Daughter

I was going to start out by saying that doing a study of the word "daughter" in the Bible is really interesting, but then I realized that I'm in no position to talk, because have I really looked up all 327 times in the Bible where it uses the word daughter? Uh, no. A lot of the mentions are really generic ones "who was the daughter of some guy out of Bethel, etc." but there are many cool times where it references daughter. A lot of times the daughter in question was an actual biological daughter (Jephthah, for instance, cried about his daughter), but often it's almost like a term of endearment.

Like all those cool verses in Zechariah (and other places in the Bible, I just happen to fancy the ones from Zechariah) about the Daughter of Zion. Maybe it's just because of that song Todd Agnew did based off those verses (it used to give me shivers, no joke), but I love the imagery. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem." Good stuff.

But I got on this little tangent because I was thinking of those times in Ruth when Naomi called Ruth her daughter. I know, I know, she pretty much was, that whole in-law thing, but when you read the book of Ruth, the term "daughter" comes off as a caress. A small word that shows how much love and care Naomi had for Ruth. "Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall."

Maybe it's because it's one of those stories we romanticize, so maybe there's nothing cool about Naomi called Ruth her daughter, but it has always charmed me. Of course, Boaz called Ruth daughter, too. That's a whole different ball of wax.

Well. This was random.

Known and read of all men--literally

It always totally weirds me out when people write books based on their own lives. I know that it’s totally their prerogative, but that whole write-what-you-know thing seems like it might not be best for your family, the way I see it. Not to mention any names, but doesn’t Ted Dekker’s daughter feel a little awkward knowing that the whole world (the whole Ted-reading world, anyhow) knows about her life mistakes? I personally haven’t read The BoneMan’s Daughter, but Ted wrote all over his blog about how the mistakes his daughter made caused him to write this book. Not only that, but I didn’t realize until I read his blog that his daughter’s name was Rachelle. Coincidence that one of his characters in the Circle Trilogy was named that? Uh, most likely not.

And I guess it’s not a trilogy now that he’s writing Green, but I never know what to call four books. A quartet? A square? Maybe just a plain ol’ series.

And that brings me to another good, but apparently unoriginal author. Karen Kingsbury. Has anyone else noticed that most of her books mirror her own life? Wasn’t it enough that her Redemption series features the Baxters, which is secretly code word for her own siblings and herself.  Four girls and a boy? Check. And then the Flanigans, featured in the series spin-offs, are her current family. Girl, boy, three adopted Haitian boys, and a younger, much loved, nearly-died at birth boy? Check, check, and check. And she named them so closely after her own children that I desperately hope (for her children’s sakes) that they (the children) got to at least choose their own alter-ego names. And then there was the “This Side of Heaven” book, which was pretty much about her brother.

And I’m sure there are many more times where her life and books juxtapose again. And this isn’t to say that she’s not a good author, because she is. I’ve read all of her books, and enjoyed almost all of them. And that’s saying a lot, because she has written a bevy of books.

It just makes me so thankful that my mom doesn’t write books about me. In fact, nobody writes books about me, and somehow? Well, somehow, I’m OK with that.