Author: The WheatandTares

We Will Not Forget

/ The WheatandTares

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I don’t consider myself an incredible poet, but I wanted to have something to pay honor today to those who have given their lives for our freedom. Thank you to every service man and woman who gave your all so that I and my family might live in the freedom for which you fought so hard to obtain, and thank you to your families who have had to say the hard goodbyes. We are forever grateful, and we will never forget…

  

Young men with hopes and dreams

Old men with wives and little sunbeams

All head to war. To serve their land. 

To fight for their freedom. To save their fellow man. 

  

They fought hard. They fought brave. 

Some were wounded, captured, never saved. 

We will not forget them. We will not close the door. 

They gave us our freedom. We owe them so much more. 
  

  

Their graves are marked with flags so bright. 

Their memories held tight within our sight. 

They gave the ultimate sacrifice. They paid the highest price. 

Gave they their life that I might live. Reminds me of my God, my Christ. 

  

Let us not be so busy that we pack their memories away. 

Let us not be so focused on now that we miss their pathway. 

This is Memorial Day. The day we honor, we remember, and we say, Thank you. 

We will remember the heroes, for our lives are here because of what they went through. 

  

We promise to never forget what you gave up. 

What we have to offer can never really be enough. 

We will forever say Thank You to our heroes. 

We will fight to remember, hoping our debt and gratitude eternally shows. 
  

They fought hard. They fought brave. 

Some were wounded, captured, never saved. 

We will not forget them. We will not close the door. 

They gave us our freedom. We owe them so much more. 


Penned – MG – 5/23/15

Answer to Friday’s Angle #14

/ The WheatandTares

Did you guess yesterday’s new angle? How’d you do??   

It’s a 3 wick, green candle! 😉 Hope you are enjoying these! See you next week!

     

Friday’s New Angle #14

/ The WheatandTares

It’s Friday, and it’s time for another new angle! 🙂 

I hope you have fun with this, and remember, the answer will be posted this time tomorrow!  

  

My Deepest Me

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

I heard a song the other day with this line in it: 

“You met me in my deepest Me… Grace met me there”

It made me ponder that thought for awhile
Me…that’s who I am. 
I’m not you. I’m not her. I’m definitely not him. 
I’m not that wife, that mom, that dr, or that waitress 
I’m not your mom (except JGrizz’s and JMan’s!), your sister or your aunt 
I’m just Me…that’s who I am. 

Me…it’s not always a pretty place 
Sure, I can paint on a pretty smile and fix my hair just right
I can put on a nice suit and pull myself together just the way I should 
I can say sweet words and shake hands and give you a great big hug if you need it

But I sure can snap at my kids early on a Sunday morning when I’m running late
I can battle thoughts of jealousy, selfishness and just plain rudeness sometimes. 
I can be unkind to my husband, envious of the times someone might need his attention when I really need to talk to him 
Me…can be a not so gracious place
Me…can be a deep, dark, sometimes even stinky place 

I can be grouchy. I can be angry. I can be rude, sharp and even hostile. 
I can be unkind, unreliable and unfriendly. 
I can even be lazy, forgetful and unforgiving. 
Me…it’s not always a place I enjoy to be. 
Me…it’s not always a person I like to see. 
But I have found, He always meets me in the deepest of Me
He always meets me in the deepest places where others won’t brave the approach 
He always surrounds me in the darkest moments of my soul when I wonder and doubt if He’s even there
He always consumes my heart to remind me that no matter what I’ve done He still cares. 

Because when I’m Me..
He can heal
He can restore
He can bind
He can refine
When I’m Me…
He can purify
He can cleanse
He can redeem
He can transform what is seen

You see, when I’m Me, My flesh is too much for my world to handle. 
This is not a good thing, as some would presume.
Because left to me, I will die. 
I will destroy and I will reek havoc on the lives I encounter. 
Yet, left to Him…
He can reach
He can save 
He can heal

 
He will never falter. 



Wednesday’s Ode #15

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

  
I love the Great Smoky Mountains and Cades Cove! The beauty of these places cannot be compared to any other. The Smoky Mountains National Park has a gorgeous landscape, and I love driving through it during each season to see the beauty of the land. 

This is one place where you truly can experience every season. In the Spring, there is an assortment of greens sprinkled across the hills. The birds, deer and smaller wildlife are bright with life and, seemingly, excited that winter is now passed. The summers can get hot, yet, not as hot as other places. The days are comfortably warm with the evenings still becoming a bit cool, especially in the higher elevations. 

Fall is probably my most favorite time, as the colors can almost be found nowhere else. No matter where you go in The Smokies during the fall, the foliage is just simply gorgeous. This is proven by the plethora of tourists who make yearly visits to the mountains during the month of October. That is probably the only thing I don’t really appreciate about fall months in The Smokies. 

