Roseanna White - Roseanna M. White

Warriors of Praise

by Roseanna White | Jun 3, 2021 | Thoughtful Thursdays

In II Chronicles 20, we get the story of Jehoshephat, one of the godly, faithful kings of Judah. He was a good king. He loved the Lord and sought Him in all things. But enemies were coming against them, a vast army made up of three kingdoms united for the purpose of destroying them.

Jehoshephat sought the Lord. He called the entire nation of Judah to come together for prayer and fasting. So the whole nation assembled. They prayed. They humbled themselves. They listened to the prophet, listened for and to the word of the Lord. Then came something that really struck me.

So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” ²¹And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

“Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever.”

²²Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. ²³For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

Wow. Right? I mean, first of all, what leader–military or otherwise–of a nation do you know who not only calls the people to prayer, but who considers the first act of defense to be to assign people to praising God? What commander sends a worship team out before the army? I don’t recall any other stories offhand in the Bible where this was the order of events, and I certainly don’t recall anything in modern history quite like this. But it’s profound, isn’t it?

Look at what happens when praise leads the way! Look at how the Lord clears the path when we remember Him first, when we give Him glory in the direst of circumstances, when we fill the battlefields in our lives with songs of His mercy and might.

Those battlefields are cleared.

It certainly isn’t a magical formula. They couldn’t just assign singers and expect victory. First the people had to come together and seek God. They had to cleanse their hearts before Him. They had to listen to His word. They had to obey. They had to act in unity, following His instruction.

And when they did that, when they stepped out in perfect faith, trusting that God would deliver their enemies without them even having to fight, as the prophet promised them in verse 17 of that same chapter…when they did that, God moved in a powerful way. And He did it when their praises rang out. When they began to sing and to praise…

What happens when WE begin to sing and praise–not just because it’s the time of the service that calls for it, but in those moments when we know the greatest fear? When the enemy is surrounding us? What happens when we praise Him in our darkest moments?

What must it have been like to be one of the musicians and singers appointed for this honor? Looking at verse 21, the king consulted with the people and then chose them. I daresay he didn’t choose the greatest warriors. I don’t honestly know if he chose those with the prettiest singing voices. He chose those who WOULD sing to the Lord and praise the beauty of holiness. These were the people who led the army. Not the generals. Not the strong men. Those with hearts of praise. Those who knew the beauty of holiness, so that they could sing about it.

Oh Lord, shape my heart to be one of those people. Shape me to be so amazed and swept away by the glory of your holy name, of your perfect nature, that my first response is song. Is praise. Shape me to be the sort of person who leads the way not with weapons or strength of arm, but with my dedication to you. Shape me into a warrior of praise.

Shape me, Lord, so that then, when I lift my voice to you, I can see you at work. Because you are the mighty one who clears the battlefields for us. You are the one whose righteousness paves the way. You are the one who delivers us from all our trouble…as long as first we seek you. Humble ourselves. Cling tight to your promises.

And let praise lead us forward.

Word of the Week – Option

by Roseanna White | May 31, 2021 | Word of the Week

I absolutely love getting notes from readers, especially when they’re about word usages…even if they tell me I’m using something incorrectly, LOL. I make mistakes just like anybody, of course, but when someone points something out to me, I immediately go and look it up, soaking up everything I can about it.

And I was pretty surprised to learn the history of the word option!

It’s been a noun in the English language since around 1600, but at that point in history, it meant “the action of choosing,” and then “the freedom of choosing.” The word came to us from the French with its roots in the Latin optio, meaning “free choice.” It wasn’t until 1885 that it came to meant “the THING that may be chosen” (emphasis mine), which is how we primarily use it today. Who knew that was so new??

The sense of the word that we get in phrases like stock option joined the fun as far back as 1755, and the verb in that sense is from 1880.

(For the record, the setting in which I was using option in the modern sense was 1906, so I was probably safe to do so…though I was worried for a moment, fearing I’d had it in my 1860s Dreams of Savannah! And wouldn’t be surprised if I had…sometimes I just don’t think to question things!)

Thoughtful About . . . His Kingdom

by Roseanna White | May 27, 2021 | Thoughtful Thursdays

The other week while I was in Ocracoke, my morning devotional began with this passage from Acts 1:4-9 (NKJV):

⁴And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; ⁵for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” ⁶Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

⁹Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

I read that…and then read it again. And paused and blinked. And wondered how I’d never noticed that before. Did you catch it?

The very last thing the disciples are recorded as saying to Jesus…it wasn’t a question about eternity. It wasn’t begging Him for more direction on how to create a Church worthy of His name. It wasn’t something to help them seek the kingdom of God. They asked Him about politics.

