Merrillee Whren's Blog, page 16

Life’s Tangles

In the past couple of weeks I have neglected my blog because my life has been a little tangled much like the cords in the picture. These are a bunch of the cords that I need to keep all of my electronic gizmos charged. I took them with me on my recent trip to Arizona, where I traveled to be with my daughter who was expecting the birth of her second child–another girl. She wanted me there because she was having some complications with the pregnancy. Praise the Lord, all went well, and although the baby was born about three weeks before the due day, both mother and daughter are healthy.

While I was there I helped to take care of my three-year-old granddaughter, who is full of energy and likes to play hide-and-seek, put together puzzles, swim, play ball, ride her scooter, among other things. She keeps me busy. Here I am with my two granddaughters.

Since I have returned home, my mother-in-law has been in the hospital because she fractured her hip. Because the surgery wasn’t done in our local hospital, we have had to travel a good distance each day to see her. Thankfully, today they moved her to a local nursing home.

All of these family issues have kept me from working on my blog and my writing. But I remember God’s promises. In my local Bible study today, we talked about the following verses that I find very appropriate to my situation. Philippians 4:4-7  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Have you had any tangles in your life lately? How did you handle them?

Time Zones

A few weeks ago, I blogged about daylight savings time. Today I want to talk about changing time zones. Right now I am in Arizona, which is in the Mountain Time zone. Arizona is one of the states that does not change to daylight savings time. So now, instead of there being a two-hour time difference between here and Florida where I live, there is a three-hour time difference. I am normally not a morning person, but here I am getting up somewhere between 5 and 6 AM. The biggest problem is the eating timetable. I find myself ready to eat lunch at 10:30 or 11:00 AM because I ate breakfast so early. Then my daughter and son-in-law eat dinner very late–sometimes at nearly 8:00 PM. That would be like eating dinner at 11:00 PM back in Florida. I’m trying to stay as close to my EDT sleep schedule as possible no matter when I eat.

Whatever time zone we live in, we know that God has a proper time for everything. Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

How do you deal with changing time zones?

Anticipation

What do these two photos have in common? You’re not sure. Maybe you can tell by the title of my blog. Anticipation. In the top photo, I’m anticipating a book signing. In the bottom photo, my son-in-law (future at that moment) is anticipating the appearance of his bride. 

 

 

 

 

Throughout our lives we anticipate many things—birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or vacations. As an author I look forward to the release of my latest book or getting a new writing contract. Right at this moment I am anticipating the birth of my second grandchild. She could make her appearance any day now.

As we read in the Bible, Christians anticipate heaven.

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” 2 Peter 3:13-14 (NIV)

What do you anticipate?

 

HAPPY EASTER

“Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.  And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.’” Matthew 28:1-7 (NASB)

Praise God! Jesus lives!

May you enjoy all the blessings of Easter.

Palm Sunday and April Fools’ Day

Today is Palm Sunday, and it is also April Fool’s Day. I know these two days have fallen together on the calendar many times before, but for some reason this is the first time I have thought about it. They seem so contradictory in their purpose. You can find information here on the supposed origins of April Fools’ Day.

Palm Sunday is the day Christians celebrate Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem days before He was crucified. Although I have tried to play a few practical jokes on April Fools’ Day from time to time, this year I will pass in favor of celebrating Palm Sunday.

 Psalm 53:1 “The fool says in his heart,
   ‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
   there is no one who does good.”

I have quoted here from Psalm 53. Did you know that Psalm 14 is nearly same?

Have you ever played a practical joke on someone for April Fools’ Day? How do you celebrate Palm Sunday?

My Writing Buddy

 

Often times when I’m writing, my cat Nomar will make himself comfortable in front of my monitor. Here is a photo of him lying on my desk. Other times, he will lie on my lap. Right now he is lying on the floor behind my chair.

 

Here is another photo of him lying on the couch in my our home office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m glad God created animals. Think how different our world would be without animals–domestic and wild. Do you have a pet? If so, do they sometimes do things that amuse you?

Genesis 1:24-25 “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

 

Happy Spring!

 

Today is the first day of spring, but for many of us spring-like weather has been with us for several weeks. Here in the northern part of Florida, we barely had winter.

 

We did have two cold snaps that killed the foliage above the ground but not the roots. Here is a photo of my hibiscus coming back to life.

 

Spring is a time for renewal, and all of the flowers and trees that bloom this time of year are a reminder that God gives us renewal through faith in Jesus. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

 

 Since it’s spring, I’m going to share some photos from my yard.

 

Azaleas in my side yard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                         Azaleas in my back yard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see the bumblebee in the photos below?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More blooms in my side yard.

   

                 

    

   

    

 

   

 

What is your favorite part of spring?   

St. Patrick’s Day

My mom always used to say that on St. Patrick’s Day everyone is a little Irish. I do have Irish ancestry on my mom’s side of the family. My maternal grandmother’s maiden name was McGee. My husband’s family on his mother’s side is Irish. My mother-in-law’s maiden name is McGinnis. My son-in-law’s parents came from Ireland and were actually married in Dublin, Ireland. We have lots of folks with Irish blood in our family. So I’m here to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick’s Day with some Irish blessings.

 

 May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

 

May you have:
A world of wishes at your command
God and his angels close at hand
Friends and family their love impart,
And Irish blessings in you heart.

 

Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening,
And live every day as if it were your last.

 

May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!

 

And finally, here is a photo of the shamrock that grows in my yard.

 

Do you have Irish ancestors? If you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, how do you celebrate?

 

Let the Madness Begin

It’s March and time for college basketball’s biggest stage—the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Division I basketball championship. I’m a huge college basketball fan. I know a lot of women don’t care for sports, but I grew up in a family with three brothers who all played lots of different sports. It wasn’t unusual to find us kids playing some kind of ball in our yard. So I learned early to enjoy playing and watching sports.

 This weekend is the beginning of the NCAA tournament. My older daughter and I share a love for college basketball and enjoy this time of year. She attended Wake Forest University that from time to time has had a very good basketball team, and we always cheered for them in the tournament. The photo below is Joel Lawrence Coliseum, where Wake Forest plays their home games.

This year Wake Forest isn’t in the tournament, so she will be cheering for Loyola University of Maryland, where she got one of her post graduate degrees. They are big underdogs and clearly not expected to win even their first round game. But we like cheering for underdogs.

I’ll be filling out my tournament bracket and hoping to come away with bragging rights in our family for the person who picked the most winners. Clearly picking winners using the mascot and team colors method is better than studying what the experts say. That’s what makes the tournament so exciting. You never know who is going to win.

Although it’s fun to cheer on your favorite team, as Christians we are engaged in a more important event. The apostle Paul compares our journey in the Christian life to that of an athletic endeavor. Read what he has to say about self-discipline in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Is there a particular sport you enjoy watching?

 

Spring Forward

Early this morning many people moved their clocks forward an hour. Although the official time to change the time is 2 AM, I changed our bedroom clock when I went to bed about eleven thirty last night, a half hour after my husband. He didn’t know that I had changed the clock, and unfortunately, got up at six o’clock instead of seven to go to the gym to do his workout before church. I slept through the whole thing. I like daylight savings time because it is light longer in the evenings, but I dislike losing that hour of sleep and adjusting to the new time. I also dislike that Arizona, where our daughter and her family live, doesn’t go on daylight time. So now there is a three hour difference in time rather than a two hour difference.

With all of this time change going on, it is comforting to know that God is in control of time. We read in Romans 5:6″ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

What do you think about daylight savings time? If you live where the time changes, do you have trouble adjusting?