by Danny Mac
What Is Half the Bed?
Hello everyone,
My wife has put up with me for twenty-eight years. I do my thing and she does hers. We share chores with me doing some and her doing other jobs. We don’t share desserts but do share a bed. She claims we share 50/50 but her half looks much larger than my half. Generally, I get twenty, maybe twenty-four inches to her forty inches and the dog has to use my half of the bed when she becomes cold at night.
There is an internet store selling bedsheets with a line defining the bed into hers and his. However, the line always seems to designate two-thirds of the bed to her and one-third to him. I excel at math and can determine mathematically the ratio between hers and his, but this doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to portions of the bed. So, the question remains, what I am missing in my calculations in determining “What Is Half the Bed?” I need answers to understand.
Did I mention my dog is a Karen? Our discovery this morning is our resident Karen makes a lousy model. My wife tries to get the right picture of Ginger for a craft she is preparing to sell. She wants the right angle, setting, and mood for the headshot. However, there is no cooperation without a bribe and in this case, it means a cookie. (I do what I am told because of 28 years of conditioning)
That being said, a cookie gains her participation but it comes with exuberant emotion and entitlement. We sit her facing the light from the window glowing on her to remove unnecessary shadows. This last for a whole two seconds before she jumps up wanting her reward. We try several more times breaking the cookie into small pieces to reward her to do our bidding.
A Karen has a strong will and is easily distracted by her own wants. In the end, we take about thirty shots trying to get one where she smiles for the camera. Her disdain for not getting what she want when she wants it comes through clearly in each shot and none appeal to my wife.
After I return to writing this morning’s blog, manager mom tries again using one of her toys. She obtains the perfect shot where Ginger smiles for the camera. The picture takes Karen time to complete.
Subscribe for alerts at my website: About | Danny Mac – Author (dannymacauthor.com)
God bless,
Danny Mac
The Queen’s Faith in a Gift Edition, by Geoffrey Waugh
This hardback Gift Edition of The Queen’s Faith is an anthology showing how Queen Elizabeth II describes her faith, including excerpts from Her Majesty’s annual Christmas broadcasts and from her historic Easter broadcast in 2020, compiled in themes. The themes include Jesus Christ, service & support, peace & goodwill, faith & hope, light & life, truth & courage, love & kindness, compassion & care, forgiveness & reconciliation, respect & tolerance. The Queen describes the significance of the Christian faith and of Christmas and Easter in her own words while respecting people of all faiths and of none.
Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee – 70 excerpts from her Christmas broadcasts.
“For me, the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.”
Queen Elizabeth in her Christmas speech to The Commonwealth in 2000
This Hardback Gift Edition: ISBN ISBN: 9798482863473 (premium colour)
See also with the same text:
Paperbacks in basic print, standard colour, premium colour:
Paperback Basic Edition: ISBN 9798527516968 (print)
Paperback Gift Edition: ISBN 9798463609946 (standard colour)
Paperback Gift Edition: ISBN 9798501268067 (premium colour)
Hardcovers linked to basic print, standard colour, premium colour:
Hardcover Gift Edition: ISBN 9798483872887 (premium colour)
Hardcover Gift Edition: ISBN 9798482863473 (premium colour)
Hardcover Gift Edition: ISBN 9798482817438 (premium colour)
Find More Books About The Queen’s Faith
Written by Kimberley Payne. Originally published on Medium.
Can we claim “The devil made me do it”?
Since childhood I believed in God. And I believed in Satan.
Who is Satan?
Satan. Father of lies. Beelzebul. Enemy. Demon. Devil. Deceiver. Lucifer. He is referred to by all these names (and more) throughout the Bible.
Most people are familiar with his actions in the garden of Eden. However, he was a created being before then. He started out as an angel of God, a cherub, named Lucifer. He was exceedingly beautiful. But he became prideful because of this. He wanted the glory and honour that belonged to God. He wanted to be worshipped. He wanted to be God.
His pride caused him to rebel and he was thrown from heaven down to earth. Jesus said, “I saw Satan like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18 NIV)
His name changed from Lucifer, which means “morning star” to Satan which means “adversary”. His story is told in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14.