  
The wildlife is definitely something to see in the Smoky Mountains National Park. You can just take a drive or a nice hike, and it is possible to see deer, bear and even elk. Upon driving into the park from Cherokee, NC, you will often see elk in a pasture off the side of the road. If you drive into Cades Cove, especially at dusk, you will see herd of deer, and many times, you will have to wait in a line of traffic because of a “bear jam.” If you are in search of some wildlife, The Smokies are a fun adventure!

There are so many hikes to take that I would not be able to mention them all. I will mention a few of my personal favorites, Abrahm’s Falls, Ramsey Cascades, the Chimneys, Gregory’s Bald, Newfoundland Gap, Clingman’s Dome and the Cat Stairs. If you’re looking for an overnight hiking trip, you can hike to Mount LeConte and take a snooze break at the LeConte Lodge. This is definitely not your five-star hotel. You will not find your high speed internet, modern accommodations or the swimming pool, but it is a warm meal, hot shower and bedding for the weary travelers. To show you how remote this inn is, the food and supplies needed for this inn are not transported there by car. They are packed in on llamas!! I, personally, have never stayed there, but my dad says it’s a pretty neat experience, and it’s definitely a warm welcome after s long day’s hike. 

  
If you visit the East Coast and the  Appalachain Mountain Range areas, The Smoky Mountain National Park is a must to place on your itenarary. You can stay close in Gatlinburg, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge or Townsend, and many cabins and other accommodations have “mountain view” rooms. There’s plenty of other things to do in the area, as well, but that might be another blog for another day. If you have never been to The Smokies, I encourage you to make the trip. It will be well worth it! 

  

I’ll Grow Old with You

/ The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

In light of this being our anniversary week, I hope you will forgive me for not posting something yesterday, and I hope you might indulge me today as I repost something I blogged a little while back for my sweetheart (as you will see by the “info” given). We celebrate 19 years this week, and I am more in love today than I’ve ever been! 😉 

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We sat in the empty house, the boys away for the evening. He sat at the computer playing chess. I sat in a chair opposite him, reading on my Kindle. He said, “Ya know, this is what old people do. This (silence) is what it sounds like to get old. … What are we gonna do when little bit goes off to college?” I said to him, “Cry…..Cry a lot.”
This started me thinking…

We’ve been together for over 22 years now…8,079 days of my life.

We’ve been married for 18 1/2 of those…over half of my lifetime.

We’ve lived in 2 states and, together, visited 10.

We’ve worked at 5 churches and gone to 2 colleges.

We have 2 sons, numerous “spiritual kids” and no daughters or grandkids.

We are both Southern born and bred, in 2 (technically 3) different states,

and we’re both very proud of it!

I love you more today than that first day I met you,

and even more than the day I said, “I do.”

Yet, I love you less today than I will love you tomorrow or even this time next year.

In a world where the rings come off too quickly, and the marriage vows become negotiable, I have decided our love is here to stay, and even if you wanted, you couldn’t get rid of me without a fight.

This love we have was birthed in wonder and refined in distance and time. All those years we said, “hello” each day, but only held hands once a week, deepened our commitments rather than making them shallow. This love we share has stood the test of time, and even though, I know that test will be retaken again and again during this lifetime, I believe we will remain true. For I don’t belong to you, and you don’t belong to me. We belong to the One who holds this thing together. He is the only One who will see us through.

So, I gladly look to tomorrow and cherish our yesterdays. I hold onto the present and love like it’s only the beginning. I treasure our times together and laugh at our silly mishaps. I glance over your failings and pray you’ll do the same as we reach together, hand over hand, to move beyond what could destroy and stretch our hearts toward the One who would restructure what could have been lost.

Love is not a feeling. It cannot be bought or borrowed or even stolen. Love is a choice that we each choose to uphold and to protect. Love is a choice that we can choose to embrace when we look past our own selfish ways and desires. Love must be cultivated, cherished and cared for. Love must be allowed to bloom.

Blooms do not happen instantaneously. Growth does not happen overnight. Love takes years of tenacity in trials, forgiveness of flaws, blindness to annoyances, perseverance with the little things that really matter. Love doesn’t fail when it is the love from the One who created love. Love lasts forever when it is the love of the Father.

So, today, I say, ‘YES.’

Yes, I will choose to love. Yes, I will choose to forgive.

Yes, I will choose to laugh. Yes, I will choose to cherish.

Yes, I will choose to live. Yes, I will choose to treasure.

Yes, I will choose embrace. Yes, I will choose to uphold.

Yes, I will choose to cultivate, nurture and protect this love.

Yes, I will choose you for life, for love, for laughter.

…Yes… I’ll grow old with you.

