Everyone, I must start this post with a disclaimer 😊 I always have been and always will be loyal to the Army, first and foremost 😉 My Grandfather and Great-grandfather were both Army veterans, the man who bought my first laptop for me was in the Army National Guard, my favorite figures in history were in the Army…you get the point.

However, …

Today is not Army day; Today is Navy Day! And where would we be without our dear guardians of the sea? No rhyme intended😆

I must say, the Navy does fascinate me. I mean, honestly, who doesn’t look up to the Navy SEALs?  So today, I’m going to give you five times the Navy came through for America in Amazing ways!

The Turtle. Many of you have probably seen a submarine whether in real life or in pictures. But have you ever wondered when the first one was invented? In 1775! Yep, that’s right! David Bushnell built the Turtle, the first submersible vessel ever created!  (Click here for more information.) It’s goal was to plant a bomb under the HMS Eagle, and while their mission didn’t go quite as planned, they did succeed in loosening the blockage the British had imposed!

Ironclads. Developed by both the Confederate and Union Navies, respectively, these ships showed everyone that the future of Naval warfare was in iron ships, not wooden ones. Nothing like American ingenuity!

Razzle Dazzle Camouflage. While this was actually an idea shared with us by the British during WW1, this is an amazing Naval feat! I’ll link the article here, but the idea was to paint the ships in ridiculous patterns and use the contrasting colors to make the distance and type of ship hard for the enemy to judge. Truly fascinating!

Uncle Sam Wants YOU! Avenge Pearl Harbor! Following the attack on our Hawaii Military base, damaging several ships, costing 2,335 lives (2,008 of those belonging to the Navy) and dozens of planes, there was an outcry for our men and boys to join the Navy. And they showed up! There were even politicians who left office to support the cause! Hats off to those boys in “Bell-Bottom Trousers, Coat of Navy Blue” 😊

May 2nd, 2011. While I would never celebrate the death of a non-believer, I must say that the day Osama bin Laden was announced dead, I gave a sigh of relief. I felt safer, knowing that at least this man could no longer bring pain and suffering to American servicemen or to his own people. As a child, I remember praying that he would come to know Christ as his Savior, but unfortunately, that never happened. Thank God for the U.S. Navy SEALs who brought a little more safety to the world as we know it!
 
Take a moment to thank God for all of our servicemen, but especially our Sailors.

Happy Navy Day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22
*Emoji art supplied by Emoji One

Hello everyone! I’m here with another writing post in the “I have a Story” series! (If you are new, click here for links to the previous posts.) Today is a fun post! The Team Edit is a part I look forward to, because this is the beginning of the end! My book is actually turning into something people will one day read! Something that will be published! But, that being said, it’s still a lot of work. Here’s what it looks like…

Unlike my other methods, I don’t have a step by step process for this stage. Each book is different, so I have to adjust to meet the current need.

My mom is my editing teammate 😊 Some say that’s not a good idea, but my reply is that, “You’ve not met my mom!” She doesn’t play favorites and can be painfully (but kindly) honest when the situation calls for it. I can honestly say that my books would be a mess without her! (Today is her birthday, btw! Happy Birthday, Mom!

One thing that never changes is the nervous feeling I get giving mom my book for the very first time. It gives me chills! Sometimes we read it together, sometimes she reads through it once by herself, and still other times, she’ll go part way through then pull me in midway. The best times are when we sit together and read through the book together, discussing the problems and finding the solutions. She has the best story ideas. Those who have read The Land of Cotton, remember that scene between Jeremy and Drew in chapter 18? Yeah, that was mom’s idea! Know and love Burdy Boyles? Again, Mom’s idea 😊

Often times, working with mom is like doing another round of color coded edits. I take the corrections, go through and fix them, then we read through the book again…and again and again until we are ready to send it off to…my grammar editor!

Stay tuned!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today is the 3rd day of our week-long FBN Fall Share-a-thon, so I thought it would be appropriate to post today rather than Friday. I mentioned that I was planning to share about how we became involved with the Fundamental Broadcasting Network and today I’m keeping that promise! Enjoy!

Ever since I was born, my dad has been a preacher. I always seemed to know that. But we didn’t start in full-time ministry until I was five years old. 9/11 had just happened when the Lord called us to Maryland. My dad served as the pastor’s assistant there for four years, as well as serving as the administrator of the Christian school our church ran.

