied forces smashed through German lines and into occupied France. The beginning of the end of the war and the iron fist of Adolf Hitler. On D-Day, his days were numbered.
So, no matter what you have planned today, take a few minutes to pull out that history book and read about D-Day and the sacrifices made by our boys, so that we could live in freedom. Even though it seems like WWII was fought for everyone except the American people, if Europe had fallen to Hitler, who do you think he was going to come after next? I don’t know about you, but I love having the option to learn German, not the requirement! Never give up. Never forget. Have a blessed Day! Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Hello everyone! I’m so excited to bring you another book review! Today is a non-fiction that I picked up a few weeks ago at the library and recently finished. It was so good! I always look forward to sharing a good book with y’all, so let’s dive right in!   Image Via I’ve been trying to read more non-fiction books this year and while doing some research for my current series, I came across this book. I had always wondered about this author, so I decided to give this book a try. It was only about 200 pages, a baby sized book compared with his lengthy The Real Lincoln.
I wasn’t completely surprised by the content. I knew the author, a native Pennsylvanian, wasn’t exactly a member of the We Love Lincoln fan club, and went into it with my biggest fear being a book full of unsupported claims and hateful rhetoric against anyone who happened to be born up north. That was not the case at all. The book takes a look at Lincoln’s political agenda, misquotes that are attributed to him and his not so noble relationship with the U.S. court system. And one of my favorite parts was how he explained the difference between a yankee and a northerner! It was so well worded and not aimed to condemn anyone who calls north of the Mason-Dixon Line home. It is rather breaking down the ideology of those who support big government and undermining the Constitution, not just Lincoln. My only caution with this book was that I didn’t think they explained their points on misguided patriotism concerning our military. It almost sounded anti-military until I reread a paragraph that explained what he meant, I just think it should have been worded more clearly. Also, there is a little unknown history around the Pledge of Allegiance. While it is a little disturbing, I do not recommend not saying the pledge (the author doesn’t either 😉). Again, I thought things should have been clarified better. Overall, this was a lovely book. It did a wonderful job explaining the rights of States to secede and the true reasons for the war. It even lists several books in the back to help you continue your research! I’ve not read them, so I can’t recommend them personally. From now on, if anyone asks me about what States’ Rights are, I’m referring them to this book! Recommended for 16+ for understanding. Have A Blessed Day! Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Hello everyone! This past month was amazing! We were able to attend several special services, I celebrated my birthday, Memorial Day rolled around (my favorite holiday!) and the North Carolina Home Educators Book Fair closed out the month for us! Today, I’m gonna share some of my favorites from my favorite month of the year!  My May Favorites…
Event: Born Alive Survivor Protection Act Rally. This was my very first Pro-Life event and our family thoroughly enjoyed it! We were able to give our loads of FBN information (we gave some to our Lt. Governor, Dan Forrest!!!). It was wonderful to gather with hundreds of people from around the state of various ages and background, all to support the lives of our smallest, most vulnerable citizens. Currently, North Carolina Representatives are trying to pass a veto override to protect our unborn, but we have to wait until certain voters change their mind or decide not to show up for the vote. I thank God we have a Representative who is willing to hold out until we have the votes we need to protect our babies! Song: Jesus Saves, as sung by Caleb and Katie Garraway. It’s so beautiful! Verse: Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12 I’m reading through the minor prophets now and this verse jumped out at me on May 20th. It’s time to seek the Lord in our country in the day and age that we live in. And we all know that is change is to come to our country, it’s got to start with us, the Children of God! Book of the Month: Lincoln Unmasked by Thomas DiLorenzo! 5 stars! It was sooooo good, y’all! One of the best nonfictions I have read this year! (Review coming soon!) Ministry: The God Bless America Rally in Canton Ohio! Yes, I added another states to my growing list of states visited! 13! The meeting was wonderful as always and we were blessed to see over 200 saved during the door-knocking and services! Them we got to have Evangelist Byron Foxx with us on the way to services in Kentucky! So yes, that was my top ministry even for this month! Writing Update: We are in the team edit stage! We are hoping to make some good progress in June, so stay tuned for that! Once we start meeting, rewrite get intense and wonderful and I love it! A Book I am Anticipating for June: I Varina by Ruth Painter Randall! It’s the story of Varina Davis, First Lady of the Confederacy! I finally got this book this year after searching for it for years! So yes, this is a much anticipated read! I also have a few books that I’m waiting on from my library about D-Day, so I’m looking forward to that! I’ll give you a quick recap on my anticipated reads for May. I am still reading Unbroken, but so far, I love it! There have been a few edits needed, and I anticipate that increasing as I get into the war, but so far, I really like it! Number the Stars wasn’t my favorite book on WWII, but it wasn’t bad either. I have a review coming soon, so watch for that for more details. And y’all. I finished The Hiding Place! At last! After being urged by friends and a few reading slumps, I finally finished that book! Review to come on that one as well! And Now for your Story Prompts! June Edition: Summer is here! Write about your favorite summer activity, but with a twist. Set the scene in 1932, during the Great Depression and make sure you include a train, a hobo and your favorite summer treat! D-Day Edition: I shouldn’t be here! He thought desperately as the landing craft carried them closer and closer to the battle. I should have listened to Mama and waited until I was older to go! The 17-year-old soldier gritted his teeth as the craft ground to a stop, just shy of the French beach called Omaha. Lord, please let me live through this! Father’s Day Edition: The young German soldier’s breath came in ragged gasps, frightening his little boy. The American medic gently pulled the toddler from his father’s arms and handed him to the private kneeling next to them. The boy whimpered, “You not hurt my daddy!” The medic smiled as the American private said, “He won’t. He’s going to make your daddy feel all better. Then, we’ll take you both somewhere safe.” The medic sighed. Judging by the looks of the exhausted prisoner, a prison camp would be an improvement indeed! Until Next Time, Ryana Lynn Jude 22 PS (Sorry there are no graphics for the story prompts! This week has been crazy, lol!) Hello everyone! A few months ago, I did a post called Fact or Fiction//Which is More Important? Today, I want to turn this into an official Writing Series called Fact or Fiction? It will cover writing myths and history myths. Today, I’m going to tackle five common misconceptions about The War Between the States that I see popping up in most fiction books on the topic. Hope you enjoy!  Myth #1: All Southerners owned slaves/supported slavery.