“Are you going to rid Israel of Rome now, Lord?” That’s what they were asking.

Does that sound a little familiar, maybe? How often is the church today praying, “Lord, help us reclaim our country!”?

But look at Jesus’s answer. We can’t know the times. Sure, okay…but what I found really fascinating was what He went on to say. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you’ll bear witness to ME to the ends of the earth. In my mind, a paraphrase would be, “Look, friends, stop worrying about the earthly powers and rulers and authority. That’s not your business. Here’s what you’ll soon understand, when you’re filled with the Spirit: your job is to spread the Good News. Period.”

And you know what? Never again in the Acts or the epistles do we see the disciples fretting over who’s in charge in the nation of Israel. Because immediately following this, the Holy Spirit came. Filled them.

And they knew. They finally got it. They finally, FINALLY understood that Jesus wasn’t concerned with THEIR kingdom, the nation of Israel. He was concerned with HIS.

My friends, this is still true. Jesus isn’t concerned about America-as-such or Canada-as-such or the United-Kingdom-as-such or any other country. He’s concerned with the people in those countries; He’s concerned with whether they are part of His kingdom. He’s concerned not with who was elected or appointed to or inherited a position here on earth, but on whether we’re dedicating ourselves to bringing the kingdom of Heaven near. Yes, He uses those countries, just as He did Israel. They may embody certain things or represent aspects of His will or serve as an example. But our kingdoms and countries are just grains of sand in the glass of His eternity–quickly come, quickly gone. We think the very world will rise and fall with them…but it doesn’t. Because His kingdom is so much bigger.

We tend to shake our heads at the disciples in the Gospels, don’t we, when they ask again and again about whether Jesus is a warrior king? But we do it too. We want Him to ride in on the proverbial white stallion and set everything to rights. We want Him to fix THIS world, our world, to get rid of the evil and put good people in power. We want Him to avenge the wrongs and establish His just and righteous kingdom NOW.

But I imagine He would answer us just as He did the Twelve. “The Holy Spirit shall fill you. And you shall bear witness to Me.”

That’s the answer to whether He’ll rule this world. That’s ALL the answer needs to be. How do we fix the physical world? By focusing on the spiritual one. How do we bring hope to the here-and-now? By fixing our eyes on eternity. How do we help our countries? By praying and working toward the coming of His kingdom. If we make our goals winning hearts for Him and aligning our lives to His will, then the world will change, just as it has done before. But the answers aren’t found in the earthly courts or government buildings. The answers are found in knowing that He is bigger, longer, wider, older, yet newer than any earthly law or government could ever be.

He rules our kingdoms only when we let Him rule our hearts; but when we let Him rule our hearts, we soon see the truth: His kingdom will come only when we love selflessly, sacrificially, when we’re willing to love our enemies, when we offer ourselves for them, just as He did for us.

Let’s love like that. Let’s take that love into the world and bear witness of Him. Then we’ll see His kingdom come.

Word of the Week – Kudos

by Roseanna White | May 24, 2021 | Word of the Week

This week and next, I’m going to be highlighting a couple words that readers brought up with me. This first one, kudos, led to a great conversation and a delightful new friendship (hi, Pat!). You just never know what may happen when two word-nerds meet! 😉

I actually posted about kudos waaaaay back in 2011, but I figure ten years is time enough to deserve a revisit, LOL. So here we go! Kudos.

I’ve studied Ancient Greek. As in, took 2 years of the language, in addition to reading a slew of the texts. So things Ancient Greek I like–and tend to use. And assume I know pretty well.

And so, I’ve never hesitated to use the word “kudos” in a historical manuscript because, well, I know it’s directly from the Greek. I know it’s old.

But apparently the English didn’t pick up on this fun word until 1799.

Kudos, taken directly from Greek (if altered slightly because of a non-meshing of the alphabets), means “fame, renown.” Though it may sound plural to an English speaker with that -s ending, it is in fact singular.

When kudos first entered our language, it was in academic circles only–among those who would have read the Greek, go figure. =) But by the early 20th century, journalists had picked up on it and began to use it in articles, which entered it into the mainstream. When I did a Google Books search for the word around the year 1900, I found it in all sorts of texts.

So there we have it!

Announcing my next stand-alone!

by Roseanna White | May 20, 2021 | Announcements, Book News

I know, I know, book 1 in my new series just released. But in this industry, we’re always working years ahead of what you see to guarantee more fun reads in the future. =) And I’m so excited to announce that I’ve just signed a contract for a stand-alone that will come after my Secrets of the Isles series is complete, before a new series begins!

