I’m so excited to be bringing back another post in my Soldier Life Series! This series (for anyone not familiar) is a compilation of posts I’m writing about the life of a soldier during the War Between the States. These are unbiased posts (North and South pretty much ran their armies the same way) and are meant to be a help to those writing about the War Between the States, or to inform those who are just interested in 1860’s of some of the inner workings of nineteenth century soldiering. It’s not an exhaustive guide, but I do hope it saves another writer from having to run all over the place to get basic information! Let’s get into it!

Captains were in command of a company, which could be infantry, cavalry or artillery, respectively. A company consisted of 100 men, divided. He would also accompany his men to battle, giving orders and acting under the commands of the Colonels (Regiments) and Generals (Brigades, etc.)

 (Information Sourced from: Here and Here. You can find more details on this site that I won’t be covering here for the sake of brevity 😉)

As Company commander, the Captain is responsible for keeping up the morale of his men, through whatever justifiable means he can. He is also responsible for recommending promotion and demotion of non-commission officers (Sergeants and Corporals) and for meting out punishments for misbehavior and rewards for valor and service.

Not only did they enforce the discipline of his company and lift the spirits and stir the heart of the warrior, but the Captain was also expected to be well versed in military tactics and insure that his subordinates knew how to train the men in the performance of these tactics. One was never to stop learning. It was also a means of controlling the men and insuring that they behaved as befitted soldiers of their respective countries.

The Captain had to have his colonel’s agreement to promote or demote a soldier in his command. This prevented favoritism from taking hold of the chain of command, as even the best of commanders could fall to.

An interesting point on the relationship between the Captain and the First Sergeant was noted from this Source …

“The Captain must always sustain his First Sergeant, and the other non-commissioned officers, as far as is consistent with justice; above all things he should not appear to take sides with the men against them.  If the non-commissioned officers do wrong, they may be punished for it as any other man in the company, but where the matter is simply an error of judgment, the non-commissioned officer should be privately corrected, instructed, or reproved, as may be deemed necessary, but never in the presence of the men.  The men must be taught to respect their non-commissioned officers, and to recognize their authority to the fullest extent.”

When a soldier was mistreated by his First Sergeant (ex. Struck by the sergeant unjustly), he did not have the right to fight back. Instead of lowering himself to that level (unless, of course, the officer intended him fatal harm), the soldier was to personally report the incident to his Captain, who would investigate and punish the offender, just as though he were one of the men.

One of the things that made the Captain close with his men was the fact that he was (supposed to be) always there. He was to be there for any and all matters of business, great and small, to hear of grievances and requests and encourage the men to maintain discipline and a fighting spirit. His attitude greatly effected his men. If he seemed not to care about the success of his company in battle, neither would they.

More than anyone, the Captain has control over his men. It’s his job to make sure they understand their duty, follow it, and if they fail, investigate and punish the guilty party to insure no repeats from the offender or his fellows.

The men look up to their Captain. He needs to be brave, fearless even, assuring them that they can accomplish their goal. He needs to foster a respectable relationship with his men by seeing to even the simplest of issues that are brought to his attention. The men need to know he cares about them and that they can trust him.

There is also administrative duties the Captain must attend to, supply issues, reports to write, review or send out, but for sake of brevity, I’ll not give you the laundry list 😉 Refer to this link if you wish to know more (scroll down to the point that says “Administration”).

There is also the role of Officer of the day, which is basically an honor bestowed on different Captains in the regiments, with additional administrative duties attached to it. But because this can tend to get a bit dull, I will give you this link in case any of you would like more details.

That’s it for now! Next time this series roles around, we will be taking a look at the Major!

Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

And as promised in this post, I am finally ready to post the rest of my reviews for the Soldier Dogs series! Well, I only have 4, and there will be at least 6 before it’s all said and done, but I have to get my hands on 5 and 6 first, so…

Inspired by the stories of the real dogs who courageously served during World War II, this action-packed book takes readers into the action during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

When Skipper, the street dog all the Navy guys love, follows Joe home, Joe can’t believe his luck. But with a new baby brother in the house, he knows his family can’t afford the extra mouth to feed.

So he and his friends hatch a perfect plan: present Skipper to Joe’s dad, who works on the USS West Virginia, as a mascot dog for the ship. But when Joe is interrupted by the Japanese surprise attack on the harbor, it may be up to Skipper to make sure they all make it out alive.

Published 2018 by HarperCollins

My Rating: 2 Stars

My Review: This story had a unique kid’s eye-view of the battle of Pearl Harbor. Skipper was such a sweet dog and how they get involved in the action is quite entertaining, but deceptive. And since there was no mention of the boy being reprimanded later, I’m not too keen on that.

