1| I have Deadline Commitment Issues, haha!
I don’t know why, but having a deadline pretty much guarantees that I will not finish on time. I get so nervous about it that I just freeze up. So giving myself a stack of books to finish in a month is a bad idea for me.
 
2| I’m a Mood Reader
This is something that I am figuring out about myself, but my mood heavily dictates what I want to read. If I’m not in the mood for romance (clean ones!), I’m going to take the romance book slow or stop completely. Even if I’m enjoying it, I just can’t seem to force myself to finish it without going into a slump.
 
3| I Have Trouble Focusing when I have too many Pre-Scheduled Books or Not Enough Time
Hailing back to reason 1, my brain freezes up under pressure. I feel panicky, even though I’m the only one putting pressure on myself. I don’t like being a quitter. It’s deeply ingrained in me, and I am trying to break that mindset in regards to reading.
 
4| Did I mention I hate Deadlines?
Yeah, I just really, really, hate deadlines.

1| Allowing My Self to DNF Books I’m not Enjoying
Not enjoying the book, I’m stopping. Sometimes it takes me a page, sometimes a few chapters. But when I realize I don’t like it, that’s it.
 
2| Reading comic books to help me feel accomplished.
I need to see progress happening. I need to see my number of books read growing. Comic books are a great way to feed that need while also reading longer works. This why, I don’t feel like I’m spinning my wheels.
 
3| Trying new authors and new genres
A few years ago, I never would have read anything remotely romantic or related to manga. Now, I’m cautiously dipping my toes into these genres and am eyeing suspense novels too!
 
4| Reading books I love, regardless of what others may think.
Relating to those two genres I just mentioned… Many people have a stigma attached to romance and manga. Let me be clear. I am very selective with the one I read and I am not above censoring my copies. But as long as I don’t feel God telling me not to or my husband for that matter, I don’t have to justify my reading habits to anyone else. Some books I mention on here are not going to be for everyone. And that’s okay!
 
5| Shelving books that I’m just not clicking with in that moment.
Some books just aren’t right for the moment, ya know? Classics usually do this to me. If they don’t intrigue me from chapter one, I probably won’t stick with it/have to take a break. They will keep for the right time. (Also, audiobooks help!)
 
6| Reading the first chapter of multiple book and picking the one I’m most interested in.
I never used to do this, but now, I’m finding this really helps me pick my books! I highly recommend grabbing four or five books you can’t choose between and reading the first chapter before deciding!
 
How about you? What are your tips and tricks? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
 
Have a blessed day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

The other day, I was at my local library for their 0-24 month old’s reading circle.

We LOVE reading circle. It gets us out of the house and it has given me more and more ideas for activities and story engagement type things to do with Dixie. We don’t 100% agree with EVERYTHING they do or don’t do, but it’s a nice opportunity to get out of the house and most of the content is totally fine.

However.

The other day, we went in and they were reading Glad, Glad Bear.

A story about a little bear going to his first dance class.

Wearing a pink tutu.

I don’t know about you, but that didn’t set right with me, so I quietly took Dixie out. I didn’t make a huge scene and I didn’t get all in a huff. I was honestly heart broken.
So I went to the front desk, requested a complaint form and submitted it.

We haven’t heard back and after praying about it, we are continuing to attend. Second strike, they’re out.

But this really got me to thinking about how we as Christians are so bad about giving things up and not replacing it with anything.

Bad music in a program? Gone. Wrong version of the Bible (which is important!)? Gone. Magic? Bad language? Sinful lifestyles portrayed? Gone.

And we don’t replace it with anything! Sorry we can’t do this fun thing anymore, kids, let’s get back to our school work and chores.

I’m sorry but having fun is still important and I will always stand by that.
So what do we need to do?

Replace it with something wholesome! If you find out a program you let your children watch/listen to has questionable content? Replace it with a clean program or film! Library circle not working out? Borrow books and invite another mom and her brood over for a reading circle! Decided Barbie dolls aren’t good for your family to have around? Find another toy/activity to replace it with!

I do have some suggestions for you! Below I am sharing Christian and clean recommendations for you, along with age guides!

These lists are not exhaustive, but hopefully they are a start for you to get your family reading/listening/movie time moving! Don’t quit something without having an alternative!
 
