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Hello and welcome back to Life of Heritage Corner! Is it just me or did March fly by? Today, I’d like to share with you some of my March favorites. Let’s go!  My March Favorites… Event: Capitol Connection! Once a year, me, my dad and my sister take part in Awake America’s Capitol Connection where preachers from around the country meet in Washington D.C. to pray with our Senators and Congressmen! We met with Rep. Ted Budd, our representative. He’s a blessing! Another great memory was having my picture made with Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas)! He’s a former Navy SEAL and SOOOOOOO nice! We also visited Late Rep. Walter Jones’ office, taking a look at two posters he had hanging outside the office. They were servicemen from eastern North Carolina and those stationed in eastern North Carolina who have died in the service of our Country. Such a moving moment! Song: Only One by Adam Morgan. Oh, this song was so powerful! We sang with the Capital Connection choir and this was one of the songs. Jonathan Hamilton (aka P.J. Pirate) sang the solo part and it sounded amazing. It can be found on The Incredible Race CD and the Hamilton Family CD, God of Wonders. Verse: O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. (Psalm 139:1-6; King James Bible) This whole chapter was such a blessing to me! I call it the Pro-Life Psalm 😉 Knowing that God knows me better than anyone else (including myself) is such a comfort to me, especially since I sometimes have trouble expressing myself to others. (I know, I’m a writer and I should be able to articulate the proper words in every situation, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen, lol!) And lets just take a moment and appreciate the lovely old English prose of these verses…I can’t get enough of it! The Bible is so poetic! Book of the Month: I didn’t read very much this month, we've been so busy and I've been working on book edits, so I don’t have a book to recommend here! Oh, unless my devotion book counts! Revival Today by John Goetsch and Nathan Birt is so good! Everyday, they take a preacher from history, well known or not, and tell something that happened in their lives on or near that day in history. God used each of these men in shaking a nation and bringing revival. It’s amazing to read testimonies of men like Gypsy Smith, Billy Sunday, Shubal Stearns and Charles Fuller. And you learn a lot of interesting facts about these men as well. For example, did you know that the main reason prohibition happened in the United States was because of Billy Sunday? Or that Preachers preached against using the radio to reach souls for Christ? Charles Fuller was the first to use radio to broadcast the Gospel! In fact, we play his program (Old-Fashioned Revival Hour) on FBN Radio at 2:05 p.m. on Sundays! Definitely check this program and book out! Ministry: FBN Share-a-thon went wonderful! Thank you to everyone who tuned in, donated and prayed that God would bless! Over the course of the week, 588 people gave to the Share-a-thon, with 123 first-time givers! The LORD allowed the Share-a-thon to raise $229,648.00. The Share-a-thon ended while raising support for October 9. We'd like to thank each and every one of you who prayerfully and financially support FBN. This ministry is blessed with faithful listeners, and we are so grateful for you! God is so good! Writing Update: I am almost done with my self-edits! Next week should wrap it up, Lord Willing! Ministry has kept us hopping, but I wouldn’t trade this past month’s experiences for anything! I am currently working on the Missouri Campaign and the Georgia Campaign. Pray for me, as both are difficult to write! I want them just right! A Book I am Anticipating for April: It’s still The Hiding Place, as I only started the book this month. It’s a little slow for me, because the first two chapters don’t really make sense to me yet…I can’t see how they tie in with the story I’m familiar with. Hopefully that will change soon! And Now for your Story Prompts!
 That’s all for now! Lord Willing, I’ll be back next month!
Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Hey, everyone! I’m back with another writing post! Today, I want to share a little bit about naming characters. Personally, I think this is one of the hardest parts of writing! Some characters have names that just jump out at you; you can’t imagine them having any other name. Others cause you to go from name to name trying to find the one that fits them. Some just don’t come at all.  Let’s take a look at a few ways I’ve found names for my characters.
Something to Think About: Do you have a special way you find names for your projects? How did you do it? Did you use any of the above ideas? Which one are you most prone to try out? And what is the best name you’ve ever come up with, and how did you find it? Share your ideas with a struggling friend! Until Next Time, Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Hello everyone! Today is a very special day for our family! Many of you don't know this, but I have an Uncle who has Downs Syndrome. Today, I get to feature him on World Downs Syndrome Day!  Forty-Two Years ago, God blessed our family in a very special way when my Uncle Mark was born. He is my dad's younger brother. And I can't imagine life without him! Downies are different, that's for sure, but anyone with one of these special people in their lives will tell you, they are irreplaceable! Mark loves bouncy balls that light up when you throw them...he loves throwing them where you least expect him to so he can watch you chase it. His favorite ball though is a basket ball. Puzzles are another favorite. He loves his animal peg puzzle and "tricking" us into thinking the parrot piece belong in the colt spot. And he'll smile so big when he get's the iguana and the turtle in the right place. He loves apple sauce, "eggies" and ice cream. And chocolate milk is a must! He loves his fruit juice and pancakes are high on his list too! Picture books with bright colors are another pastime he enjoys. Noah's ark, with all the animals, held his attention for a several moments as he looked from one animal to the next. Another time, we were looking at a "First words" book and I pointed at the brown dog in the picture. "Laddie," he said, referencing a dog he'd had as a child. Who knew that he remembered Laddie? It was a special moment as he stared at the picture and grinned, saying "Laddie" over and over. Oh, and did I mention he loves music? Twinkle Twinkles Little Star, Jesus Loves Me and the B-I-B-L-E are favorites. And he enjoys listening to FBN, especial The Bible in Living Sound!  While there are lots of challenges and not every day is a "good" day, we feel so privileged to have Uncle Mark in our family!