What does Satan want?
As the enemy of God, he is the enemy of all God loves. His goal is to turn us away from God. He is an accuser and a tempter. We see his influences throughout the world and our godless society.
The good news
Satan is not the opposite of God. They are not equal and opposing powers. God is all-powerful, present everywhere, and all-knowing. Satan is not.
He cannot read our thoughts. He is a created being that is limited in what he knows, where he goes, and what he can do. His existence depends upon God. At the end of time he will be thrown into the lake of fire forever.
As a born-again Christian, we cannot be possessed by Satan. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit enters into us. Satan and God cannot share the same space.
However, Satan is evil, crafty, and deceitful. Although he cannot possess us, he can deceive us, tempt us, influence us. There is a real battle that goes on in our hearts and minds and the struggle between good and evil.
The Bible warns us about him:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11 NIV)
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8 NIV)
Although his power is great and shouldn’t be underestimated, be encouraged knowing his power is limited by God. God has placed a fence around each believer protecting us from Satan.
We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them (1 John 5:18 ESV).
Satan has no power over us unless we allow it.
Discover what Pentecost means, why it’s so important, and why it offers us a re-birthday.
A little background
Pentecost means ‘fifty’. It’s celebrated 50 days after Easter Sunday and is the fulfilment of earlier promises. John records Jesus’ own words at his ascension: ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth.’ (John 14:16-17).
The timing is also significant. In adopting the name, early Christians followed the example of Greek-speaking Jews who used Pentecost as an alternative name for their holiday – the Feast of Weeks. Leviticus 23:16 decreed that this festival be celebrated 50 days from the end of Passover. This Jewish celebration is known by other names too, including: the Feast of Harvest, and the Day of First-fruits. In England, Pentecost is also known as Whitsun and Whitsunday, probably derived from ‘white Sunday’ in recognition of the white baptism clothes worn by the recently baptized.
But what happened?
The Book of Acts tells us: ‘When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.’ (Acts 2.1-4).
Both wind and fire are notable symbols of the Holy Spirit. His activity that day transformed those present. To put it mildly, the event caused a stir. The disciples were so overflowing with the Holy Spirit that they attracted a crowd. They began to speak in tongues and, miraculously, people in the crowd understood them, each hearing in their own language. Perhaps, not surprisingly, some said that the disciples were drunk.
What next?
Peter spoke. This was the same Peter who had made a catalogue of mistakes before finally denying Jesus three times and running off to weep, then hide. But it was also a vastly changed Peter. He challenged the crowd head on. The power of his message converted 3,000 people that very day.
The church’s birthday
Because of Peter and his powerful message, Pentecost marks the establishment of Christianity for many believers. It’s the birthday of the church. Of course, its foundation stone is Jesus, but this was the day that the baton was passed to his disciples. They became the first apostles, initially carrying the Christian message to the crowd, but then going on as Jesus had ordained: ‘you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ (Acts 1.8).
Questions and doubts
Even after Jesus appeared in person following his resurrection there were doubters, and I don’t just mean (doubting) Thomas. When Jesus appeared to him a week after he’d appeared to his other disciples, Thomas saw the crucifixion wounds for himself. It seems more than pure chance that this arch-doubter gave the first recorded declaration of Jesus’ divinity. He said of Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God!’ (John 20.28).
Lots of people – including Christians – have doubts and questions they really want explained. Alpha provides a great opportunity – face to face and online – and it’s available worldwide.
Alpha is a series of free sessions that explore the Christian faith in a completely open way. Several sessions explore the role and activities of the Holy Spirit and there’s a special time for renewal and/or inviting him into our lives. It’s a great (re)launching pad – rather like a personal re-birthday – our own mini-Pentecost. For more about Alpha: https://alpha.org.uk/tryalpha.
Conclusion
Pentecost is a time of celebration. Through Jesus, the Holy Spirit is available to all of us all the time. We only need to ask and be open to him. If we are, we too will be empowered and can more fully participate in Jesus’great commission – ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.’ (Matthew 28.19).