God used us there for four years. In 2005, my dad was voted in to pastor a church farther west in Maryland where we would serve for two years. One evening, we were each busy doing something outside…so busy in fact that we didn’t realize my little sister (3 at the time) was inside by herself. The phone rang and she answered it. Following a rather amusing conversation, she hung up, very proud of herself for having answered the phone. When she mentioned it later, we had no idea what she was talking about, since she had made up a funny name for the caller. At last, dad used the redial setting on the phone and contacted the caller. It turned out to be Pastor Dennis Leatherman of Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church. He had called to invite us to a revival service. He laughed as dad explained what had happened with my little sister and said, “I told my wife, ‘I don’t know who that little girl was, but she sure loves me!’” We all had a good laugh and mom marked our calendar for the revival.

We made a true friend in Pastor Leatherman and his wife. They were such a blessing to us over the next two years as my dad battled health issues. It was also at their church that we learned about the Fundamental Broadcasting Network. They had a station on their property and told us about the mother station, located in North Carolina, four hours away from our hometown!

We fell in love with the King James programing and beautiful, conservative music. And when we heard our first share-a-thon, we knew that it would be our favorite time of year from then on!

It was also Pastor Leatherman that introduced us to the Sword of the Lord Conference. He hosts one every fall at his church, but he said the one in Walkertown, N.C. was even bigger and such an encouragement.

In 2007, we moved back to North Carolina and attended the Sword Conference. There, my sister Gera and I ran across the FBN booth and met Bro. Dwayne Ebron and his wife. He is the General Manager of FBN! We were so excited!

The following year, we attended the meeting again. While walking around the gym looking at all the booths, an older lady approached us and said, “Oh, look how your children have grown!” None of us knew who she was, but we talked with her for quite a while. She said, “I want you to meet my husband.” We rounded the corner and met Pastor Clyde I. Eborn, founder of FBN and pastor of Grace Baptist Church! One thing led to another and we decided to visit the church that fall. We loved it! We toured the station, met the voices behind the broadcasts and even got to take a trip to see the ocean, something none of us younger ones had ever done. Thank the Lord it gets cold at the coast, so we could enjoy the sights! 😉

We loved FBN even more having seen the place that had encouraged us so much over the years. We returned in 2009 to visit and on this trip, Pastor requested that we represent FBN as dad preached in other churches in our area. We agreed gladly.

In 2010, we were able to attend our very first Fall Share-a-thon. Oh! We knew we had to be at them every year after that! It was amazing! Answering phones, running papers back and forth, working the controls, the desk and dad getting to be on air…it was so much fun! Little did we know that by January of 2011, we would be living on campus, serving in Grace Baptist Church and FBN full time! Pastor talked with my dad at that Share-a-thon and by the end of Autumn, we were making plans to move.

In January, the same month I started writing my first book, The Land of Cotton, we moved in the “White House,” and started serving in our new church. We loved it! We worked in the radio (dad helped build a tower in Georgia!), the bus ministry, the nursery and anywhere else we could! We helped man FBN booths at fairs/events, traveled out of town to tell others about the network, helped with Share-a-thon, and knocked on doors inviting people to church. We were able to help with our church’s military ministry too (That would be an interesting story, lol! Working with Marines is never dull!)

Even though we were homesick for our hometown, we believed we would spend the rest of our life in Newport, North Carolina. But God had other plans. In 2013, Pastor called dad into his office and made an offer to him; since our hometown is smack-dab in the middle of the state, would we be willing to move back there and go out from our church as Missionary Representatives for FBN? We would retain our church membership, but now we could more easily travel out to tell others about the radio, hopefully raising support as we went.

In early 2014, we moved back home and put Pastor’s plan into action. And we have continued to represent FBN ever since! God has blessed and over the last few years our listenership has grown! We have the best of both worlds, serving through our church and living in our hometown near family. We still get to be involved with ministry at our church, including Share-a-thon and VBS!

This week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. our Share-a-thon will be live on www.fbnradio.com. Please tune in and be a part of this amazing ministry, reaching people around the world!

Stay tuned!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Happy Friday, everyone! I’m back from the Southwide Independent Baptist Fellowship and let me tell you, it was amazing! God is so good, and the services were so encouraging. Plus, we were able to give out information about FBN and sell some of my books!

