Shannon here: Teresa Pollard shares an excerpt from her Biblical Fiction title, Woman of Light. Comment or answer the question at the end of post dated March 21 – 24 to enter the drawing. Deadline: April 2nd, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Teresa:
Excerpt from Woman of Light by Teresa Pollard:
“You have to understand, Barak. He was an old man, always more than a bit foolish when it came to that girl. And he must have been out of his mind with the pain of his impending death.” He stood face to face with Barak. “We’re not listening to such nonsense. Why should we? Things are good just the way they are right now. We don’t need any judge, much less a prideful arrogant woman who thinks she can speak for God Almighty.” He talked with a mouth full of dates, and now spat out their seeds on the ground, and slouched back into Ehud’s favorite cushions in the shade of the sycamore tree. Even a few of the elders seemed offended by his rudeness But though they might not agree with the severity of his wording, they still agreed with his sentiment, for one by one they added their assent to his reasoning.
“My wife is neither prideful nor arrogant,” Barak insisted, balling his fists into knots, flexing his fingers, and then balling them again. “She knows quite well your stubbornness and that you would never take heed of her words. She would speak through me just as Moses spoke through his brother Aaron. She wouldn’t even have to be seen by the people. We could set up a tent where she could sit and hear the cases and all judgments would come through me. Ehud said Adonai had called us as a team.” He folded his hands behind him and paced. “Don’t you understand that Adonai will have His way? If you do not listen to Ehud’s warning, there could be consequences for our nation that would not be good for any of you!”
Sair again rose to his feet. Though Barak was the taller of the two, Sair was more than twice his weight. “Don’t you dare threaten us, you peasant!”
Barak was outwardly calm, but he had to be inwardly seething. “I wasn’t threatening anything. I was merely reminding you that sometimes Adonai’s way of getting us to listen to His commands can be painful and our suffering can be severe if we will not hear.”
“And you think His blessings are on you and your wife? Hah! If it weren’t for Ehud’s legacy, you wouldn’t even have a roof over your head tonight. I’d no more listen to your pitiful judgment than I would your fool wife!”
Deborah burst into their sight, and pointed her finger right at Sair’s long bulbous nose. “You are so wrong about my husband! You can make fun of me all you want but Barak of Kedesh, son of Abinoam, is a good man. Far better than you or any one of you here.” Barak put his hands on her shoulders and she took a deep breath. “I will make a deal with you, Sair. There are many more important blessings from Adonai than just financial, but because we know money is the only one you would recognize, we will prove to you that the blessings of Adonai are on us. If, by this time next year, Barak is not the wealthiest man in this village, we will never speak of any of this again, but if he is, then you will let us judge in the gate just as my Saba decreed.” She dropped her finger and lowered her head. Saba had warned her about foolish pride.
About Teresa: Teresa Pollard is from Richmond, Virginia, and was saved at a young age. She has a Master of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing from Hollins College, and has served as a Sunday School teacher and children’s worker for most of the last forty years. She is the co-author of Not Guilty and Not Ashamed, and the author of Tokens of Promise and Woman of Light, (due out from HopeSprings Books in October). Married for forty years, she was devastated by divorce and the death of her youngest daughter, but God has blessed her with a new home and another grandson, and she now resides in Dacula, Georgia. She blogs every Tuesday at http://teresatalkstaboo.wordpress.com. Follow her on Facebook at Teresa Pollard, Author.
About the book – Woman of Light: Ehud, Israel’s great judge, is dead. He must have been out of his mind with sickness to prophesy that his granddaughter Deborah would judge Israel. Just who does she think she is? Doesn’t she know Sisera’s iron chariots threaten to annihilate the fledgling nation? And Barak? A poor man who can barely feed his own family. What kind of a God would choose two such improbable people to lead His people to battle?
Question for Readers: Have you ever taught a children’s Sunday school class?
Come back March 28th for Patrick Craig!
Taught Cradle roll(babies class) for 32 years and have taught 2-3 years old class for 3 years!
That’s wonderful, Shelia! I did two year olds my first couple of years here in Georgia, and I thought it was about the hardest group to teach because they’re such bundles of energy! It’s hard to slow them down enough to teach them anything! And between the diapering, potty training, spills and other mishaps, by the time I got home, I was exhausted! I now teach ladies my own age. Much more my speed!
I’ve tried teaching kids, but I can’t seem to keep their attention and I get frustrated. I’ve come to the conclusion that teaching children is not my calling.
But I’m great with crafts, so I go with that. I’ve been the craft lady for VBS for several years. I leave the teaching to others and we just have fun crafting. A few times when one of our Sunday School teachers has been under the weather or on vacation, I’ve filled in, but the kids know if I’m the teacher, we craft.
Nope never taught a sunday school class.
I’ve taught a VBS missions class for preschoolers. Does that count? Thanks for having the giveaway.
harnessrose(at)yahoo(dot)com
I have a winner! Ann Ellison won the drawing. I appreciate Teresa for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.