Jenny
White isn’t like any other heroine I’ve written. She sprung fully formed from
the inspiration of Georgia’s Revolutionary War legend, Nancy Hart—bold, tall,
strong, cunning, red-haired. A perfect complement to my stubborn but sweet
Scottish militia scout, Caylan McIntosh, in Across
Three Autumns of the Backcountry Brides collection. Only Jenny’s too
emotionally injured to see that they’re a perfect match … because she believes
the voice in her head saying she’s big, gawky, and unattractive, that no man
will want her. It doesn’t help that she has the “perfect” younger sister!
When
Jenny’s mother asks Caylan to read a Scripture, Jenny grows furious when he
chooses Psalm 139. Most of us are familiar with the passage, but let’s take it
in from the original King James:
“‘Thou
hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 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.”
All
Jenny can hear is “curiously wrought.” Caylan sees beyond Jenny’s tough façade
and recognizes that she’s put up protective walls. More of a battle lies in
winning her trust than against the British at Kettle Creek!
Let’s
zip-line back to the present. Our culture values strong, empowered women like
Jenny, but it also presents us with a lot of false ideas about how we’re to
look, think, and talk. Also like Jenny, many of us are just really good at
faking it. As Christians, we know that God’s Word tells us that our worth and
identity lie in Him. But do we apply that in our lives? Or is there some area
we build walls around, considering it exempt from God’s touch?
A
failed marriage.
A lack
of true friendships.
A
traumatic secret.
A
career that never took off.
Strained
family relationships.
Satan
can throw these “failures” in our faces, while God wants to heal the wounds and
insecurities that lie at their root. If we reach out for His healing, it flows
to us, then into the other areas of our lives. “So I will restore to you the
years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25).
Here’s
more amazing news! A footnote from my Bible says that other historical texts
translate Psalm 139:14 as “You are fearfully wonderful.”
Jenny
was fearfully wonderful. Her skill with the Brown Bess held off attacking
Indians. Her strength fed her family. And her cunning and bravery captured
Loyalists and British Regulars. Many of the traits Jenny considered unworthy
proved the most useful and beautiful.
You,
too, are fearfully wonderful. Do you believe it? Is there something in your
life that God has helped you turn from a sorrow into a blessing?
Denise is doing a rafflecopter giveaway that will run the entire month of May. It includes a Kindle paperwhite, a copy of the novel and a whole bunch of colonial-themed goodies. Enter here: https://www.rafflecopter.com/
Denise is doing a rafflecopter giveaway that will run the entire month of May. It includes a Kindle paperwhite, a copy of the novel and a whole bunch of colonial-themed goodies. Enter here: https://www.rafflecopter.com/
Buy Backcountry Brides: https://www.amazon.com/
Backcountry Brides: Travel into Colonial America where nine women seek love, but they each know a future husband requires the necessary skills to survive in the backcountry. Living in areas exposed to nature’s ferocity, prone to Indian attack, and cut off from regular supplies, can hearts overcome the dangers to find lasting love?
Across Three Autumns by Denise Weimer: Fighting Loyalists and Indians, Jenny White settles for strength over love . . .until Scottish scout Caylan McIntosh leads her family on a harrowing exodus out of Georgia’s Revolutionary War “Hornet’s Nest.”
Across Three Autumns by Denise Weimer: Fighting Loyalists and Indians, Jenny White settles for strength over love . . .until Scottish scout Caylan McIntosh leads her family on a harrowing exodus out of Georgia’s Revolutionary War “Hornet’s Nest.”
Represented
by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a
minor in history from Asbury University. A former magazine writer, she is a
substantive editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas as well as the
author of The Georgia Gold Series, The Restoration Trilogy, and a number of
novellas. A wife and swim mom of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee,
chocolate, and old houses!
2 comments:
Across Three Autumns must be read with the history.
congratulations, Marilyn.
Post a Comment