We should always remember that our testimony is worth sharing. When we tell others all that God has done for us through Jesus and the power of his Holy Spirit, we are not simply sharing our story. We may be setting someone on the pathway that leads to eternal life. And that’s definitely worth doing.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Hello everyone,
Did I mention my dog is a Karen? On Monday, my wife and daughter worked a second plot for a garden. They dug the grass from the lawn and turned over the soil. They started at nine in the morning and toiled until lunchtime preparing the new section to receive melons of several varieties.
Ginger, our resident four-legged Karen, promoted herself to the boss of their work. She stood in judgment over them for the three hours commenting on their endeavor with a disappointing groan or a yap at the lack of appreciation for her suggestions.
After Lunch, the two urban farmers tilled the clay soil with its rock-hard clumps and dirtballs. Karen grumbled audibly upset for the two failed to bring her with them, and so, I let her out. My enterprising cultivators did not hear Ginger’s micromanagement style over the spinning blade of the electric tiller. They finished the initial turning of the land around four o’clock just in time for me to start cooking supper. Our Karen oversaw the preparation of the evening meal. Her fault-finding supervision consisted of her walking through, around, and across my path while cooking.
On Tuesday, my gardeners started adding compose and topsoil to the garden to replace the volume of the removed grass and enrich the soil for better yield. This took most of the day with Ginger still as acting manager. Small-Group met at our house on Tuesday night. As we all know, a Karen had to be the center of attention and Ginger pushed her way in front of all the guests.
After two days of supervising her workers lead to exhaustion and she plopped into her bed for much-needed rest. However, I was leading the group through Luke 24:36-48. This was a rather excitable section of the Bible and we became quite animated during the discussions. During one of the more ruckus portions, Ginger jumped from her slumber to investigate any danger.
Wednesday morning made me the first out of bed. Being in my sixties, this came with the cracking of joints, moans and groans from old muscles not wanting to move, and my wife complaining about the noise. As my feet planted firmly on the carpet, the room filled with a long disgruntle groan from our dog, the Karen.
It seems dogs require a good eight hours of sleep every night with twelve hours of naps in between. After two days of missing naps makes our dog is quite grumpy and sleepy. This meant she required twenty-four make up hours of sleep. There is usually a dozen reason for her to howl at something in the neighborhood, but this past Wednesday, she only finds one by coincidence at the end of the day. I wave a dog cookie under her nose, just to get her out one last time before bedtime.
Subscribe for alerts at my website: About | Danny Mac – Author (dannymacauthor.com)
God bless,
Danny Mac
We’d like to introduce you to one of our new members, Dr. Melissa Munro-Boyd.
Melissa Munro Boyd, is a wife, mother of 3, Clinical Psychologist, and officer in the United States Army. Dr. Boyd has spent much of her clinical career treating service members with behavioral health disorders, to include PTSD. Prior to the military, Dr. Boyd worked with children in the Philadelphia School District. She is a proud graduate of Hampton University in Virginia where she earned her Bachelors in Psychology. Upon graduation, she attended La Salle University where she obtained her Master’s and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Through it all, God and her family have been a constant source of strength and motivation.
Find Dr. Munro-Boyd’s books on Amazon
Hello everyone,
A couple of months back, I approached the owner of a local coffee hot spot called Coffee in the Valley. The owner agreed to host my Meet & Greet from nine to noon on Saturday, May 21, 2022. She is allowing me to take up a corner of the restaurant and sell my books.
I started advertising on Facebook a month ago. This process included making a new audience called Local. This audience included readers, book topics, and coffee drinking. I set the demography to our town plus ten miles. This covered neighboring communities. I boosted a second time for a week and today added a third for the next twenty-four hours. I copied several local FB groups to help spread the word. I have a dozen people marking interested in attending.
My darling wife created a flyer showing the coffee house, me, and my books. I posted these flyers in as many establishments as I could for people to see generically. Wherever I go for the past month, I mentioned the book signing and the coffee shop hoping for a good turnout. With god’s grace both the coffee shop and I sell more product.
My wife then made a poster for me this past week. It has the background of our small community with a picture of me and my books with a brief description of them. The print shop laminated it to a stiff board for displaying and calling patrons to my table. Again, she knocked the design out of the park.