This is not true and it makes me want to laugh every time I see this pop up. While a book may not come right out and say this, it’s insinuated in popular fiction that all Southerners own slavery. My ancestors are proof this is untrue. In fact, studies show that only about 25% of the Southern population in 1860 owned slaves. (For more statistics on this study, read The South Was Right! and Lincoln Unmasked) And all southerners did not support slavery, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are prime examples of Southerners who hated the institution. And I’d also like to point out that the Underground Railroad couldn’t have existed without Southern abolitionists. Let’s say you are helping a slave form Florida escape to Canada. You cannot magically jump over the slave holding states (which included Maryland, Delaware, Missouri and Ohio, to name a few). You must come through several of these states to get to Canada. You must have food and shelter to make a trip (on foot or hiding in a wagon), and it’s dangerous. There is no way they could have gotten to Canada without help. North Carolina was one of the most active states in the Underground Railroad. So it is ludicrous to assume all southerners were at least supportive of slavery. Myth #2: Southern soldiers, on average, could not read. While both the Union and Confederate States had a large population of illiterate people, it’s silly to write a story where none of the Confederates know how to read. It’s insulting. If I’m not mistaken, The South Was Right! covers this claim as well. I read one study that showed that most Southern soldiers could read to some extent. Christ in the Camp makes this fact clear in the large amounts of tracts, pamphlets, books and Bibles they gave to eager southern soldiers. So, while it’s fine to have a grown soldier here and there who can’t read, or one who can’t read well, it’s way over used. Drummers are another matter, as there were a lot of street kids or orphans who had never been to school filling those spots. Myth #3: The South fought to preserve slavery. I am fighting not to roll my eyes at this one. It is in almost every book you read about the War Between the States and it is the biggest fallacy of them all. I’ll give you the nut shell of why the South fought, but if you want to read more on this topic, see these posts (Here, here, here and here.) The south would not have fought to preserve slavery. That would have been ridiculous. No woman in her right mind would send her man to war just so she could force another person to work for her. (Okay, so the women didn't literally send their men off to war, but you know what I mean, lol!) That’s insane. The reason the South fought the War Between the States is because their states’ rights were being taken away from them. The government passed taxes that hurt the south to aide the north. I’m not being biased, I’m stating facts. The government had enlarged it’s self past it’s Constitutional boundaries and had made it quite clear that it didn’t care who they had to step on to grab more power…sound familiar? Seems like there was a man named Kind George III who had that same ambition. I don’t care what side you take on the war in your novel. But I do care if it’s historically inaccurate. Even if you choose to ignore these facts, don’t have your southern antagonist citing slavery as his reason to fight. Read what the southern soldiers said they were fighting for. Slavery will not be one of their reasons. Myth #4: The Emancipation Proclamation freed the Slaves. Another common misconception, and it mostly stems from the fact that most people have never actually read the proclamation. I strongly encourage you to read it and not just take someone else’s word for it, no matter what angle they take on it, myself included. But basically, the EP was written to keep England and France, who had already outlawed slavery in their countries, from aiding the Confederacy and recognizing us as a nation. In the latter end, they succeeded, but the British and French did help us monetarily and materially, though not to the capacity they would have if not for the EP. The EP states that all slaves held in the seceded states are free, except those who lived in Union held territory. The hypocrisy here is that those are the only slaves he had the power to free, since they were in territory he had conquered. So where is their right to freedom from the “Champion of Abolition?” The shocking truth is that he didn’t care about the ones he could actually help; he just wanted to look good to Europe. He had no jurisdiction over the seceded states as a whole, since they were a separate country, so his proclamation did absolutely nothing. Also, he said, if the states would rejoin the Union by January 1st of 1863, they could keep their slaves. If the war was over slavery, every single state would have jumped at the chance to be back in their beloved former country. But not one took him up on the offer, proving not only that the South was not fighting to keep their slaves, but also that the Union was not fighting to free them. Myth #5: All the Southern women wore hoop skirts. I had to slip a fun one in here! 😉 So, yeah, this one’s not true either! Hoop skirts were very impractical for daily life in the south. They are bulky and let’s be honest, you can’t tend your garden like that, lol! The majority of southern woman were middle class and did the cooking, cleaning, gardening and often times helped in the fields as well. If she owned a hoop skirt, she would have worn it to church, weddings and socials. If I had lived during this time, I probably wouldn’t have even owned one. In my books, my main girl character Dixie is from a middle-class cotton plantation family. And she doesn’t own a hoop skirt. Why? Because she lives in the country. There is no where for her to wear one too. In fact, when up in Philadelphia for Christmas, she must borrow one from her cousins for a social. This wasn’t uncommon. Not everyone lived in Raleigh, Richmond and Atlanta. That’s what most people think of when they imagine life in the Antebellum South. Sorry to burst your bubble on that one, lol! So that’s it for this first post on Fact or Fiction! I hope you enjoyed it! Have a blessed day! Ryana Lynn Jude 22 |
Ryana Lynn
Christian. American. Southern. Author. 
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