Update

For those of you who don’t know, I am in the process of writing a book with the same title and topic of this blog.  In fact, the blog came about because of the book.  I was able to get away to a writing retreat this week at The Convent.  It has been such a great week!  I got 21 pages done which covers roughly the first four chapters.  I realize those are some short chapters but it was good just to get that bare bones down on paper, now I get to start fleshing it out.  Because I am so excited it is hard not to start posting excerpts from what I have to the blog.  But I have been reading all over the place that this is not a smart thing to do, so I’ll have to stick to bribing friends to read it over for me. J

I’ve been learning a lot about platforms, blogging, and publishing lately.  If you are a writer mom like me, here are some of my favorite agent/writer blogs:

Rachel Gardner: http://www.rachellegardner.com/

Radical Womanhood: http://solofemininity.blogs.com/

Witty Words: http://christimcguire.wordpress.com/

If you are interested in social media and all the various uses and/or programs, even if you aren’t a writer, you will probably like these blogs.

Michael Hyatt: http://michaelhyatt.com/

La Vie en Prose: http://merbarnes.blogspot.com/

I am heading home today so this post is short.  I do want to make a shameless plea for you to become either a follower in the column on the right à or to sign up for email alerts when I post something new ß over here on the left.  I really appreciate you taking the time to read here and to comment.  Thank you!

What's with the name?

Solomon's daughter.
How Solomon's daughter found her husband.
by Ilil Arbel, Ph.D.

King Solomon's favorite daughter was of mysterious origin. She had no mother in the court, and some say she was the daughter of the Queen of Sheba, left to Solomon care, while the queen took her twin brother to be her heir in Sheba. The princess was extraordinarily beautiful, clever and sweet, and Solomon planned a bright future for her, probably as the consort of a king of an allied country.

Solomon read the stars each night, and much of the future revealed itself to him clearly. To his dismay, the stars told him that his beloved princess would marry a poverty-stricken young man. The circumstances were not made clear, and in his desperation to change fate he decided to hide the princess in a faraway retreat. He explained the circumstances to the princess, and she trusted her father and consented to follow his plan.

    

    

     This Midrashic legend goes on to explain how Solomon attempted, and failed, to prevent his daughter's union with this poverty-stricken young man.  He tried to protect her from the world, and God's plan, by pulling a Rapunzel act...minus the long hair, witches, or Flynn Ryder.  Needless to say, Solomon's plan didn't work and God's plan came to pass though Solomon did have the good grace to admit he was wrong and blessed his daughter's new marriage.

     When my eldest daughter suggested the name "Solomon's Daughters" for my new blog I was very intrigued but not sure if others had already used the idea.  So I did what any woman these days does, I Google'd it.  (I also Bing'd it but I am not sure that Bing has merited its own verb yet.)  This Jewish legend is what I found.  While I may not be Jewish I thought the comparison between my goal for this blog and the story was wonderful.  My greatest hope is that this blog will give more moms the tools to talk with their daughters about how faith in Christ is very much a part of their daily walk.  I hope that we are able to discuss and develop a plan together on how to give our daughters the tools they need to discern what seems good in the world and what is good.

     I think we need to be purposeful in reaching our daughters' hearts.  The world would love to have them believe that parents just don't understand them.  The world is fighting to influence our daughters and silence us.  If we don't have a goal in mind the world will be happy to supply its own.  I know better than to think that I get it right most of the time with my own daughters, but I have come to a point where I am comfortable discussing my mistakes just as much as my successes.  I didn't set out on this path with the goal of getting noticed, starting a blog, or anything that puts me out there for the world to critique.  But this is the path that God is calling me to and here I am.

     I have been influenced by many great writers in my journey as a mom.  I plan to talk about some of those books that I think are relevant to our topic. I really don't feel comfortable with "church speak" and try to avoid what I see as clichés that have lost their meaning to anyone who wasn't raised in the church.  Well, I at least cringe on the few occasions that I can't avoid them.   I also plan to outline better how we will address this topic of teaching wisdom to our daughters.  I wish we could all just sit around and have a big discussion on this, but I will have to settle for a virtual version instead.

     I hope you feel comfortable leaving comments and asking questions.  Enjoy the ride. :)