 

Answer to Friday’s Angle #13

/ The WheatandTares

Were you able to get this one yesterday?? I know, it might have been trickier than normal…

  
It is a close-up of a footprint in the sand… 🙂

  

Friday’s New Angle#13

/ The WheatandTares

Okay, here is Friday’s New Angle, and I’ve tried to be a little tricky on this one. 😉 I’m looking for not just the substance on this one but also what the shape might be…  

  Have fun! See you tomorrow for the answer! 🙂

I Watch You Grow

/ The WheatandTares

With this being the end of the school year and many are graduating this week and the coming weekends, I thought I might repost a poem I posted last November…


I watch you grow from day to day

Each new morning it seems you’ve found a new way

To touch my heart and to make me smile

Even if it is just to sit with you awhile

 

You have my eyes and your daddy’s squeal

Every passing hour brings another thrill

To make me gasp, hope, laugh or wonder

Even as the minutes go by, of you, I grow ever fonder

 

You have such joy, such energy and life

Lord, help me to never fill your days with strife

I thank my God above for blessing me with you

I pray I teach you His ways in all that I do

 

I watch you grow from day to day

A man of God to become, I pray you may

Follow His voice and never ever turn back

A life of promise, you’ll encounter with nothing to lack

 

I love you, son. You are one of the very joys of my life! ❤

Penned – MG – 6/30/03

Wednesday’s Ode #14

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

   
I absolutely love the North Georgia mountains! There are so many things to see and enjoy there! My husband and I love to take “road trip dates” and drive through the small mountain towns, stopping to peruse through an Antique shop or two, or taking a refreshing hike to see a waterfall, or even finding an old gravel State Forest road and attempting to get lost in the Cohutta Wilderness Area. We’ve had so many memorable trips and adventures. A few of our favorite drives and “pit stops” are the Richard B. Russell Parkway, Popcorn Overlook, Minnehaha Falls, Highway 197 and the Mark of the Potter, and Highway 60 between Dahlonega and Blue Ridge. 

  

We love all the little towns of North Georgia like Dahlonega, Clarkesville, Hiawassee, Ellijay, Young Harris, Clayton and Helen. We try to go apple pickin’ in Ellijay in September (just not on the Apple Festival weekends, because we’d like to avoid the crowds!) and pumpkin searching at some of the local farms later in the fall. (We don’t usually go to the more commercialized ones, because it’s just too busy. 😉 )

  
We love the Mark of the Potter on Highway 197, which is an old grist mill that still has water running through the basement. It is now a potter shop, and I can absolutely spend hours in there…and it’s not a really big shop! Our boys love to go there, because the river runs behind the mill, and they provide a fish feeder for a $.25 handful of feed. The trout are huge! My husband loves to go there, as well, to peruse through the shop, but he loves most to stand on the back deck and look at the waterfall and Soquee River. It is simply a “must see” when you’re in the area. We, also, love to go to the little town of Dahlonega. The downtown square is something to experience. There is an old General Store that still serves 5-cent cup of coffee and has a pianola, or a player piano, which you can sit in the rocking chairs and listen to for another $.25. There are little shops all around the square where you can purchase homemade fudge, chocolates, ice cream, woodworking, potter, artwork and more. There are restaurants all around the square as well. It is a delightful little town. They have many festivals and events throughout the year; so, if you want to join in the fun, or you’d rather avoid the traffic, like us, you’ll want to check the calendar.

   
 In Young Harris, Georgia, one of our very favorites restaurants is located. It is called Brothers (at Willow Ranch), and it could be best described as a locally owned Longhorns Steakhouse. Oh, my goodness! It is soooo good! Of course, they have steak, chicken, beef brisket, burgers, and they also have pasta, fish and all kinds of veggies and desserts. Every meal is served with yummy yeast rolls and honey butter, or regular, if that’s what you prefer, and they have the best sweet tea (aside from my house, as my boys say!) Have I made you hungry yet?? Another great thing about this restaurant is as you enter and leave, the mountains surround you to one side; so, the view is spectacular! Also, if you’d like a little resort living, the Brasstown Valley Resort is located right across the highway, and that place is awesome, especially at Christmas time!

Another little town we love is Ellijay. This town has special meaning for Joey and I, because for two and a half years of our dating, we lived two states apart and would meet in Ellijay every Saturday just to spend the day together. It was about an hour’s drive for both of us, and we would meet just as soon as I got off work on Saturday mornings, and we’d stay till we had to say our very last goodbyes on Saturday evenings before I would be late for my curfew! There are so many antique shops, restaurants and, now, retail shops in the area, it is a great “day trip for two.” As I mentioned before, they have the Apple Festival in the fall, and along the way to Ellijay, there are a few places to find pumpkins, too. If you’d like to take a nice hike, or simply drive to see a beautiful waterfall, Amicalola Falls is not too far from the downtown, and if you need a Walmart, Longhorns or a few other more “modern” conveniences, they’ve got that, too. We absolutely love Ellijay!

   
 The North Georgia Mountains are a great place to come for a vacation, a short visit, or just a day trip to get away. It definitely won’t be the place you’ll find big citylights and the hustle-and-bustle of that city life, but if you’d prefer to kick back and breathe a little fresh air, this is the place to be!