Roseanna White - Roseanna M. White

Throwback Thursday – Written On Our Lives

by Roseanna White | Sep 1, 2022 | Thoughtful Thursdays

Original post published 12/9/2019

A couple weeks ago, my church watched Mom’s Night Out–a rather hilarious Christian movie that we all thoroughly enjoyed. In one scene, the heroine’s little girl is drawing on the walls with markers–Mommy ends up putting frames around some of them rather than painting over them, which was adorable.

The next day, as I thought about that scene, my mind traveled back to my own days of small children and wall art. I honestly thought we’d escaped the writing-on-the-walls danger with Xoe–never did she do such a thing when she was young enough not to know better.

Then we started teaching her how to write.

For months afterward, we’d find her name scrawled on EVERYTHING. Walls. Counters. Cabinets. Dressers. Toybox. She would just walk around with a pen in her hand and put her name on absolutely any surface she found.

As I remembered those days, I smiled. Not because it was so funny at the time. But because as I thought of it, I also thought of that command God gave us–that His law should be written on our hearts.

Have you ever wondered what that should look like?

I think it looks a lot like a five-year-old with a pen in her hand and new knowledge filling her. Everything we touch, everything we see, everything we encounter should be a new opportunity for sharing that knowledge. For practicing the faith. For reveling in all He’s given us. Every blank surface should be an opportunity for showcasing how much we love Him.

If His word is written on our hearts, then we should also be scrawling His glorious name all over our lives.

Peace + All Good Candles

Peace + All Good Lotion

Peace + All Good Bar Soap

Throwback Thursday – The Power of Words

by Roseanna White | Jul 28, 2022 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Throwback Thursdays

Original post published January 30, 2020
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Familiar words, right? We’ve all read those verses a million times. I was pretty sure I’d examined them from every possible perspective. But last time I read them, a new little seed of inspiration was planted that I’ve been keeping an eye on. 😉

I’m a writer (which you obviously know). I love words. I love philosophizing about them. I love making art with them. I love harnessing them to express Truth and Light. And I LOVE when God talks about them–and about their power. Power which John 1:3 states in a way that sheds new light on the nature of those words I so love.

In Genesis, God SPOKE the world into existence. “And God said, ‘Let there be…’” Here in John, Jesus IS that Word through which all things were made. Have those two pieces clicked in your mind before? I can’t believe it took this long for them to click for me, LOL. That our Savior is the thing by which and through which creation happens. And THAT is why John calls him the Word. (To which my husband said, “Well yeah…” proving that I’m definitely late to this epiphany, LOL. But I’m going to keep talking about it anyway.)

So what does that say about the true power of words?

Words are the creative force. It is through words that things happen.

I need to think about that for a minute. I use words for a living–I create a lot with them. Whole worlds, one might argue…but imaginary ones. When it comes to actual building, I guess I always thought that the ACTIONS were the more important thing. The other day my husband and son were building a desk together from some scrap wood (a.k.a. an old bookshelf that had collapsed, LOL), and if you ask me what effected the creation, I’d say “screws, wood, and a screwdriver.”

But do you know what else I noticed while they were building? The words exchanged. This is the first real building project they’ve done together, and I loved hearing the instructions float out to me in the kitchen. “Now this is how you do this…” my husband would say. And, “How do you want this part?”

Then would come my son’s answer. “Yeah, that looks good. Let’s put this piece here…”

A simple exchange between a very earthly father and son who were repurposing something already made. The desk could have been built without those, right?

Maybe…because they are a very earthly, physical, corporeal father and son. The Father and Son, on the other hand, at the brink of our creation…they’re something different. They are, the Bible tells us, Spirit. That’s why it was such a miracle that Jesus wrapped himself in flesh and became one of us.

Pure Spirit doesn’t have hands like we do, or like we’d recognize. Pure Spirit certainly doesn’t have (or need) an electric screwdriver or cheap particle board. Pure Spirit does not interact with this physical world as we physical beings do. How does it?

Through words.