If you’ve read The Codebreakers, you may have been a bit curious about one of the other cryptographers I mention in the series–Remington Culbreth, who gets progressively more serious and somber as the books go on. Well, I planted him there on purpose, mwa ha ha ha, because I already had a story in mind for him. 😉 Let me tell you a little about it.

Way back in 2004, I’d just graduated college. It was summer, and for the first time in four years, I didn’t have a job. My husband was working in Baltimore and commuting from Annapolis, which meant he was out early in the morning and got home just in time for dinner. Our goal had always been that he would work and I’d write and raise the kids, so that summer was kind of our practice run.

One night I woke up with a story idea. Now, I have never in my life gotten out of bed to go write, but I did lie there awake for an hour or two as this story idea crashed over me. I got up when David did, grabbed my laptop, and started writing. It was a contemporary story about a young man from the DC area, whose family was wealthy and important, and a young woman of mixed race born and raised in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, whose grandmother was a cleaning woman and whose mother owned an inn. Louisa had big dreams but gave them up to help her family. She and Rem fell in love one summer, but then life happened and took them apart, and when he reenters the scene years later, nothing’s simple anymore. He wants to give Louisa back some of her dreams when he sees what a bad decision of his had cost her, but she’s afraid the dream itself is too costly now.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean on Ocracoke Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina

In the course of three days, I wrote 150 pages of this book. It consumed me. A few years later, when I’d learned SO much about writing and publishing, I did a complete overhaul of the story, and yet again it consumed me. I rewrote the entire book in two weeks. I showed it to my agent, who loved it. I pitched to a few editors at a conference and it went to committee but didn’t get a contract.

Then I got contracts for historicals, and this contemporary got pushed into my file of finished stories that may or may not ever see the light of day.

But every single year, when my family goes to the Outer Banks on vacation, those characters come back to me. I imagine Louisa standing on the porch beside me. I see Rem jogging toward the waves. I couldn’t let them go.

Springer’s Point Beach on Ocracoke

Well, a couple years ago, my best friend Stephanie said, “Oo, oo! I know what you need to do! Set your OBX story in the 1920s!”

Cue Roseanna gasping in that “Why didn’t I think of that???” way. So over the last couple years, I’ve spent my vacations toying with how best to reset Louisa and Rem into the world of 100 years ago. In the contemporary version, Rem had been an analyst for the CIA…so naturally, in the historical version, he would have been a cryptographer. I mentioned to my editor at Bethany House that I had this idea for a stand-alone at the time when I pitched The Codebreakers, and he wisely said, “Sounds like a great story, but we wouldn’t want it to feel like a tagalong to this series, so let’s put some other books between them.” But I put Rem in Room 40, so he was already in the world. And I kept thinking. And thinking.

Last September as we were strolling the empty beaches, I was thinking how unfair it was that all the really interesting things in the Outer Banks happened not during the First World War, but rather during the Second. And I had this flash of inspiration. A timeslip! Louisa and Rem set during WW1, and then a second line with another character I’d already thought up, in WW2! YES!!!!!!

After I turned in the manuscript for my second Secrets of the Isles book in January of 2021, I sat down and hammered out how this would work. Yet again, the idea COMPLETELY consumed me. And it all came together more perfectly than I’d ever imagined it could. I was so excited. So. Very. Excited. My usual way to pitch a project to Bethany House is to write a synopsis, but instead I found myself planning out each scene and how the two timelines would interact. I ended up with a detailed 20-page outline of the book, plus a manageable synopsis for the team to review, LOL.

I fell in love with the gorgeous, sprawling live oaks in the maritime evergreen forests on the island.

To my utter delight, the pub board at BHP was excited about the idea too! So, 19 years after I came up with the idea, Yesterday’s Tides will be published! The title may change (though I LOVE this title, and it fits it perfectly, so hopefully not), and the story has so many new elements, but I’m more in love than ever. Because not only do we get Louisa and Rem and Ocracoke…we get Room 40. We get themes of how the First World War shook the world in ways that triggered the Second World War a generation later. I get to explore how Yesterday’s Tides really do affect today’s currents. All the things, y’all! ALL THE THINGS.

So last week, my family took a semi-spontaneous trip to Ocracoke for research. There’s a memorial service each year to commemmorate the sinking of a British ship off the coast during the early years of WW2, which will be where my book begins, so we wanted to catch it. And while we were there we did a lot of exploring and research, both general and specific.

I still have book 3 of the Secrets of the Isles to finish writing, which is fun and I’m enjoying it–but then I’ll get to dive into this one! I can’t wait! You can expect it to release around Jan-Feb of 2023.

Are you a fan of timeslip stories with dual timelines?

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