*Note from Ryana Lynn: This post was written in advance. I had planned for it to be about loving one another, bringing out some things that have been on my heart on the topic. But I couldn’t get peace about it. So, I decided to listen to God and just post the part about Loving Him. Never question the Holy Spirit. Fighting with Him isn’t worth it 😉 But yeah, that’s why this post is a few hours late.*
 
Happy February and welcome back to Life of Heritage corner! As of this week, I am seven months pregnant! Or 32 weeks, whichever way you wanna count it 😉 I am writing these posts up a good bit in advance, so if you want a more accurate up to date baby report, feel free to ask in the comments! My newsletters are written in real-time as well, so be sure and subscribe if you haven’t already! (Keep in mind my March and April Newsletters might be late or non-existent depending on when baby Peterson makes her appearance!)

Today, I am sharing my first official devotion in the Commissioned series! And with February being the month when most are thinking of Valentines day, what better way to start off then talking about Biblical love? And no, I’m not talking about romantic love 😉 It’s time to think about what it really means to love God. Let’s dive in!

*All Scripture taken from the King James Bible*

If you were raised in a Christian home, no doubt you heard these verses more times than you can count. We hear it, nod, agree and move on. But do we really love God with all our hearts, soul and mind? Is He the first thing on our mind in the morning? Are His words the most precious to us? Are we aware this is a commission and not just a suggestion?

I’m by no means intending to indicate that I have arrived in this area. I am ashamed that many times, I struggle to put my relationship with Christ first. I often forget to read my Bible at the first of my day or put off the devotionals I desire to finish. This is as much a message to myself as to anyone else. We need to make a conscious decision to put Him first daily!

But how can we do this? I am no expert but I will share my current goals in growing in my love for God. First, pray as soon as you wake. Don’t touch your phone. Take all your concerns and hopes for the day straight to Him. Ask Him to help you learn something from your Bible reading and not just do it out of duty. Read your Bible. Search for that little nugget God has for you today. If you are stuck in genealogies, read a psalm or proverb in addition! Pray again for grace to follow Him today and be a blessing to someone else. Listen to a hymn. Think over the biblical message it shares.

Second, stay faithful to church. In the days we are living in, each state or province has their own rules concerning the virus that shall not be mentioned. Thankfully though, most of us are free to worship the Lord in person. But in the event you are sick, or the weather is inclement, there is this wonderful thing known as livestream! I encourage you to tune into your local church every time you are forced to miss, but if your church doesn’t livestream, click here for a link to my church’s livestream! Or if you know of another church that teaches Biblical truths, tune in to their service!

Third, get involved! There are so many different opportunities to serve the Lord in our local churches! Volunteer to help in the nursery or participate in church clean up! Ask your pastor or his wife if there is anything you can do to serve! Join the visitation team and stock up on tracks to pass out during the week! Add a link to a gospel presentation to that email you are sending to a friend. You never know what opportunities the Lord will send your way when you purpose in your heart to serve Him with all your soul and might.

Lastly, pray. Share your thoughts and desires, your struggles and triumphs with the Father. Does He know? Of course! But He always enjoys hearing from His children! Pray for friends and family and for God to send opportunities to share His Love with others!
 

What are some ways you plan to grow in your Love for God this year? Share below in the comments so we can cheer each other on!
 
Have a blessed day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn (and Baby Girl Peterson!)

So hard to believe January is over! Two more months to my little Southern Belle will make her appearance! Can’t get here soon enough for me, lol! I never thought I would see the day when simply yawning or sneezing would have me panting for air and totally exhausted. Don’t ask 😊

I didn’t get as much done this month as I anticipated, but you know what? That’s okay! I did what I could and am moving on to the next set of goals! Share your recaps from January in the comments section below!

Haha… well, we finally got snow, so I guess that counts, lol! In all honesty, this month was pretty rough on my health. I’m exhausted most of the time and acid reflux is a near daily occurrence, making me pretty nauseous. Which means I didn’t get much writing or reading done, because pregnancy fog/mental fog left over from my run in with the virus that shall not be named nearly two years ago prevents me from being able to focus much. But audiobooks help!