But to be honest, this book was a disappointment. The author went out of his way to make sure the readers knew blacks and whites hated each other…which wasn’t always true. In fact, for the most part, the two races got along pretty well in the 1940s. Yes, there was bigotry. I will not deny that. But it goes both ways, as this story unintentionally reveals. In trying to overstate that prejudice exists, the story doesn’t come off as “all people are created equal” but rather, “A white person treated me bad; therefore, all white people are bad. And if I meet one that is kind, he’s the exception.” While I am all for explaining the sin of bigotry to young people as a means of preventing them from falling into that, I do not condone putting down another race to lift up another. And comparing the bigotry of the sailor to the racism of Hitler was taking it way too far. While both are wrong, there is a marked difference between disliking someone for something they cannot help (nor need to, there is nothing wrong with anyone’s skin color) and wanting to kill them because of it. Big difference. The handling of this subject matter significantly dropped my rating. It had potential, but it missed the mark completely.

The author also made it seem like no one cared that Hawaiians were killed in the attack. In reality, the fact that civilians were killed in a military engagement gave the American people even more reason to support our going to war with Japan.

And I believe I also had to mark out a few bad words, but this was easily fixed.

The historical aspect of the story was well done. It was easy to be swept into the story and think that you were right there. I thank God I have never had to witness an attack such as that in person. (I did watch the Twin Towers fall on TV as a child, but like I said, it was on a screen.) It’s a frightening thing to imagine. It does make you appreciate all our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coastguardsmen do to keep us safe, often under the radar. (BTW, please be in prayer for our troops more than ever in these uncertain times. They need God’s protection, guidance and wisdom.)

Overall, I would only recommend this book if you have the time and desire to edit/explain the problems to your child/younger sibling. Otherwise…I’d recommend you save your money.

That’s it for now! Our next post will be a history post, so be sure and keep an eye out for that!

Have a Blessed Day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

There is only so much time in a day and only so many days in a year. And yet there are so many things we wish to accomplish. How can we ever get it all done, especially when one is writing a novel? Well, today, we are going to look at the art of setting goals and see how I am planning to get a novel written this year!

1. Pick your project. This one seems like a no brainer, but when setting goals, you must select one project to break down into goals. Sure, you can work on multiple projects at once, but when setting your goals, it’s crucial to stay focused. For the sake of illustration, I will select “A Song of Home” as my sample project. (No, you will not see my real timeline 😉. This is just for example.)

2. List the steps needed to accomplish your goal. Take out a sheet of paper and map out everything that needs to be done from start to finish. You may find that you need to add more steps as you progress, and that’s fine! Just get down the basics.

Ex. Brainstorm Novel, draft, revise, edit, team edit, beta-readers/proof edit, publish, market.

3. Set your deadlines. Be sure you have at least a tentative schedule of when (realistically) you want to have these goals met. Now, I’m in a ministry family. We travel…a lot. We get meetings spur of the moment that throws my plans to the wind. So give yourself grace if you have to take several weeks (months, years) to realistically complete a goal.

Ex. Brainstorm, 2 weeks; Draft, 3-6 months (depending on the length of the novel, how well you have it outlined, etc.); Revise, 1 month; Edit, 2 months; Beta-Read/Proof, 1 month; publish, set tentative month you want it out by. The turnaround time for printing and binding varies according to who you use and what time of year you order; Market…you never really stop, so this one doesn’t need a time limit. (Disclosure: These are totally random time slots I chose for this example and do not represent the ideal timeline. You do what works for you. I’m not even sure I could follow this!)

4. Break Up your steps. This is kind of like Step 2. Take each step and divide them into mini-steps.

Ex. Brainstorm: Book synopsis/blurb; picture file; playlist; outline; character questionnaire, etc.

5. Set Deadlines. Yep, this again! Look at the time frame you’ve given yourself and assign a deadline to each mini-step to help you accomplish your goal. This can also help you take stock of how realistic your plan is.

Ex. Brainstorm (2 Weeks): Book synopsis/blurb, 1-2 days; picture file, ongoing; playlist, 1 day; outline, 1 week; character questionnaire, 1 week. Okay, so it looks like this might be accomplished in 2 weeks if you multitask, but better safe than sorry. I’ll give myself another three days.

6. Get to it! Once your plan is in place, jump in, and get to work! And try to stick to your plan. Again, the unexpected happens. This is simply a tool to help you avoid laziness and procrastination. Don’t beat yourself up if other commitments call you away and throw everything off. Adjust and carry on!

This really can apply to any long-term project you want to accomplish.

I hope this post is a help to you and makes your writing/life process less stressful.

Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Welcome to our very first missions spotlight! Argentina is the country of interest today and I hope you enjoy our little trip to this South American nation!