If you want to see something that will bless your heart, read this post and watch the video! It's so precious! If you can, show your support for World Downs Syndrome Day by wearing mismatched socks! And if you meet a family with a precious Downie, stop and talk to them. It will make their day and you might just get a hug ;) Have a blessed Day! Ryana Lynn Jude 22 Hello! I know I normally post on Fridays, but I have a very special post for you today. As you probably know my family represents the Fundamental Broadcasting Network (You can see a post here and here about FBN!) and March 18-23 is our Share-a-thon! It’s when our listeners call in and donate to keep the network running. The preachers (my dad being one of them) talk and preach live on air, sometimes groups will sing and prayer requests are taken. It’s a wonderful time! So today, I thought I’d give you a behind the scenes look at what happens at FBN Share-a-thon!  Share-a-thon begins at 7:00 a.m. EST at 520 Roberts Rd, Newport, North Carolina. My dad and I usually get there early to meet with others for prayer. Then, I head to the kitchen to talk with Mrs. E., our breakfast lady. I’m good friends with her daughter and I always enjoy getting Mrs. E. to myself for about half an hour. I get my breakfast (decaf coffee and a bowl of the best ever grits with bacon!) then prepare to head in for my shift. Most of the time, I at least start out answering phones at 8, but sometimes, others volunteer for that shift. Now, I’m what I like to call a floater! I have phone shifts of my own, but I hang around to fill in for people who have to cancel or need to get something to eat or may just be running a little late. We have three phones used to answer calls. When they ring, you can hear it on air! We answer, “Hello, FBN Spring Share-a-thon, may I take your promise?” People tell us the amount they would like to promise our station and whether it’s a onetime amount or something they want to give over six months. Then we collect their name, address, how they listen and any prayer requests or testimonies they would like to share. I’ve had the privilege to talk with many people over the years and hear amazing stories first hand. There is a woman who I’ve talk to three times who gives in memory of her son. He was a Navy SEALs and died in a helicopter crash. We’ve cried together over the phone and once she called me back so she could read me a letter a buddy of his wrote to her after her son passed. He told her that there wasn’t a day go by that her son didn’t witness to the guys on his team. What a testimony! Another lady calls every year to give and she told me about a young couple she was witnessing to, helping the young man get employment and transportation, plus talking them out of aborting their baby! She’s working hard to reach them! What a blessing! I don’t know about you, but I get nervous praying in front of others. I was on the phone once with a woman who was struggling with several situations trying to discourage her in her walk with God. She began to cry, asking us to pray for her. I was about to pass the phone to my mom, who was on shift with me, so she could pray with her. Lo and behold, the other phone rang! I would have to pray with her! So, I did! God helped me overcome my fear and the lady seemed truly grateful. I hope she didn’t hear how shaky my voice was! This is what FBN is about, helping others in their spiritual lives, whether it’s encouragement they need, or salvation! I was on the phones with my dad one day and a man called asking about being saved. I transferred the call to my dad, since it was a man. He was very upset, afraid God hated him because of a specific sin in his life. Dad explained that God didn’t hate him, just his sin. After about fifteen minutes, my dad was able to lead him to the Lord! He talked with our pastor and he asked if we could send him “a King James Bible,” because he had heard that was the good one! We sent it to him along with some literature for new Christians. Another time, a young Marine from New York dropped by, asking if he could donate some Sweet Potatoes they had left over from a party. He knew lots of churches had food closets. (I’m curious as to what kind of party it was, lol! I haven’t thought of Sweet Potatoes as party food!) Anyway, he drove past several churches on his way to our church. His family were Baptists, so he decided that’s the kind of church he wanted to deliver the food to. But there were other Baptists churches on his way, yet he came here. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Mrs. Robinson, our secretary, got my dad off the radio to come talk to him. Long story short, the Marine got saved! We never saw him again, but we know that one day, we will see him again. I don’t know what ever became of the Sweet Potatoes… I think that’s all I’ll share for now. But please, tune in if for no other reason than to hear what God is doing at 520 Roberts Rd. and around the world! He is a Marvelous, Matchless Savior! Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3 King James Bible Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn Jude 22 P.S. Tune in and see if you can figure out which voice belongs to my dad! Good morning, afternoon or evening, where ever you are and whenever you’re reading this! I’m thrilled to have you back here at Life of Heritage Corner! This post was originally supposed to be put up next month, but on a whim, I decided to do it now. It has been requested that I share some of the books that I get my information from, specifically for my series, The Battle for Heritage, set during the War Between the States. 