Question of the Day: what titles would you add to this list? Would you like to see more suggestions like this in the future?

Blog Posts I've Been Enjoying
A Letter to Pontius Pilate || Katja L., Little Blossoms for Jesus
Natural Attributes of God || Sophia D., Glorious Daughters

Have a Blessed Day!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Wow. I did NOT intend to be gone for so long! I’m not apologizing though because I have been living in the moment with my wonderful husband and baby girl! I am loving being a mom and I wouldn’t trade it for the world! But all that said, I am so happy to be getting back on the writing train!

Right off the bat, I’m gonna ask how you are doing! Please let me know in the comments below so we can catch up on all the things!

Okay, I know you don’t actually want to read more of this intro. We all know you are here for the baby 😉

April 11th, 2022 will go down in annals of my life as one of the best days of my life. Our 7 pound 15 ounce baby girl made her debut at 5:44 pm via induction after 7 hours of active labor. God was so merciful to me. I did have to have an episiotomy and she needed suctioned once but we both came through just fine!

Many have asked about her name, so here’s the story!

I have always loved the name Dixie. Y’all know that, haha! But I wasn’t sure how Jacob would feel about it. But when a friend said they almost named their child Dixie, but chose Carolina instead, I decided to mention it.

Jacob loved it. He picked Cross for her middle name. It’s his mother’s middle name and his grandmother’s maiden name! So a nice family tie in!

Now Burke on the other hand, that was a last minute decision that I am so glad we made. Pastor Travis Burke, a dear friend of my husband’s and a mentor to us both through his sermons, jokingly told Jacob Burke was a wonderful name. I was in the bed, dealing with contractions. Jacob looked at me, and asked what I thought of Dixie Cross Burke and instantly, that little piece that I felt was missing fell into place. It was perfect. I fell in love.

Then she was born and I knew we made the right choice.

Dixie is four and a half months old now and growing like a weed! She’s almost ready to start baby food and today, she rolled over for the first time on her own, while awake, lol! She’s been doing it in her sleep since she was two weeks old!

She loves bright colors, her first word was Hey! and her favorite person is Pop-Pop (Jacob’s dad!). She tries to sing with us in the car and is really working on saying I Love You, which is melting my heart. Jacob and I have been saying that to her since she was in the womb and hearing her try to match the syllables? It’s a moment I’ve lived for.

Life has been good! We’ve continued our work with our Junior church and are currently running a donut promotion for the kiddos! They are LOVING it and have been encouraging each other to be consistent in their attendance!

I’ve been working on organizing our office and I am trying to make the house cozier. After watching Little Women (2019), I knew that feel is what I want for my home. I want it to be cozy and inviting. A place we can relax and enjoy each other after a long day. If you have any suggestions, I’m open to ideas!

I will admit, I haven’t been writing much. Dixie keeps me on my toes, but since I am falling into a routine, I hope to be writing much more in the near future! To Save a Life is with my formatter, and The Battlefield is Silent is in the outlining stage! If you are one of my older readers, I would be pleased if you gave my Instagram, @lifeofheritage a follow! For my younger audience and those who chose not to use IG, I will be giving you peeks at my IG content in my subscriber emails! So you won’t be missing out! What are you writing?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading of late! My current binge is The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy by Kellyn Roth! They are so good and I am so excited to start book four! I am also beta reading Titan by Brian McBride and review reading Victory’s Voice by Erika Mathews! All indie titles! What are you reading?
 
Please comment below and tell me how you’ve been and what you’re up to! I’ve missed you all and can’t wait to get back in the writing saddle with you!

God Bless and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Hello everyone! It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone already! I’ve been married for a whole year! I’m six month pregnant! I’M HAVING A BABY THIS YEAR!!! *insert happy squeals* I am beyond excited to meet my baby girl and start my relationship outside the womb with her! If her current disposition is any indication, I’m gonna have my hands full! She loves to kick and punch me at the same time, trying to trick me into thinking she has turned into twins! Little stinker 😊

But y’all didn’t click on this post to hear me gush about my little Southern Belle. Not yet anyway 😉 Don’t worry, I’m sure its coming *wink* (Pst! Subscribe, I’ll share more in my newsletters in weeks to come!) Y’all clicked on this post to see what’s gonna happen with the blog, or if I will even keep it going now that I’m fast approaching motherhood outside the womb. (Yes, I will keep referring to it that way, because I’m already experiencing motherhood inside the womb and its wonderful even if she has been causing me to be sick pretty much the whole time, lol!)

