Merrillee Whren's Blog, page 4

Happy Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate mothers and all they do. I was blessed to have a wonderful mother and mother-in-law. They have both gone on to their heavenly reward, but I have many precious memories about them.

Here is a photo of my mother as a young woman.

Here is my mother-in-law on her wedding day.

 

Are you doing anything special to celebrate Mother’s Day?

 

Happy Easter

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matthew 28:1-10 NRSV

Happy Pi Day

On March 14th every year, folks celebrate Pi Day. Pi Day was first celebrated in 1988 by founder Larry Shaw at the San Francisco Exploratorium. It is a celebration of this mathematical constant. It’s been many years since I’ve done anything with Pi. I think I’ll celebrate by making a pie.

What about you?

A Peek at My Work in Progress

Today I thought I would share a little bit from the “indie” book I’ve been working on. The working title is A Place for Healing. It is a sequel to my first “indie” book, A Place to Call Home. 

A Place for Healing is also a follow-up to one of my Love Inspired books, Montana Match.

The hero of A Place for Healing, Max Reynolds, is a secondary character in Montana Match.

Here is a short excerpt from A Place for Healing.

“Do I have a terrible disease?” The words tumbled from Max Reynold’s mouth as he sat alone in the exam room and stared at the pale yellow walls. Even the supposedly cheerful color was doing nothing to cheer him up today. Instead, the hue sent up a caution signal. What would the doctor have to say?

Bad news?

It had to be bad, or the doctor’s office coordinator wouldn’t have called him to come in immediately after they got the results of the medical tests he’d had recently.
For months he’d been dealing with a series of maladies, including rashes, night sweats and a cough. All previous appointments with doctors had resulted in a diagnosis followed by a prescription that cleared up each problem temporarily. He hadn’t been concerned until he’d unexpectedly lost ten pounds in the last two months and a painful cough had reoccurred.

This time—no prescription, only tests followed by an urgent phone call. He took a deep breath, then let it out in a harsh rush of air. He hated the uncertainty. He hated the vulnerability. Most of all, he hated the waiting. Why were they making him wait when they had insisted he come in right away?

Maybe he should leave. He’d been to enough doctors—doctors who had done little for him. Why should this doctor be any different? Max stood, but as he took a step, he heard a muffled conversation outside the door. Max returned to his seat just as the doctor walked into the room, a stethoscope dangling around his neck.

Dr. Vargas immediately pulled up a chair and sat facing Max. “I have bad news. Your test results show that you have lymphoma. Hodgkin lymphoma.”
The word lymphoma sliced through Max’s mind. He couldn’t speak while a sinking sensation filled his gut. He swallowed hard.

Cancer.

How could he have cancer? At twenty-six, he was too young, but that wasn’t true. Cancer was no respecter of age. He’d spent the last four years working in labs and looking at other people’s cancer cells through a microscope—people of all ages and occupations. Cancer could change a person’s life in an instant.

His moment had come.

What kind of woman do you think will be Max’s heroine?

Romance and Good Eating

 

If you’d like a little romance and some good recipes to go along with the romance, check out this cookbook from some Sweet Romance Reads authors. This book is available for 99 cents at the following links.

Amazon
B&N 
Kobo
iTunes
Google

What is your idea of a romantic meal?

Did the Groundhog See His Shadow?

My blog has been neglected lately because I’ve been writing, writing, writing. The third book in my Village of Hope series is due on March first, so I must keep the word count coming, not here, but in the book. Ever since the movie, “Groundhog Day” came out, I often associate this day more with the movie rather than whether the groundhog saw his shadow. This writing gig is kind of like the movie. Write, edit, repeat. Write, edit, repeat. Write, edit, repeat. That’s the way my days continue until the book is done.

If you haven’t checked out the first book in my Village of Hope series, you can read a nice review here for SECOND CHANCE REUNION.

Today is bright and sunny here in southern Arizona, so if there are any groundhogs in the area, they certainly saw their shadows. Of course, in this area, our winters are short and mild, but we did have snow on New Year’s Day. Take a look.

Did the groundhog see his shadow where you live?

Happy New Year!

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” Philippians 3:13

Here is wishing you a wonderful 2015.

Sharing More Ornaments

The little bear in his sleigh first graced our tree in 1996 while we were living in Dallas.

I brought this ornament the first year we lived in the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills. Next to it you can see the ornament that I bought at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. Notice the chili peppers coming out of the bottom.

This ornament found a place on our tree the first year we lived in Fernandina Beach, FL. It was also the year to be patriotic after the attacks on 9/11.

Do you have ornaments that remind you of certain places or events?

Date Ornaments

Here’s one of my favorite ornaments that actually looks like the year 1980 made from gingerbread although it is actually plastic. I have at least one more ornament that is the date. I’ll post that sometime in the next few days.

Have you ever made ornaments out of gingerbread?

Christmas Ornaments

I have two large Christmas trees and two small Christmas trees in my house. One is what I call the formal tree and the other is the family tree. Today I’m going to talk about the family tree, and during the coming days I’ll share some of the ornaments that are on that tree. This tree has a dated ornament for every year since my husband and I have been engaged. Here is this year’s ornament.

Is there anything special that you put on your Christmas tree every year?