Word of the Week – Jovial

Word of the Week – Jovial

For the next couple weeks, I’m going to do a little mini-series on some adjectives we have that are based on the names of ancient mythological gods. As I was reading through a list of some of these, I found it so fascinating!

So we’ll start off with Zeus. Now, I know what you’re thinking–I don’t know of any words with Zeus as the root! Which is true…sort of. Zeus was his Greek name, but English is derived far more from Latin than Greek. And what was Zeus’s Latin name?

Jupiter…also known as Jove.

By jove! Now we’re on to something! 😉

Of course, when you hear Jupiter, your first thought is the planet, right? Well, interestingly enough, that’s actually where this word of the week comes from. Jupiter was given as a name not just to any planet–it was given to the BIGGEST planet. And when people were born “under the sign of Jupiter” (astology has its roots waaaaaaaaaay back in time), they were thought to be of a more cheerful disposition than the rest of us. And so came the word jovial ~ literally “pertaining to or under the influence of Jove,” by which they mean the planet of Jupiter.

Holiday History ~ Good King Wenceslas

Holiday History ~ Good King Wenceslas

I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy learning about the true story behind things like songs, poems, and stories…much like the one that goes along with the carol “Good King Wenceslas.”

This song is based on the famous life of a Bohemian duke, Wenceslaus I (known in Czech as Svatý Václav). Wenceslaus was renowned for his piety and Christian devotion, and nothing could stop him from doing good…even terrible weather. The event memorialized in the song took place on December 26, the feast day of St. Stephen, a day traditionally reserved for delivering alms to the poor. Wenceslaus was so determined to take these alms to his people that he trekked out in the middle of a blizzard to accomplish it. The song is from the perspective of one of his servants, who thought at one point during the journey that he’d surely die from the cold; the snow was so thick he couldn’t see what was ahead of him. But he made his way by literally following in the footsteps of the duke, which led him unerringly to the door of the people he was helping.

Wenceslaus lived from 907-935 and is famous for his midnight vigils and dedication to protecting and providing for his people, especially the poor. Upon his death, many biographies were written about him, and he was soon named a saint. So great was his popularity that the Holy Roman Emporer Otto even posthumously conferred on him the title of “king.” How fascinating is that? He has been held up for centuries as what a true, noble leader should be.

Wenceslaus has remained a popular figure in both Bohemia and England for centuries, resulting in the poem and Christmas carol we all know, written in 1853 by John Mason Neale. The variation in the spelling of his name has happened in the time since the song was written; it originally had that ‘u’ in there.

It’s HERE! Dreams of Savannah Release Day

It’s HERE! Dreams of Savannah Release Day

I first came up with the idea and wrote the manuscript way back in 2011, fully expecting it to be published in the next year. But God (thankfully!) had other ideas. Nine years later, it’s finally coming out, and let’s just say a lot has changed in those nine years–not just in my story, but in the world. The book originally meant to hit a few Gone with the Wind notes now has a very different goal. Themes I never would have considered back then became the central ones. Lessons I didn’t know I needed have become so important to me.

In many ways, the process of this book opened my eyes to the noble ideals of racial reconciliation. I certainly won’t make any bold claims that this story will do any amazing work in that vein–I have no idea what it will or will not strike in the hearts of any readers. But I know what rewriting and editing have done for my heart. I know how the lessons my heroine learned have opened my own eyes. And I pray–I pray with fervency and hope–that it will do the same for you.

 

One of those lessons Delia learns is that it’s through learning each other’s stories that we can really come to understand and love each other. And so, I’d like to invite you all to share yours. Your personal story, your family’s story, your community’s…whatever you feel is what led you to where you are today. I love it when readers contact me to say, “My grandfather had a role like this character’s in the Great War!” or “My family came from this same area!” Those many emails I get actually inspired me to begin a new project. I’ll have a post dedicated SOLELY to it soon, but for now, a quick invitation. If you’d like to share your story, I’ve created SeeingtheStory.com as a place for you to do so. You can type it up, or you can record it either just with audio (even just calling in!) or with video. We’ll then index and post your musings, so you can share with your own family and everyone else’s! Let’s preserve our stories. They’re what keep us connected to our past and give us the courage to face the future. How? Because stories change the world.

About the Book

Cordelia Owens can weave a dream around anything and is well used to winning the hearts of everyone in Savannah with her whimsy. Even when she receives word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, she clings to hope and comes up with many a romantic tale of his eventual homecoming to reassure his mother and sister.

But Phineas Dunn finds nothing redemptive in the first horrors of war. Struggling for months to make it home alive, he returns to Savannah injured and cynical, and all too sure that he is not the hero Cordelia seems determined to make him.

As the War Between the States rages ever nearer and Savannah’s slaves start sneaking away to the islands off the coast to join the Yankees, both Phin and Cordelia get caught up in questions they never thought they’d have to ask–questions that threaten the very dreams of a future they’d cherished.

