Author: The WheatandTares

If We Were Having Coffee…

/ The WheatandTares / 20 Comments

If we were having coffee today, I might have you walk past a few suitcases and ask you to definitely not look at the laundry room, because we just got back from a week away. I’ll tell you more about that in just a minute. Let’s get a cup of warm brew and settle back here on the deck…

How was your week? I might even ask, How has the last few weeks been for you? I’ve missed a few coffee chats these last few weekends; so, we have a little catching up to do. Have you been well? Anything exciting happen? Did you have a good Mother’s Day for yourself or with your mom or your daughter? …

Things have gone well here. Mother’s Day was sweet; my guys always treat me so nice. I think maybe one of the most special moments of the weekend was that morning… I was already in a bit of a frenzy, because I had woken up an hour late. Yet, I was almost running on time. Haha. I had called out to my boys that we’d leave in about 5 mins., only to realize I hadn’t put on a stitch of makeup! 😜 So, I proceeded, finished up, and headed downstairs to leave. Our oldest said, “Five minutes, huh?” (Always the “smart” one. 😂 Lol) I told him it would’ve been had I not had to apply makeup. A few minutes later, as we were walking to the truck, he said, “Ya know mom, you didn’t have to worry about the makeup…You don’t need it…You’re beautiful without it.” Oh my! Be still my beating heart!! That boy brought me to tears…and I just about had to reapply the makeup again! 😂 Love him so much! 💕 We had family over later to grill out, and it was just a GREAT day.

The next week was pretty uneventful, I suppose, but we did get several pieces of needed furniture; so, that was fun. However, this week has been very eventful and simply wonderful! My husband and I celebrated 20 years being married, and someone blessed us with a week’s stay in Daytona Beach, Fl. The weather this week has been pretty stormy, but the moods of the ocean and clouds captured on film is totally worth it! Here, let me show you some of the pics…

A brewing storm

We had an absolute blast! It was just he and I, and we sure did miss the boys, but we made some wonderful memories together. We stayed in a great resort, right on the beach. Our room was really nice, and it had an extra large balcony that reached out toward the pool area. It was one of only two balconies like it; so, it kind of made you feel like you had an extra special room. We spent the week together exploring restaurants, walking the beach, “hiking” to the top of the lighthouse, watching the sunrises and trying to catch the sunsets when they availed themselves.

Sunrise on our anniversary

 

Our anniversary day couldn’t have been better. We woke to an absolutely gorgeous day! The sunrise was stunning. We walked downtown through several of the vintage antique shops then went to eat at a restaurant called Aunt Catfish’s. Talk about good food! I’ll be sharing about it on a Tuesday’s Treat real soon.

We were so tired after lunch, we went back to the room for a little nap. When we got up, we got all dressed up for an early dinner at Stonewood Grill in Ormond Beach. Oh. My. Word. It was a great meal! (Again, I’ll share soon on Tuesdays Treats…we’ve eaten great all week!) We then went back, changed into comfortable clothes, and drove to Ponce Inlet to walk the beach and the jetty.


It was absolutely awesome. Joey stopped, told me how much he loved me and how thankful he was to have married me 20 years ago and kissed me. The whole day was so overwhelmingly awesome, I cried! Yeah, I know, that’s sappy right there, but I did! I am just so thankful for him, our life, this trip, all of it. I have been so blessed. 💗

The moon “rise” after a storm

 

Ok, well, I could probably go on an on, but I’m sure you probably have enough to do without sitting here listening to me jabber. It’s been so fun having coffee with you. I always love our little chats, and I look forward to ‘seeing’ you again soon. Here, I’ll take your coffee cup and walk you to the door…I hope you have a blessed week ahead! 😊

*Thanks to Diana over at Parttimemonster.com for hosting this coffee share linkup. 😉

Friday’s New Angle #66

/ The WheatandTares

It’s Friday, again! 🎉 Don’t you just love it? Friday’s are fun, and Fridays are for our New Angles! 😊

  
Remember, the answer will be posted here tomorrow! 😊

Let It Shine

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

  

Sometimes, you’ve just got to let the lighthouse shine…” – Joey Grizzle

My husband said this other night as we were visiting a closed, but working, lighthouse. It caused me to start thinking…

Tha lighthouse shines with no prodding or propping. I wonder how often do we just let the lighthouse shine? (The lighthouse being our testimony for Christ.) Do we actually let it shine before all men that they might find our Savior? 

Do we let it shine while we are being tested? What about when life is chaotic and hard? What about when we just woke up on the wrong side of the bed?