Country: The Argentine Republic (aka Argentina)

Continent: South America

Population: 44.78 Million (est. 2019)

Capitol: Buenos Aires (pop. 2.89 Million)

Largest City: Buenos Aires

Motto: En Unión y Libertad (In Unity and Freedom)

National Anthem: “Hear, Mortals, the Sacred Cry: Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”

Current Leader: President Alberto Fernández (Elected: December 2019)

Language: Spanish

Bordering Countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay

Religions: Catholicism (62.9%); No Religion (18.9%); Protestantism (15.3%) {This includes Baptists, though we are not Protestants. We did not come out of the Catholic Church.}; Jehovah’s Witness/Mormon (1.4%); Other Religions (1.2%); No answer (0.2%). (2019; Source: from Religion in Argentina, Wikipedia) Approx. 84.4 % (Possibly more) of this nation is lost.

Animals of Interest (click on the name for a look at these animals!): Guanaco (in the llama family), Southern Right Whale, Magellanic Penguin, South Andean Deer, Maned Wolf and Pampas Cat, just to name a few!

Famous Foods: Empanadas (a pastry “pocket” that can be stuffed with desserts or meat mixtures); Dulce de leche (“Candy of Milk”; a thick caramel sauce); Asado (Argentinian BBQ!).

Fun Facts: Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world! Its name is derived from a Latin word meaning Silver. Argentina had 5 presidents in 10 days in 2001! It is also the largest Spanish speaking country in the world. Perito Moreno Glacier is the 3rd largest freshwater source and is also a glacier that is growing, not shrinking! Abortion is still restricted in Argentina, except in rare instances, which while still wrong, it’s a huge step in the right direction! (Source: SeriousFacts.com)

Missionaries: Patrick and Leslie Henry, Faith Baptist Church, Lanús, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Prayer Requests: Pray that the light of the Gospel will reach this nation and turn it around from an idol worshiping nation to followers of Christ. FBN is heard in this country, so please pray that God will bless the broadcast. More people in Argentina listen to the radio by percentage than any other country, so pray that they will come across FBN and hear the Gospel. And above all, pray for laborers to go and serve!

Don’t forget to check your list of missionaries at your church for Missionaries to Argentina! Encourage your family to pray for them and perhaps send them a note of encouragement!

That's it for now! Have a Blessed Day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Our first devotion of the New Year! It’s hard to believe it’s already time for a new devotion and a new theme word to center it upon. But here we are, ready for a new lesson and a new challenge, or so I hope. Without further ado, let’s begin!

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Proverbs 29:18
King James Bible

What is a Vision?

In modern times, we do not have “visions” or dreams sent to us by God to teach us lessons. But we should all still have a vision. I think of a vision as a combination of a dream, desire and a goal. A dream of an idea, something you would love to see happen. A desire to actually accomplish that dream. A goal or multiple goals, set and met to bring that dream to pass.

What is Your Vision?

We all have one (or two or three!) in our lives. It could be to become a published author, learn a new instrument or get more organized. Maybe you want to learn how to sew, or research a topic of personal interest. And if you are a gentleman, you are probably gathering the skills you need for your career of choice.

Where is Your Vision?

Now here is the clincher. There is nothing wrong with having dreams and desires for the future. But what is the purpose behind your vision? Stop and check up: Is this something God wants me to do? Is this something that will only benefit me, or is it something I can use to honor God and Bless others? Is this something that will point others to me or to God?

Here is a vision that should be in every Christian’s heart: the Vision of Reaching the World for Christ. In fact, we are commanded to take a personal interest in this endeavor. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15, King James Version)

Missions is the heartbeat of God. Have you considered your place in fulfilling the Great Commission? What has God called you to do, or have you even asked Him? Have you surrendered your life to serve God in whatever capacity He brings your way? Have you considered the fact that you may be called to be a missionary? Are you witnessing to those around you? Have you started giving monthly to your church’s missions program?

And that other vision of yours. It’s so perfect, so in line with what you want to do in life. But is it what God has for you? A dear friend of ours wanted to be a pharmacist. He went to a University and began his studies. And he failed a class. His dream, the one he wanted and had planned for, not even a bad plan, had come crashing down around him. He at last sought God, giving his plans over to Him. And God called him to be an English teacher. He has taught in Public and Christian Schools, teaching English and literature, even getting to teach the Bible in Public School, because it is literature!

Does God want you to go to college or is that just your own desire you hope He’s okay with? Does God want you to pursue that career or does He have something different in mind for you? Does God want you to serve Him on the missionfield or serve here at home? Is your current path His choice for you or your own desire?

It’s time for some soul searching. Where is your Vision? On Christ or yourself?