Dreams of Savannah Prize Pack

Dreams of Savannah PRIZE PACK Includes:

  • One (1) Signed Print copy of Dreams of Savannah
  • One (1) “Because Stories Change the World” tote
  • One (1) “Once Upon a Time” pendant

Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Prizes subject to change due to availability. Open to US mailing addresses only. Void where prohibited. Giveaway open 1/5/21-1/11/21. One (1) winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and will be notified via the email provided. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize before a new winner is selected. See roseannamwhite.com for more information.

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International Giveaway

International Prize Includes:

  • One (1) print copy of Dreams fo Savannah – shipped through Book Depository, not signed.

Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Prizes subject to change due to availability. Open to residents outside the USA only. Void where prohibited. Giveaway open 1/5/21-1/11/21. One (1) winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and will be notified via the email provided. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize before a new winner is selected. See roseannamwhite.com for more information.

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Bookish Tees & Totes

Tea Party Book Club

Coming up in February, we have a special Tea Parties for Dreams of Savannah! Mark your calendar and follow the link below for more info!

 
Saturday, February 20 & Friday, February 26 ~ with me
talking about Dreams of Savannah

Friday, March 19 ~ with Hannah Currie
talking about Heart of the Crown
Holiday History ~ Cookies

Holiday History ~ Cookies

Ah, Christmas cookies. The baking, the decorating, the consuming…all part of the holiday tradition in many families. And it’s been that way for hundreds of years.

Feasts have been a part of Christmas celebration for untold centuries, and since it was counted as one of the most important days of the Christian year, that meant that all the expensive, special foods were reserved for that day. Which included spices, sugar, butter, and lard. So naturally, when one wanted to make a special treat for Christmas, one brought out these prized ingredients and created a sweet delicacy, often in the form of cookies.

The concept of beautiful decorated cookies originated with the Germans, like many of our other Christmas traditions. Why did they go to such trouble to cut out and decorate their cookies? Because they then used them as decorations on the tree! Cookie cutters became widely (and cheaply) available in the late 1800s, helping this tradition to spread.

So when did we start leaving these sweet treats for Santa? Interestingly, that dates only to 1930s America. In the throes of the Great Depression, most families didn’t have a lot…but they wanted to instill in their children the idea of not only being grateful for what they had and what they received, but of giving too. Cookies were something small and relatively inexpensive but nevertheless precious that families could offer in gratitude. Originally, stockings were filled with such treats for Santa. But over the years, people instead put the cookies and milk out for him and left the stockings empty, to be filled by him.

Word of the Year – Intentional

Word of the Year – Intentional

Looking for insight into how to choose an intentional Word of the Year?
Check out that post here.

As 2020 wound to a close, my best friend and I were talking about a Word for the year to come. I mentioned how I usually come to mine…namely, I pray about it and wait for something to strike me–or not. She, on the hand, prayerfully CHOOSES one. Something she means to keep in mind in the year to come. Her word for 2021 is “Joy.” Which is lovely, right?

I decided that this choosing business had something going for it. I began to ponder what I felt my word should be, and praying that God would clarify it and help me pick the one He wanted for me. I considered quite a few. Something resonated whenever I considered my need for rest…but rest as a word for the year didn’t seem quite right. I got a feeling of being on the right track whenever my husband and I talked about making a list of what we’ve done in 2020 and then setting up plans to help us stick to the right path in the year to come. And I knew that I wanted a word that also captured how I want to pursue relationships and love my neighbors in all that I do.

It was in a conversation about marketing our books that the word itself hit me.

Intentional.

This is the word that encapsulates everything I’m going for in 2021.

I need to be intentional about my rest–because let me tell you, burnout is a real thing!

I need to be intentional about my writing, focusing on the stories God wants me to write.

I need to be intentional about building relationships and tending relationships, with family and friends and neighbors.

I need to be intentional about pursuing the passion for reconciliation that He has planted in my heart in this tumultuous year.

I need to be intentional about my food choices, my exercise, my health, my family’s health–a lesson diabetes has taught me in the last quarter of 2020, for sure, when “spontaneous” became an impossibility for my son.

Intentional. It’s the word that also speaks to the reason undergirding everything else. My husband and I talk a lot about the value of self-awareness and “knowing your why.” When you know why you’re doing a thing, it helps you focus. It helps you make decisions. It helps you evaluate whether each thing adds or detracts from what you should be doing. We ask “why?” a lot in our family. And having the answer definitely creates intentionality.

I don’t want my life to be defined by happenstance and circumstance. I don’t want life to happen to me. Even when I get tossed curveballs (and 2020 had a few of them!), I want to step forward to meet them, knowing that they might be able to make me pause and regroup and even change up some of my actions, but they can’t change my reason for things.

Do you have a word for 2021? I’d love to hear it, and what it means to you!