Of course, some will take this little blurb as a declaration that we must simply “let our light shine,” never speaking to anyone about our faith, lest they get offended. What about those who aren’t highly observant, but who would listen for hours? What about those who are about to hit a danger zone and desperately need rescuing?  Don’t they need more than just a light shining? Sometimes, words need to be spoken before they will listen. That’s a post for another day, but please don’t mistake my words as an encouragement for silence in our witness, and don’t misinterpret this as God’s light isn’t big enough. I just think, sometimes, we need to shine our ligh and speak up! 

This world is in desperate need of His light. It will shine in those lives that have become so dark and overwhelming that they see past the tunnel of their own pain. It will show them to a better way. 

Just as a lighthouse guides the ships past the jagged rocks that would shatter the vessel, Christ shines to guide men past the pains of their past to a brighter future.  

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

Through The Years

/ The WheatandTares / 9 Comments

 
   This week, my husband and I are celebrating 20 years together. We actually dated for 3 1/2 years before we married; so, I could say, we’re actually celebrating 23 1/2 years of being together and 20 years of marriage. I can now say, I’ve been with him over half of my life!
IMG_0852(Look at those two youngins! Who in the world is that anyway?! Oh. My. Goodness!! lol.)

I can honestly tell you, I love him more today than the first day I met him and even more than the day I married him! Some people could scoff at that statement, and some might wonder how that could possibly be true; so, as a way of celebrating today, I’d like to tell you a few things I’ve learned along the way and a little bit of how this can become true for you…

*This is, by NO means, a complete list, nor is it a perfect list. There are so many more things for me to learn, and I shall until the day I die…

#1 – If you want your marriage to last, you must first love God before you love your spouse. I don’t love my husband, because I am, somehow, a strong person, or because I’m “just that good.” I love my husband, because I love God first, and He makes up the difference for my humanness.

#2 – A great marriage takes a thousand little miracles to make it work right. (Thus, another reason, you need to love God first! 😉 )

#3 – You’ve got to give a lot and take a little to make a great marriage. It takes both of you giving, learning and growing together.

#4 – A great marriage consists of two people who never gave up on each other, no matter how hard it gets at times.

#5 – A great marriage consists of a sacred and hot marriage bed. Ok, yeah, there ya go. I said it. It’s hard for me to publicly talk a lot about this, cuz I don’t believe everyone needs to know my business; however, if you’re going to have a great marriage, this has got to be true, and No, it’s not “all about sex” either. If you’re on either extreme of that spectrum, you’re gonna have troubles. 

#6 – If you want your marriage to last, you’ve got to date each other. Life can just run over you until all you see is bills, children, school, work and more bills. You’ve got to remember how and why you got in this thing to begin with. Flirt, go out, have fun and remember the man/woman you fell in love with!

#7 – A great marriage takes a lot of grace and forgiveness even when you don’t want to.

#8 – Your spouse must come before your kids, your job and your family (parents, etc.) If you are always putting other things above the needs of your spouse, don’t be surprised when she/he does the same, and then, one day, you both ask yourself, “Why am I married to this person I no longer know?”

#9 – A great marriage consists of trust, honesty and loyalty. If you don’t trust your spouse, how can they ever have the freedom to be honest with you? If you aren’t honest with him/her, how can he/she want to be loyal to you? The three work together like a well oiled machine, or they work against each other for a broken down mess.

#10 – A great marriage consists of authenticity and vulnerablility. You’ve got to be authentic with each other. Why would you play games with the one you love? You’ve, also, got to be able to be vulnerable with each other. Why would you want to be with someone with whom you can’t share your whole heart?

#11 – If you want your marriage to last, there’s got to be lots of prayer and encouragement for and to your spouse. Your spouse not only needs your prayers and encouragement, in the spiritual sense, but he/she needs to hear these words spoken and written throughout the years.

#12 – A great marriage consists of a mom and dad who love each other so much that the kids know dad would choose mom over them in a heartbeat, and she would do the same. This doesn’t mean they don’t love the kids, but it does mean they won’t be divided by the kids.

#13 – You’ve got to learn from each other as parents. There are some things at which she will naturally be good and some things at which he will naturally be good. Some things, neither of you will be good at, and you’ll have to learn together. Learn well, and have grace for each other when it’s not how you would do it.

#14 – A great marriage consists of great perspective. If you’re not seeing eye to eye, try changing perspectives. You’ll be surprised what you might see. 

#15 – A great marriage consists of two people who work together to make a good home.

#16 – If you want a marriage that lasts, you’ve got to be faithful. This doesn’t mean that infidelity always leads to divorce, but WOW, it does mean unfaithfulness sure makes the journey together (and the restoration) all that more difficult.

#17 – A great marriage consists of two people working hard to savor the moments and appreciate the little things that make their spouse who he/she is.

#18 – Your confidence in who you are and who your spouse is can make or break a good marriage. You’ve got to love yourself before you can truly love someone else, and you’ve got to believe in your spouse before you can begin to truly see who he/she is.