📚 So today, I’m going to share 6 of the books that really helped me get my series together, specifically for The Land of Cotton!  Very early on in my work, a dear man gave me over a dozen books from his personal collection. These books have helped me a lot! In fact, three of them made this list! So, here are my top six research books.📝 1. The Civil War by Bruce Caton ©1988 by American Heritage Inc. edition. Now, I disagree with Mr. Caton on his view of the War Between the States, but the main thing I used this book for (which was very well researched; he’s known as the Civil War Authority of his day) was the special bonuses at the end of the book. Part 1 is a Chronology of the Civil War, dividing the events up by year, month and day. I relied heavily on this while plotting my series and still refer to it constantly. Part II is the Index to the Chronology. This listed all the battles alphabetically, then in small print listed the month, day and year it took place, so you could look it up in the chronology. Very helpful! Part III is The Leading Participants. Alphabetically, the political and military leaders of both sides are listed, with a paragraph telling who they are, what they did in the war, when they did it, if they were wounded and when, what battles they fought in, what command position they held and when, and when they died (if applicable). It is a gold mine! To be honest, I’ve yet to actually read the book…I’ve only used the bonus indexes!😆 2. The Time-Life History of the Civil War (I don’t have my copy down right now, so I’m not sure what edition it is, but click here to see it.) I read parts of this book, depending on what battle I was currently working on. It gave quotes from soldiers as well as times and places when things happened. But mostly, I used it for the pictures. There were drawings✏, photos📸 , and paintings🖌, some more modern and some made during the war. I used these for inspiration for characters, activities and battle sequences. 3. A Civil War Treasury of Tales, Legends and Folklore, Edited, with an Introduction by B.A. Botkin ©1960 by B.A. Botkin, 1993 Promontory Press Edition Warning: It does need some editing…there are a few bad words and a few stories that need to be taken out! This book is exactly what it sounds like, Tales, legends, folklore, letters and journals written by the people who actually experienced the war! Now, the title insinuates that not everything in the book is 100% accurate, which is true, but there really isn’t a lot of “Tall-Tales”. Most of the content is history written down by the multiple authors. You get a great look at what the men fought for, what camp life was like, what it was like back home and what was going on in the officers and politicians’ heads. There are news articles as well. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in the time period, the language and the mindset of the people. You hear from both the famous and the unheard of, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy it! 4. Beloved Bride by Bill Potter ©2002-2012 by Vision Forum (Read a full review here!) This book is beautiful! 😍 It’s one of the books that made me fall in love with General Stonewall Jackson. And yes, most of what I wrote about Stonewall came from reading this book (his dialogue is based off his actual patterns of speech, things he really said and the way he responded to situations.) It’s one of my very favorite non-fictions! Read it, just go read it! ❤ 5. A Pocket History of the Civil War by Martin F. Graham ©2011 by Martin F. Graham Osprey Publishing Edition Oh, wow! I found this book at Ollie’s on sale and it was truly my pocket guide! Again, I didn’t agree with this author’s take on the war, but I found for the most part, it seemed pretty neutral. The statistics were very helpful as well as the breakdown of how to load a rifle. If you read The Land of Cotton, the scene where the boys are going through the process of joining up and the scene where one of the boys is loading his gun, both came from this book. It’s a very comprehensive guide. I also got a lot of information for my Soldier Life // Privates post from this book! Definitely a book to pick up if you are writing about the War Between the States or if you want a little more than a basic overview of the war. My only hang up with this story is that they say the only reason the South went to war was over slavery, which wasn’t a reason at all. Otherwise, I can’t think of anything… 6.The Civil War for Kids by Janis Herbert ©1999 by Janis Herbert, Chicago Review Press 1st Edition This book gave me the idea to include loading the rifle in my book, though I used #5 to get a clearer understanding. It also inspired me to include espionage in my book. Even though it’s biased for the Union, you’ll find it jammed packed with information and activities. 📒There’s also fun bonus facts about the war, like what names of places mean, who named what battles, biography sketches, etc. If you’ve read Our Heritage to Save, you may remember the scene where Titus dives into the breakdown of the army’s companies, regiments, etc. I got all that from this book. I highly recommend it! So that’s it for now! Hope this has given you something to springboard off of. In the future I hope to tell you about some of my Confederate resources, more histories and even some documentaries that help me! If you have any questions about these books, please let me know and someone from my team (aka me or my family!) will answer them for you!  The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.
II Timothy 4:12 (King James Bible) |
Ryana Lynn
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