I did get to visit with my in-laws a lot which was a blessing! I even got to visit with my side of the family for a couple days, so that definitely counts as a highlight! And I got to have a sushi and boba tea date with a friend from church. So, I did have some good days sprinkled in amongst the fatigue XD

Definitely Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I have a full review coming soon, but y’all, this book was both hilarious and heartbreaking in all the best ways. I loved the societal satire and the bits of wisdom sprinkled throughout. I found the balls annoying, just saying. Also, I still hate the Enemies to Lovers trope, but this is the best example of it I’ve ever seen! And I was pleased that while this book was all about marriage and such, it really wasn't a romance novel. Love this book!

Five. Quite shy of my goal, but progress none the less! Only two books were on my reading list, but I’m just adding the remaining three I shared to my February list. Three of my books are audiobooks, so hopefully, I can catch back up!

Here’s a round up of this month’s posts, just in case you missed any!

Hello, 2022 || Goodbye, 2021
Reading List: January/February 2022 || Plus 5 Winter Reading Recommendations!
Writing Update || A Note From My Desk
Thoughts on Writing || A Collaboration with Katja L.

In the future I will try to post a friend's posts round up, but I am way behind this month, haha!

Romans 5:1-5— “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Ha. I intended to have TSAL fully edited this month. But as you saw in my intro, there was not much writing going on XD But I did manage to get six chapters edited and only lack about four now! Hopefully they will be finished next month and I can get this book finished before Little Missy makes her appearance, lol! She seems intent on trying to kick her way out of my stomach some days and I’m just grateful she hasn’t sent me into pre-term labor! But I’m thankful for her movements, letting me know all is well! It’s rough, but I know the end results will be worth it *heart emoji* (Missing my emoji add-on from my last computer! Gonna have to find it again!)

*Wince* Let’s see how this went!

Writing||
          Complete edits on To Save A Life-- Nope. Did not happen. But I still got work do on it, so I’m glad of that! *Hears Pollyanna in my head and smiles*
          Batch Posts for February--Also didn’t happen. My devotional got me hung up and my brain forgot to remind me I could just skip it and write the other posts and come back to it later, *eye roll emoji* I feel like the devil has really been fighting me on this devotional so please pray I can complete it for next week!

Reading||
            Read 10 books minimum--Ha! Nope! But it’s okay, because I really enjoyed most of the books I read (one was a two star ☹)! Pride and Prejudice was worth the low read count *halo*
            Complete one of my devotional books from last year 😉--Also didn’t complete this, but I did make great headway on a Joshua study! Hoping to finish it this week and return it to my dad next time I see him, lol!

Life||
            Stay on top of grading for school (A huge struggle!)--For the most part, yes! I have a little bit to catch up on, but I am very pleased with how it’s been going!
            Make our baby registry (Yeah, I’m way behind!)--YES! I DID THIS 😉 I have a list of things to add, but Lord Willing, I will be finishing that up tonight!
            Eat more veggies (gotta keep me, hubby and baby healthy!)--Also did this! I love carrots and sugar snap peas, so being able to eat more of them and more salads has been a huge boost!
            Journal daily (Something I’ve been wanting to get back to!)--Umm… I didn’t even touch my journal… so fail. But I’m not giving up! I want to journal more and I really want to make it a priority!

Writing||
          Complete edits on To Save A Life
          Batch Posts for February and March

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

Life||
            Work towards coming home (Nesting time!)
            Get everything set up for Baby Peterson! (I’ve got some organizing to do!)
            Drink More Water! (Why is this so hard??)
            Journal (Gotta do it!)
 
How was your January? What are your goals for February? Share the scoop below!
 
Have a Blessed Day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Hello and welcome back to Life of Heritage! I am so excited to share today’s collaboration with you! Katja and I have been book buddies for a few years now and I have often enjoyed buddy reading and brainstorming with her on projects. Today, we are going to be answering questions about writing here on my blog, then I will share her link so you can jump over there for a Q and A on reading! Without further ado, let’s roll!

Katja: My current WIP is a Christian Contemporary Fantasy novel called The Colour Red. I don’t have a great synopsis for it yet, but here’s a stab at it:

I’ve been working on it since 2020 and I’m hoping to publish it this year 😉

Ryana Lynn: My current WIP is To Save a Life! It’s my pro-life novel, book one in the Natty’s Warriors Series!

Katja: Oh, in so, so many ways. First off, I learned it’s okay to not have a perfect draft. That rewriting is good and helpful. That criticism was not something to take personally. And that taking my time is way better and helps so much. I think I could wrap it all up in saying I learned I’m not sorry that I didn’t publish before, because I wasn’t ready. 