#19 – A great marriage consists of loving the past for what it is, having hope for what the future brings and living fully right here in the present.

#20 – A great marriage doesn’t consist of two perfect people making a perfect life together. A great marriage consists of two imperfect people living an imperfect life, while serving a perfect God who draws out a perfected love for Him, and in turn, creates a daily perfecting love for each other.

I am so thankful for my husband, this wonderful man God gave me to marry 20 years ago. I love him more with each new day, and I am more amazed with each passing year just how much I don’t deserve this blessing I’ve been given! He is my love, my best friend, my confidante, and my cheerleader. He protects me, and he encourages me to be more than I thought I could be. I could go on and on about my love for him, but I will stope here and simply say, I could not imagine asking for more! ❤

Southern Heart

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

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I am a Southern girl, born and bred, and I am proud of it. In the South, we grew up knowing trust in God, family and country were three of the most important things to take care of in life, and when one of those got out of balance, the others were soon to follow. We were taught to respect our elders, appreciate our relatives, (even if they’re a little crazy), and good friends and food go a long way to make a good day great. Old dirt roads are best enjoyed on the back of a pick up truck, and front porches were made for rocking chairs and long late night talks. Fireflies were made to catch in mason jars and catfish were made to fry up for dinner. Sweet tea is made only when the sugar is poured before the tea gets cold, and chicken is best served fried with a side of mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits…oh, and with an apple pie for dessert.  “Yes ma’am,” “No, ma’am,” and The Pledge of Allegiance isn’t just polite, it’s expected, and being a sass mouth is just plain rude…there can be found a hickory switch or two for that one. Barefoot and swimming holes are sought for in the summertime and wintertime is simply harder to find. Thanksgiving is for pumpkin pies, turkey and dressing, and Christmas is for gatherings of family and friends to remember our Savior’s birth and sing of that glorious story. Being from the South makes up who I am, and even if I wasn’t born here, I don’t think you could drag me away. It’s in my heart, and it’s here to stay.

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If you aren’t from the South, don’t like the South, or you’ve never been here, that’s ok. You may be proud of where you’re from, too. You don’t have to love my home, and I don’t have to love yours, but I will try to respect it; that’s just the Southern way. 😉 It bothers me to no end those who ridicule the South by saying we’re less educated or less cultured, because our dialect is a little different than theirs, or because we didn’t grow up where they did. I won’t spend a lot of time here on that soapbox; however, I don’t believe it’s from whence you came that makes you smarter or more stupid than the next guy; it’s all in how you act, react and treat your fellow man that will determine your intellect or lack thereof.

I am so thankful to be from the South, and I can’t think of many other places I’d rather live. I’ve been to many other states, and I’ve yet to find an area I like more. So, if you’re from the South, “Welcome Home, Ya’ll!” and if you’re not, “Come on back to see us soon!”

Daily Prompt: South

Tuesday’s Treats #16

/ The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

Fogo De Chao

location: Atlanta, Ga 

I had never eaten at a Brazillian Steakhouse until the other day during our “Night on the Town.” Oh. My. Goodness. You can really hurt yourself when eating there! They have an enormous salad bar, appropriately called, The Market Table, and then, when you’re ready, the waiters start bringing out the meats!

You have a little coaster, which is red on one side and green on the other, and you use this to let the waiters know if/when you want more. The room seems to almost “move” as each waiter goes from table to table with a skewer stacked high of individual types of meat, such as top sirloin, bottom sirloin, house sirloin, filet of lamb, ribs, pork loin, chicken legs and chicken sausage. You can choose what you like, and you can have as much as you’d like.

The food is absolutely fantastic, and because it’s simply slices of meat that each waiter gives you, it’s pretty easy to not realize how much you’ve really eaten until you are about to bust! 😉

They also have an incredible array of desserts, if you can actually stand putting another thing in your belly after all this! They have New York style cheesecake with strawberries, Creme Brûlée, Turtle Cheesecake, Molten Chocolate Cake and Key Lime…just to name s few!

Here is their website to find all the information you need. 😊

In Hot Pursuit

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8
Did you know Gid pursues us with His love? He surrounds us with beauty everyday so that we might think of Him. He sends good things our way so that we might remember Him. Even in trials and tribulations, even in the smallest things, people have testified time and again of the goodness of the Lord. We just have to open our eyes to see it. 

Why does He do this? He pursues us with His love, because He longs for us to be with Him. He longs to walk with us, to talk with us, to have a friendship, a deep relationship with us. He longs to be reunited with us. 

How much do we pursue Him in this way? Do we only think about Him when it comes church time and prayer time over the meal? Do we only think of Him when we are in trouble or in distress, because, after all, He is a God of wisdom and a God of answers. He’s a God of refuge and help. 