Let that sink in–I know I am. How did God create? With words. How did God interact with man from the dawn of time through each of the prophets? With words. What did God-Made-Man do when he began his ministry? Teaching and preaching–WORDS. Yes, he healed too. I know he did. And how did he often choose to heal? With words. Sometimes he touched, yes. But did he have to? I’m reminded of what that faithful centurion said in Luke 7:7. “But say the word, and my servant will be healed.“

The fact that God shared these with us–gifted them to us and then exchanged them with us…that’s pretty amazing. More, it’s not only a gift, it’s a responsibility.

He gave us the very tools of creation. And what are we doing with them? How often do we use them to tear each other down instead of build each other up? To complain instead of praise? How often are our words careless, thoughtless, unbridled?

What might change in our lives if we could see what each of our words did, like we can see what God’s words do? We’d see the harm that thoughtless verbal jab really did to our coworker or spouse or child. We’d see what worlds were built in them instead when we instruct or praise or encourage. And I have a feeling what we chose to say would be very different.

Well, my friends, our physical eyes may not be able to see it–but it’s no less real for that. So perhaps our new prayer ought to be, “Lord, open our spiritual eyes, so that we might see the true power of our words…and use them for You.”

Word of the Week -Popsicle

by Roseanna White | Jul 25, 2022 | Word of the Week

Revisiting this delicious word today. Originally published August 27, 2018.

The heat of summer is fully upon us, and we all know nothing tastes as good on those hot summer days as cool treats. Ice cream, Popsicles, frozen coffees and yogurts and you-name-it.

My assistant’s little boy asked where the word Popsicle comes from, so this Word of the Week is for Judah!

And it’s a pretty simple one. =) Despite becoming the only word really used for icy pops these days, Popsicle is, in fact, a trademarked name (so should always be written with a capital P). It was registered in 1923 by a fellow in California, and while he didn’t explain the name, it was assumed that it was a simple mash-up:

(lolly)pop + (ice)cicle = Popsicle

Interestingly, that was the same time period in which lollypop came to mean “candy on a stick.” Before the 1920s, the word was definitely in use for sweets, but it was “a soft candy made of treacle and sugar” when it was created in 1784. By the 1840s, it came to means “something sweet but insubstantial.” And then in the 1920s, we get that “on a stick” meaning that we all identify with today.

My family has become obsessed this summer with Outshine fruit pops. We love that they’re real fruit and SO GOOD. What’s your favorite frozen treat for a hot summer day?

Shadowed Loyalty Release Day!

by Roseanna White | May 2, 2022 | Book News, Giveaways and Contests

Welcome to the launch celebration for Shadowed Loyalty!

I’m so excited to be welcoming Shadowed Loyalty into the world and so excited to be welcoming YOU into the world of Sabina and Lorenzo! This book has been many years in the making. I first wrote it when my son, Rowyn, was a baby. As in, in his bouncy seat while I was up at 5 am, typing away with my fingers and bouncing him back to sleep with my foot, LOL. Rowyn is now 14…so, you know. A bit of time for the characters to really develop in my mind!

What the Book Is About

Sabina Mancari never questioned her life as the daughter of Chicago’s leading mob boss until bullets tear apart her world and the man she thought she loved turns out to be an undercover Prohibition agent. Ambushes, bribes, murder, prostitution—all her life, her father sheltered her from his crimes, but now she can no longer turn away from the truth. Maybe Lorenzo, the fiancé who barely paid her any attention in the last two years, has the right idea by planning to escape their world. But can she truly turn her back on her family.

.

All his life, Lorenzo’s family assumed he would become a priest, but he has different ideas—marrying Sabina and pursuing a career in the law. Despite his morals, he knows at the core he isn’t so unlike his mafiosi father and brothers. Has he, in trying to protect Sabina, forced her into the arms of the Prohibition agent bent on tearing her family apart? How can they rebuild what has so long been neglected and do it in the shadow of the dark empire of the Mafia?

.

Shadowed Loyalty, set amid the glitz and scandal of the Roaring Twenties, examines what love really means and how we draw lines between family and our own convictions, especially when following one could mean losing the other.