Ryana Lynn: It’s hard to say, to be honest. I think I’ve learned a lot about setting realistic deadlines… and not scheduling a pre-order until the book is completely ready to publish, lol! And I learned that it’s okay to take a break when life happens.

Katja: I want to get better at handling criticism. I want to pray more over the process. And I want to learn how to write tighter, clearer prose.

Ryana Lynn: I want to work on developing my author voice. I’ve noticed in some reviews/critiques that readers have considered my style nothing particularly unique. I’m grateful for their feedback and I look forward to developing my style more in the coming months! I also want to grow in the area of writing setting, another part that doesn’t come naturally.

Katja: Just writing?? I love writing. There are few things so awesome as just having dialogue, story, and characters pouring out of your fingertips and becoming tangible. I also LOVE figuring out my characters and why they’d do something and not the other. Characters are the most important thing to me and I love working with them! 

Ryana Lynn: Is it bad that it’s writing the first draft? I just love getting the initial story out on paper! Even if the writing is garbage at first, it’s still a favorite part <3 I also enjoy revisions!

Katja: It would depend on how they’re struggling 😊 but in general, no matter what it is, there’s three key things you can do that will help:

     1. Pray.
     Never underestimate the power of prayer (as I sadly have). It’s amazing how much one simple prayer can smooth things out.

  2. Seek helpful counsel from people you trust & who are knowledgeable/helpful in what you’re struggling with.
     Don’t just take anybody’s advice. Seeking good advice is always better! There’s a famous quote that goes, “Don’t accept criticism from people you wouldn’t go to for advice.” Have discretion, because wrong advice can be very hurtful. ;P

     3. Step back and take a break. 
     I want to really emphasize that. I hate stepping away before I figured stuff out, but it really helps so very much, and I always wish I’d done it. It can be a break of 10 minutes, 10 hours, 10 days, or even 10 weeks… sometimes you just need to let go for a while. 

     4. Don’t beat yourself up over it. 
     Just because you’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re worthless. On the contrary, it means you’re genuinely wanting to do your best—and that is very important. Everyone struggles. The difference is, real ones hang on; fakes give up.
 
Ryana Lynn: Give yourself grace. You’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna get bogged down. You’re gonna feel like a failure or an imposter or both. But remember Who has called you to write! Remember your purpose and the Passion God has given you. Take a break if you need. Refresh. But don’t give up.
 
Don’t forget to head over to Katja’s blog for our chat on reading!
 
How would you answer these questions? What indie authors would you like to see interviewed in the future? Share your answers below!
 
Have a blessed day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

This is long overdue. In fact, I almost feel like it’s gonna be a recap of last January’s writing update. But that’s okay! Life happens. So, today, I’m gonna share about a few of my writing projects and what I have going on in each one!

This is the first book in my series called Natty’s Warriors. I am currently editing this book and hope to have it prepared for publication by the end of the month. That is the goal. We shall see what the Lord has in store!

This book will be a duel timeline story with To Save a Life, though from a different POV. Many who read early versions of TSAL begged for Cammie’s story, which is not resolved in book one. In fact, now, it’s barely touched on. But her story needs to be heard. So this year, I hope to draft this story and prepare it for publication, Lord willing next year.

This is book five in my Battle for Heritage Series (click here for details on previous books). I have been struggling with rewrites on this story and it needs a lot of work. But my goal is to have it ready for publication this fall. Will it happen? I don’t know, but all I can do is give it my best and leave the rest in God’s hands.

I have a handful of side projects to work on in various stages of outlining, drafting and revising, but none of them are top priority at the moment. If that changes during the course of the year as other projects move off my plate, I will update you on the new ones! Until then, stay tuned!
 
What is your current work in progress? What book are you most excited for in 2022? Share them with us below!
 
Have a Blessed Day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22

Hello and welcome back to Life of Heritage Corner! I hope you are having a beautiful day! I love reading and last year was NOT a good reading year for me. I normally read close to a hundred and in 2021, I didn’t even hit 40 books! But you know what, it’s okay! I don’t know how many books I’ll be able to fit in my schedule this year, because I’ll be adding a newborn to the mix! But that being said, I’m optimistic for 2022, because I will be doing a lot of sit down activities because of said newborn 😉

So my plan for these posts are to share five books I specifically want to read this month and five for next month. I hope to read more, but there’s a lot of stuff up in the air, so I won’t bog you down with my full list, lol! Instead, I will focus on books I hope to review on the blog. And then, before we go, I will share 5 Winter Recs with you as well! So let’s get started!

1| Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This is a book I’ve been curious about for some time but brushed off as just another cheesy romance. At the collective gasps of indignation from many a dear friend, I have decided to amend my prior judgement and give her a try! Have you read P&P? Tell me your thoughts below!

2-3| Dare (reread) and Deny by Tricia Mingerink
I have read Dare twice with the intent to read this series through and every time another book came up that demanded my immediate attention. The series premise is basically the persecuted church in a dystopian medieval type setting. It’s pretty intense.

Dare was very interesting and I do want to do a full post about it, so stay tuned. I will say there is a hint of what I believe is Calvinism in this book, so I will be addressing that in my review. For clarification, I do NOT agree with Calvinism and stand firmly against it, as it is unbiblical and cruel. However, it is not my intention to attack anyone here, so when I write this post, I will not be doing a hit piece, just noting my beliefs and sharing scripture for what I believe. That is all. We should always speak the truth with boldness, but also with love.

4| Koala Beach Outbreak by Robert Elmer
This book is part of the Adventures Down Under Series! I need to look back and review the books between this one and the last one I reviewed, but so far I have immensely enjoyed this reread of the series! This book focuses on the Chinese in Australia and an outbreak of some type of fever. This book is special to me because it is the book I was reading when my grandmother passed away in 2006. So it’s been awhile… I can’t wait to read it again 😊

5| Rebel Wave by Tor Thibeaux
This is a short episode in a 12 part series that I saw going around Goodreads. Some friends were reading it, it looked interesting, and I thought I would see what the fuss was about 😉 Its basically a sort of sci-fi story set under water in a submarine style survival colony fleet? That’s my understanding anyway, lol! If you have read this book, fill us in below!

1| Confederate Black Ops by Charles Tilton II
This is a reread to help me prepare for rewrites of the 5th book in my Battle for Heritage Series! It’s an excellent read all about the inner working of the Confederate spy rings, secret service and special operations! Written by a Green Beret, this is an epic read!

2| Heretics of the Piedmont by D. J. Speckals
This book was released last year and I am so excited to read it! It’s about the Waldensians of Europe and Baptist history has always been a favorite of mine, so of course I had to get it 😉 It was also written by the brother of a young lady I met last year, so that’s always fun!

3| The Dawn of a Life by Rachel McBride (Davis)
I loved this series growing up and I need to reread these so bad! It’s high time I dig out my favorite western and read it again for the 25th time (okay slight exaggeration, but I have read this over a dozen times growing up!) This series follows the life of Sam Goodton and Tom Sampson and I just can’t wait to visit these characters again as they travel the wagon trains from Indiana to Montana!

4-5| The Land of Cotton and Our Heritage to Save by Yours Truly
This is for research purposes for writing book 5. So, you can read about them here *halo*

1| Dare by Tricia Mingerink
I may have mentioned this on a winter list before, I cannot remember, but it really has a strong winter vibe for me, so I’m throwing it in there again, haha! The beginning of the story is set in winter but not necessarily Christmas, so that’s a plus as well!

2| The Case of the Very Bad Cat by Perry Elisabeth Kirkpatrick
This is book 4 of 5 of the Kitten Files series and is so adorable! The story follows Mia as she tries to get to the bottom of who is leaving dead mice on a neighbor’s porch. It’s set just before Christmas, but it’s not about Christmas, so there ya go, haha!

3| Befriending the Beast by Amanda Tero
I don’t even know if winter is mentioned in this book at all, but the general feel of the story just makes be feel like it should be so we’re going with that, lol! A father-daughter retelling of Beauty and the Beast, this is one of my favorite reads by this author!

4| The Holy War by John Bunyan
This book is an allegory and set in a medieval time era and this just screams winter to me. It’s cold and a little dark, but the light breaks through and AGH! I need to reread this this year…

5| Modern Warriors by Pete Hegseth
Sue me, this isn’t set in winter, but because I read it last January, it will always be a winter book to me. Loved it so much! (Read my review here!) It’s a compilations of Soldier Stories and the patriotism and lessons they have for us and the way they try to bridge the soldier/civilian gap just makes me so happy…
 
What are you reading this month? What books would you recommend to be read during the winter? Share them with us below in the comments so we can grow our TBR lists!
 
Have a blessed day and God Bless America!
Ryana Lynn (and Baby Peterson 😉)
Jude 22