He pursues us, because He wants our hearts as well as our hands. He can catch our hands easily. It’s easy to catch your child’s hand when they’re young, when they need help after a tumble, or when you need to stop them from running in the street. However, it’s harder to catch the hand of your teen when they desperately long for independence and have so many new avenues to find that freedom. It’s even harder to win the heart of your grown child if you didn’t quite master the task in their younger years. 

Too often, I believe we have this same tendency toward our Heavenly Father. When we first get saved, He is all we think about, all we talk about. We pursue a relationship with Him. Yet, as life moves forward, the responsibilities pull on us, and the priorities of life knock down our door, we set Him aside for brighter, easier days. We forget about that relationship we once had when we communed daily with Him. We wait till we are in distress to call on His name. 
But oh, the sweetness of walking with Him day by day. Oh the joy we miss when He’s put aside. 

He’s still there where you left Him. Seek Him out today. You will find Him. He promised when you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him. 

What Do You See?

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

  Sometimes, your vision is everything… 
In 2 Kings 6:17, Elijah prayed this for his servant: “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he might see.” 

What do you see when you look at people? What do you see when you are in the middle of chaos? What do you see when you are surrounded by those who have less than you or, maybe, who have more? What do you look at? What do you envision? 

What you see makes up who you are. It will determine if you live as a victim or as a victor. If you always see negative, you will tend to be a negative person. If you see hopelessness and despair, you will be a fearful person and you will have a tendency to either run away from problems or avoid anything that might appear as a challenge. Yet, if you see hope and strength, you will have a tendency to be a fighter, a person who doesn’t give up too easily. If you see love and prosperity, you will tend to seek out those with whom you have camaraderie and with whom you can succeed. Depending on what you look at, you will see trouble or triumph.  

What you see will determine where you end up in life. If you don’t see success, you’ll never achieve it. If you don’t see possibilities, you’ll never see a promotion. If you don’t see faith and integrity in others, you’ll never learn to trust and open up to another person. You can look at people all day every day, but if you don’t see them, you’ll never be able to reach them, and you’ll never be able to learn from them.  

So, I’d like to leave you with a few questions to ponder… 

When you look at yourself, do you see all your faults and failures, or do you see a child of the King?  

When you look at your children, do you just see your little ones and the responsibilities they bring, or do you see a king or a queen?  

When you look at this world, do you see sin or a sinner who needs Jesus? 

When you look at the cross, do you see a burden hard to carry, or do you see the story of a promise desperately needing to be shared?

What do you see?

Answer to Friday’s Angle #65

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

How’d you do yesterday??

  
If you guessed wood or, more specifically, driftwood, you guessed right! 😊

   
Look at the little shell in there! I was going to use this pic, but I was afraid it would give it away too quickly. 😉

   

Between The Ditches

/ The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

I wanted to do one more Daily Post tonight, and as I began thinking about the word, “Survive,” this post that I wrote last year came to mind. I hope you won’t mind me reshaping rather than trying to come up with a different “survive” post. I think this pretty well sums it up for me. 😉

OCTOBER 26, 2015 / THE WHEATANDTARES

We were driving behind this guy one day who seemed very preoccupied with everything except the one thing he needed to be focused on: driving. He turned around to talk to his backseat passenger. He looked down for something. He reached over into the front passenger seat for something else. The whole time, he was swerving from the yellow line to the white line, back and forth, time and time again.

It made me think of our personal lives with Christ. Sometimes, I think we can find ourselves driving the road of life simply keeping it between the ditches. We can survive this way. We can definitely make it to heaven, keeping our lives just barely beyond the boundaries of sin, and, yes, especially when we are just getting into this thing, it takes learning and growing to set those boundaries strong and true.

However, when we consistently live our lives simply with the mentality, “How much can I get away with and still make it to heaven?,” I wonder if we truly THRIVE in our Christian walk. I wonder if we can have as much impact as when we set our standards higher and start living life victoriously…

I believe God has called us to live thriving to seek more of Him and less of us. I believe He would have us thriving in this life, paving the path for those around us to find Him. I believe He would have us to live victoriously, mountaintop to mountaintop.

This doesn’t mean we never encounter temptations, we never drop down into the valleys. After all, the only way to move from one mountain top to the next is by going through the valley or across the ridge. We can’t just hop from one to another. We will face low points at some time.

However, the difference I’m talking about is just like the driver that we found ourselves behind that day. He had a choice to drive straight, to take the curves wisely and to not hinder, or even scare the life out of, the on coming traffic due to his distractions. He lacked focus of the main thing he needed to be doing: driving!

We, as Christians, are called to a higher place, to live a better way. After all, Jesus told us, “…But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” 1Peter 2:9

*I do not own or possess this picture. Found on Google images: http://www.equipmentworld.com

Daily Prompt: SURVIVAL
Survival