What Readers Are Saying

“With a setting both gritty and glamorous and characters who shine with authenticity, Shadowed Loyalty pits the bonds of family against the beauty of faith. Roseanna M. White has written a story that wrestles with spiritual convictions and examines how we live and love in a broken world.”

~ Stephanie Landsem, Author of In A Far-Off Land

“I can’t even begin to tell you what Shadowed Loyalty did to me, my faith, my heart.” ~ Mel F.

“Once again, Roseanna wrote a story with wonderfully deep characters and remarkable insights. I pondered the many facets of the story for days afterward.” ~ Lynn Squire

“This is an intriguing, complex tale that probes the disreputable times, where the characters wrestle with unsettling choices between loyalty to family and doing what is morally right.” ~ Paula S.

“What a roaring story! Roseanna M. White has written a thrilling narrative of family, love, and loyalty set in 1920’s Chicago.” ~ Anna

“A book set in Chicago during the roaring 20’s with the main characters being members of leading Mafia families might not at first glance be expected to be historical Christian fiction. Roseanna White, however, seems to be able to take just about any historical situation and produce a rip-roaring good story that is also full of spiritual depth and challenging insights into living a Christ-honoring life no matter what the circumstances.” ~ Margaret N.

“Love Roseanna Whites books and I couldn’t put this one down. My favorite book so far!” ~ Carol

“The depth of Roseanna White’s characters in Shadowed Loyalty, as well as her ability to illustrate 1920’s Chicago, allowed me to immerse myself into this compelling story of love, family, and God’s amazing provision and grace. A fantastic read!” ~ Laura H.

Celebrate with Me!

I’m celebrating the release for the next month with a giveaway! But, no, not of the book. 😉 Instead, I want to share in YOUR celebration of the book with some glam and some tastiness. So here’s what you do:

Over the next month, as you read, share an image of Shadowed Loyalty to some social media platform. This can be a beautiful Bookstagram style photo of the paperback or your ereader with the digital cover on there, or just a quick snapshot on your phone with, “Look what I’m reading!” Any platform is good–just make sure to tag me! I’m on all major platforms with the handle RoseannaMWhite. And you’re welcome to do this multiple times for multiple entries!

OR

Post a picture of YOURSELF dressed in 1920s glam–ready to read or inspired by the book–and tag me!

THEN, I’d also love to know what scene or theme or part of the book you most enjoyed! Just tell me in the form below for another chance to win.

Win what?

One lucky winner, to be drawn on June 3, 2022, will receive:

A set of the art deco dangling earrings featured on the book cover
A tin of Italian pastries
A seat at the July Tea Party Book Club where we chat about the book!

Enter between now and June 2 using this form!
(If the form isn’t displaying properly for you, just visit this page.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Unceasing Thanksgiving

by Roseanna White | Nov 25, 2021 | Thoughtful Thursdays

“Why do I follow you? Because you are who you are, Lord, and because I rejoice in having been called by you. Let the swiftness of my feet in following you be my unceasing thanksgiving.” ~ Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word

When I read those words a few weeks ago, they resonated deep in my spirit. So often we view thanksgiving as something we have to pause to do, a state of mind that we have to work to get into. When Paul tells us to give thanks always, we think of it as something tending toward the impossible–at least if we’re not staying constantly conscious of it.

But I love this perspective, and it’s one I’m dwelling on this year as I celebrate our official Thanksgiving. That sometimes, the loudest praise is doing what God has called us to do. It’s abandoning our fishing nets and following after Him. It’s pouring our offering of perfume onto His feet. It’s rushing through the busy streets of life, just seeking the hem of His garment. It’s doing the work of the Kingdom. It isn’t a big meal or reflecting on all the “things” He’s given or even the people we love. Thanksgiving is about Him.

Obedience is thanksgiving. Honoring His call on our lives is thanksgiving. Rejoicing in the One whose path we follow is thanksgiving.

Lord, I thank you. I thank you with my lips. I thank you with my words. But I also thank you with my feet–may they be ever swift in chasing after you!