Month: February 2022

What Is Love?

/ The WheatandTares

February…

It’s the month of love. Valentine’s Day is either loved or hated, depending on who you are…

So, what is this “love” everyone talks about?

Is it really real? Or is it just a fantasy?

Can it actually last? Or is it just a fairytale?

Love is everything they claim it is, and yet, it’s none of that and so much more…

Love is new birth and discovery. Love is exploration and the bloom of a flower.

Love is friendship and honesty. Love is mystery and the patient waiting for an unveiling.

Love is finding each other in the brokenness and surviving the tragedy by sheer determination.

Love is grieving and remembering, laughing and forgetting, holding on and letting go.

Love is acknowledging truth while having eyes half closed and speaking clarity while not saying a word.

Love is a 1,000 tiny miracles that bring two hearts together despite the chaos, the doubt and the criticism of the outside world.

Love is best described by the One who created it, implanted it, and destined it to be…

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:5-8a

Grief

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Grief sucks.

That is all.

… … … … …

No. That is not all.

Here’s an open message to whomever needs it:

Don’t just leave your relationships hanging through this life.

Show up.

Be present.

Be engaged in their lives.

If they’re the jerk, then have the ability to speak truth when needed.

If they’re toxic, then have the guts to remove yourself when needed before you follow suit.

If you’re the unimaginable fool, then have the courage to admit it and make it right.

And for goodness sake, if it’s truly mental issues that keep you from them (or them from you), then get help for all involved, and do it now.

The distance isn’t worth it.

The void isn’t fair.

The heart wrenched cries are undeserving.

The questions when you’re (they’re) gone are too complicated to add to this process of grief.

The pain that is left in the wake of this kind of ignorance, in the dawn of sorrow, can be beyond capability.

And if you’re the one experiencing the anguish of brokenness:

Don’t allow that heartache to consume you to the point of disengagement.

Keep breathing.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Get up in the morning.

Even if you must crawl.

I know it’s hard. I know it’s beyond hard.

And I know no grief is the same.

No one can tell you the “perfect way” to grieve; it is a different theater of actors for all.

But you can grieve right…

Grieve in truth.

Grieve in love.

Grieve in reality.

And grieve with HOPE.

Hope is the only reason to even walk through the pain.

Hope will carry you though this life and allow your heart to beat and your lungs to exhale even when you’d rather fall into the grave.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

Psalm 62:5-8

Living in the Overflow

/ The WheatandTares

We all live in the overflow…

But which overflow you choose is vital to your vitality and peace.

You can choose to live in the overflow of anxiety: no peace can be found here, no rest for your weariness, no strengthening for your bones, no joy for your sanity.

But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to pick it from the bunch.

You can choose to live in the overflow of anger: utter rage will consume you, suspicious and discomfort will be your bed and pillow, every moment filled with drama, every relationship teeters on the edge of fire.

But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to pluck it from the bundle.

You can choose to live in the overflow of nothingness: no happiness can be found here, no purpose for your apathy, no relief for your depression, no clarity for your fog.

But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to pull it from the plunder.

You can choose to live in the overflow of sorrow: grief will swallow you, tears will be your blanket, every second enveloped by brokenness, every friendship walking on the knife’s edge of the grave.

But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to grasp it from the pile.

Or you can choose to live in the overflow of grace: no loneliness can diminish you, no indifference can devalue you, no hatred can murder you, no fear can unravel you.

It is your choice. You have the ability to select from the narrative and create your own story.

The freedom of truth is waiting.

Come and drown in the overflow.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

John 8:36

Stillness

/ The WheatandTares

Stillness

http://empress2inspire.blog/2022/01/30/stillness/
— Read on empress2inspire.blog/2022/01/30/stillness/

Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Daddy-Daughter Dance

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

February… Oh, how it begins the painful dance of my heart each year.

It’s not that I’m angry. It’s not that I’m hating what I see. It’s just a longing within my once little girl heart that will never be fulfilled.

The beautiful pictures plastered all over social media bring sweet memories never beheld. Precious relationships promising treasured protection and defense for all her days.

His large frame casts a shadow not of harm or destruction but of love and nurture. Her petite form is sheltered, cherished and adored. They stand in parade for all to appreciate and celebrate.

I am thankful for his place in her life. I am grateful for her desire for his strength and fortitude. I truly am.

Yet, my heart breaks time and again for the wee little one standing at the door, her packed bags awaiting his never return. She forms her own dance, spinning, twirling, hoping for his hand; yet, he never extends it.

Someway, somehow, she makes it to the One who holds the key. With tears streaming, hopes shattered and dreams crushed, He takes her into His arms, and swirls her life into a new masquerade where she can smile again and forever more be held where she always wished to be. ❤️

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17