Today I am returning to my series on Soldier Life. In case your new, the Soldier Life series (click here for last post) is a series currently dealing with the American War Between the States. The purpose of this series is to help out fellow writers and researchers, helping them avoid the hunt and peck method for information that I experienced 😊 I do occasionally recommend some books on the topics I cover, but I generally try to give basic info on the topic, along with some not so well know information. Today, we’re talking about Chaplains.

What is a Chaplain? A chaplain is a preacher, for the army 😉 Their job was to minister to the soldiers the same way a pastor would. Let’s check out some of those jobs.

Preaching. Obviously as a man of God, it was the job of the Chaplain to preach the word of God to the soldiers. Many units canceled unnecessary duties on Sundays to support the church services. In the Confederate Army starting in 1862, revival broke out in camp. With this came daily services in many places and an increased soulwinning effort. This lasted until the war ended and was the last great revival our Nation has seen.

Counseling. During war, many men take time to look at their lives, seeing things that need to change. The chaplain was often the one they turned to with spiritual questions.

Ministering to the wounded and dying. We all know that scene in a film were the preacher is called in to pray with the dying man, usually using the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23 to comfort. That’s not far from the truth. While they may not have only used those portions of scripture, the scene was seen frequently during the war. Also, Chaplains hovered near the surgery tents to pray with the men before losing a limb or undergoing operations.

Singing. There were no song leaders hired in the army😆 While some of the men in camp could serve in this capacity, it often fell to the chaplain to lead the singing in camp services.

The Shoulder to Lean on. While a comrade in arms, a family member or even the doctor often filled this role, the chaplain was more times than not the man to turn to when you were struggling mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally.

Librarian. Not literally, but if you needed something to read, find your chaplain 😉 They collected donations from citizens to provide reading material for the troops: Books, Bibles, Newspapers, Tracts, whatever you could think of.

A Few Books You Should Check Out:

Christ in the Camp by J. William Jones (Robert E. Lee’s personal Chaplain). This book focuses on the Religion in the army, not on the causes of the war, though it briefly touches on this. No matter who you think was right in the War Between the States, you should read this book!

Chaplains in Gray by Charles Pitt. Another good one! This book is shorter than the first book, but every bit as informative!

Hope this helps you in your pursuit of knowledge 😊
Have a Blessed Day!
Ryana Lynn

*Emoji art supplied by Emoji One

Hello everyone! Today I am addressing a topic that is near and dear to my heart: Pro-Life. I know this encompasses several things, but I am focusing on the right to life for the unborn. They can't speak for themselves. So I am going to today.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:16
 King James Bible

That’s kinda a given. I mean, in order for someone to have freedom, they have to be alive, right? But what constitutes as Life? Some say it’s when a baby takes it’s first breath. Others say it’s when it’s heart begins to beat. Still others say it’s the moment it begins to form. This is the stance taken by most Pro-Lifers. But what if Life begins…before even that?
 
The verse above states that God had written down all the members (or parts) of David’s body in a book, before they were even formed. From this, we find that Life, as God sees it, began from the beginning. He knew who everyone was and would be before they were even thought of by man. He knew what you would look like, what you would enjoy doing, what kinds of foods you would like…back before He even created Adam and Eve. Let that sink in for a minute!

Our Nation stands on the fundamental, “That all men are created equal” (originally this was referring to governments, but now means to us, no race is better than another; in abilities and character, nobody is equal to another, God made us all unique! He truly is Wonderful!) and “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable (cannot be taken away or denied) Rights, that among these (but not only these) are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
 
Since Life was determined from the beginning, then abortion has no leg to stand on. By tolerating this practice in our Nation, we deny human, unalienable rights to our future citizens! We deny them every Right endowed to them by their Creator! Will it stop here? If we can steal Life from the unborn, what is to stop someone from determining whether someone else has a right to live or not? (Think Adolf Hitler.)
 
The Pro-Life movement is more important than people realize. It is the heart-cry of humanity, justice, decency and Christianity. Please, speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves! If we don’t, who will speak for us when we no longer can?
 
…Among these rights are LIFE…

Something to Think About: Share the Pro-Life Message with others around you. Would you like to speak up for the unborn this Sunday? Take part in the Life Chain Sunday event! Visit www.nationallifechain.org for more details!

Until Next Time,
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22