So! Without further ado, lets jump into today’s post!

Things are changing around here. I am cutting my schedule back to one post a week (I’m batch posting, Lord willing!) instead of two and I will be attempting to send out a newsletter to subscribers once a month.

With the Lord’s help, there will be a devotional as usual, a reading related post, a writing or history related post, and on the fourth Monday of every month with five Mondays (confusing I know, sorry!) I will attempt to bring you an author interview! I also intend to make the final Monday of the month a wrap-up of goals accomplished that month and setting new ones. Book Reviews will be posted at random as I write them.

I am due to give birth on April 6th, but as we all know, babies come on their schedule, not ours. Regardless, I am taking a hiatus the month of April. I can’t promise I’ll bounce right back in May, because I’m gonna be soaking up all those baby snuggles. I appreciate your patience and understanding as I undergo this new stage of my life. I love creating content for y’all and knowing you understand when I’ve had to put on the breaks has been a huge blessing to me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I’ll give you the short answer: I got sick again. Then school amped up (I teach electives for a Christian School. No, I’m not telling you where 😉), midterms were approaching and I just didn’t get the book edited in time.

I have not put To Save A Life on the back burner however. I will give more details in an upcoming writing update, but know this is my current WIP and I am enjoying polishing this rough cut story into something I hope God can use to touch lives and save some babies and their families from the destruction of abortion.

I am so excited to share this year’s word of the year. God has been stirring my heart about so many different things related to this topic and my dear friend, Katja, helped me find the word I was looking for.

So, without further ado, the word of the year 2022 is…

As Christians, there are many things God has called us to do. Yes, the Great Commission is the main one and it is not to be tossed aside lightly. But God has commanded us, as our Supreme Commander, to do many great things for His honor and Glory! This year, I hope to scratch the surface as I attempt to grow in these areas myself. Will you join me?

I do have a few goals to share with you today and I encourage you to make a list yourself!
 
Writing||
            Complete edits on To Save A Life
            Batch Posts for February

Reading||
            Read 10 books minimum
            Complete one of my devotional books from last year 😉

Life||
            Stay on top of grading for school (A huge struggle!)
            Make our baby registry (Yeah, I’m way behind!)
            Eat more veggies (gotta keep me, hubby and baby healthy!)
            Journal daily (Something I’ve been wanting to get back to!)
 
So that’s about all I have for you today! Now it’s your turn! Do you have a word of the year? Do you have any special goals for this month? Please comment below and let us cheer you on!

Have a blessed day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn (and Baby Peterson 😉)
Jude 22

Y'all, I am just so excited to share this news with y'all! Today is the cover reveal for my book, To Save a Life, releasing on October 22nd! I was blessed to work with the lovely Kaitlyn Krispense as my designer and let me say, y'all, she nailed it! And I'm too excited to keep the suspense up any longer so here we go!

Just look at those precious baby toes!!!! Isn't it just so precious??? I am so excited for this book to release!

And speaking of which... This book is up for pre-order on Amazon! (Click here!) I've never had one of my books on Amazon and I am so excited to be able to readch a larger audience with this story! The pre-order says it's releasing in November. That's just because I'm allowing for me getting sick or something and you can't miss your release date, haha! But once everything is finalized, I'll adjust it to the actual release date, so have no fear!

But why am I allowing to get sick? Well...

Yep! Baby Peterson is on the way! This is part of the reason I haven't been around much the last few months because I have been. so. sick. But I'm breaking out of the morning sickness and hope that nothing else will happen to give me a relapse XD  We just hit 14 weeks (approx. 3 months) and finally got to hear the heartbeat! (160bpm for those who want to know *halo*) Next month we find out what we're having and I am so excited!

Needless to say, writing hasn't really been my priority of late, but now that I'm getting my strength back, I am waist deep in final edits and I can't wait to share some snippets with you in the future! And yes, I will be giving more details about how we found out we were expecting because it's a fun one XD

Anywho! Don't forget to run over to Amazon to pre-order To Save a Life and I'll try and get on here again real soon!

Praising God for His Marvelous Gift!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22