My nerves are under control as of writing this blog. But, I think tomorrow around nine in the morning that will change. My life has been filled with moments of gaffes and faux pas over the years. Please pray that I remain calm, cool, and collected while maintaining a personable disposition for my potential readers.
Did I mention my dog is a Karen? Ginger, our dog is nine years old and that equates to sixty plus in people’s years. Like any being reaching their sixties, she has become a little grumpier as the gray starts showing under her chin.
For the previous nine years when I roll over in the morning that was her clue to jump on me to rise and shine. The other morning I stumbled out of bed and spotted her giving me a death glare for waking her up. However, with Ginger being a Karen, it did not end there. The rest of the day I got the cold shoulder from her. Then it became worse. I called to her for an ear scratching and she turned a strutted off with her tail lightly flicking from side to side in defiance and retaliation for waking her ten hours before. Not only did I receive the cold shoulder, but I also got the cold butt too.
Subscribe for alerts at my website: About | Danny Mac – Author (dannymacauthor.com)
God bless,
Danny Mac
Hello everyone,
This is a story for the fathers of daughters, please share with them although moms will also find humor in it.
I had a daddy’s little girl. As an infant, I curled her up in my arms during her worst moments and she became peaceful. It drove mom crazy to see how she calmed down instantly. I read to her every night before bedtime starting early on. Her favorite was the Disney Princesses books my mother bought her. It was not enough to just read to her and I made up voices to go along with the story.
Around five years old, I mentioned Ariel sleeping until the prince kissed her back to life. “No, dad that was Aurora, not Ariel,” came at me with authority and indignation. This comment proceeded with a five-minute lecture on the differences between the two. Only after satisfying her concern over the lack of my knowledge of Disney Princesses did she relent and allowed me to continue with my day.
Fast forward to my thirteen-year-old and not my little girl anymore as we watched a Marvel movie together. This movie introduced several other characters into the plot with another faux pa by me going into a commercial break. “Is that Poison Ivy?”
With an extended eye roll, “Poison Ivy is DC. (Duh, a two-year-old knows that) That is Natasha Romanoff. Don’t you know anything?” Luckily the commercial break was only three minutes long or she would still be lecturing me to this day. Apparently, DC and Marvel may not interchange at any time. Her brief sermon on the devastating effects of combining them compared to a fire and brimstone preacher on the end of the world.
Did I mention my dog is a Karen? For the past three days, Ohio shivered through near-freezing temperatures. The previous three days we enjoyed eighty-degree weather. (28 to 0 for my metric friends) During the warmer nights, I opened the window to allow fresh air into the room for sleeping. Sleep came blissfully as the cool spring air wafted over the room and all was right with the world.
Until about twelve-thirty in the very early morning. Ginger, our ever-watchful Karen starts with a quick “Arf,” in her sleep. Several more proceeding “Arfs,” as she wakes from her slumber. I think what is she yapping about when I hear the call from the coyotes off in the distance and coming closer.
The whole of the house awakes to her singing the song of her people out the window at the coyotes. “Arrrrrooooorrrrooo” streams from her mouth only stopping for another deep inhale of air. It culminates in me slamming the window shut and yelling at her to go back to bed.
She lays down for almost thirty seconds and then decides it time to go out. Mom hollers out, “No go back to sleep.” Ginger replies with the nastiest and foulest of gas attack she could muster. Our resident Karen gets her way when mom lets her out.
Learn more about me at my website: www.dannymacauthor.com
God bless,
Danny Mac
“We are very thrilled to announce the release of our latest project SONGS OF EASTER – created almost entirely during lockdown – 16 psalms, hymns and songs reflecting Easter hope and light. This will provide an exciting addition to our ongoing ministry.” ~ Roger Jones, Christian Music Ministries
An introduction to Songs of Easter, the February 2022 release from Christian Music Ministries. 16 songs by Roger Jones and friends. Premieres Feb 15, 2022.
Tuesday evening (15 Feb) 8pm – join them on the YouTube premiere as they play extracts from the songs. Many of those who have taken part in the recording talk about what it has meant to them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iCTwRTOEcM
