Thank You, America

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

It seems to be a phrase that is ridiculed more than appreciated these days, but today, I will proudly say, “Thank you, America.” I don’t care who you are, or where you have come from, if you live in this country, and if you call yourself an American, then, you should say the same…and even though, it may not be a popular sentiment, even if you are not an American citizen, you should still say the same.

Too many in today’s culture take so much liberty in bashing the bad of this country. Too much joy is taken in attempting to destroy the history, and the heritage and the legacy upon which this nation was built. If someone stands for patriotism, freedom and anything “American,” too many snarks and ridicules can be made, and everyone is simply expected to accept it as some sort of tolerance and penance for years of a presumed “superior conceit.”

I will never attempt to argue the perfection of America, nor will I say it can do no wrong, but if you cannot take pride in the country in which you preside, why live there? Just as a mother has to admit the foolishness of her child if that child is to grow beyond the wrong; yet, it should never negate the love and protection that mother holds for her once newborn babe. Seriously. I could stop and restart a whole new blog on that little soapbox right there, but I won’t. Not today.

Today, I’ll just stop and say, “Thank you, America.” Thank you for every hardworking man and woman who seeks to serve and make this country a better place to live. Thank you for all those who put their “hand to the plow” and never look back, always striving to leave a better community for the next generation. Thank you for every person who hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow and instead of tearing down all shreds of goodness from yesterday, he or she digs deep to find a ray of sunshine within the clouds of gray. Thank you to every American who continually takes the next step toward life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; so, our children may dream and pursue those aspirations of their hearts just as our forefathers did so long ago.

Thank you, America, and God bless you!

Happy Labor Day to all! ❤️🇺🇸❤️

Hit By A Mack

/ The WheatandTares / 8 Comments

Have you ever felt like you were hit by a Mack Truck? Maybe you’re not familiar with the term. Growing up in a rural community in Northwest Florida, we used this term anytime we felt like a sickness had just taken hold of us, or maybe when someone had had a rough night of sleep (or sometimes, even with an alcohol binge). We’d say, “I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack Truck!” Or “You look like you’ve been hit by a Mack Truck!” 😂

Now that I’m older, I’ve still used the phrase from time to time; however, once I realized what a Mack Truck really was, I’m kind of thankful that was just a phrase. For surely, being hit by a Mack Truck in reality would leave one much worse than what I have felt when using the phrase. When I’ve claimed this destructive weight has hit my life, I suppose, I’m almost whining in comparison to what it would really feel like for that 5-ton vehicle to slam into me.

Sometimes, we do overstate our life conditions, don’t we? Yet, when we’re in the middle of the storm, it’s often hard to see beyond the tornadic winds we are experiencing. So, if you’re feeling down today, or maybe you’re even feeling like a Mack Truck has invaded your solitude, just hold on a minute, and let the chaos pass.

You can make it through, if you’ll just not give up. If you quit now, you’ve let that 5-ton machine win, but it doesn’t have to end that way! Get up! Even if you have to crawl to the curb and signal for help. Sometimes, you may have to lean on someone to help you through rather than being “Mr./Mrs. Independent.” That’s ok, cuz we’ve all been there… both with the Mack Truck and with making it through with the help of a friend!😉

Tuesday’s Treats #178

/ The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

131 Main (@Biltmore Village)

Location: Asheville, NC

I’m not sure I can say enough GOOD about this place! Oh. My. Goodness! Everything was absolutely incredible, from the iron skillet cornbread to the fresh catch mahi mahi, from the Caesar salads to the cheeseburger and hickory plank grill salmon to the chef’s special filet medallion. Be assured, all the ingredients are fresh, even the seafood is shipped in fresh every morning from the coast, never frozen. The sides of fries, white cheddar grits and red-skinned potatoes were also delicious.

Yet, we’d have to say the desserts were rightly tied for the most delicious dishes. First, they were huge servings, and second, they were the best homemade brownie and key lime pie we think we’ve ever had (and we’ve been to The Keys)! Honestly, it was totally unexpected. Usually, you get a little slice of key lime and a generic type of brownie, but their desserts are all made in-house, and it shows! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!

Please note, the menu prices are not incredibly cheap; so, be sure to take your wallet. 😂 It’s so very worth it!!

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Tuesday’s Treats #177

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Ian & JoJo’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria

Location: Waynesville, NC

This place was AMAZING!! They have only been open for about four months (about 6 when this posts), and they’re doing a fantastic job! The restaurant has a nice comfortable feel, and there are both booths and tables and chairs from which to choose. They also have a large meeting room for big families or gatherings.

The food was absolutely incredible. We ordered the stuffed garlic knots to begin. Oh. My. I could have just made those my meal! The garlic and butter made the rolls delicious, but then add the mozzarella and pepperoni… Holy! Moly!

Our youngest ordered the pepperoni pizza, and our oldest ordered the fettuccine Alfredo. My husband ordered the chicken panini, and I ordered the lasagna. Everything tasted fresh, homemade, and incredible. We would have to say the lasagna ‘took the prize.’ You could taste each individual ingredient, but they blended to create a culinary ‘phenomenon.’ As our oldest said, “It’s like an explosion of flavor in your mouth!” DELICIOUS!!

The owner even came to our table after we were done to make sure everything was satisfactory. She was precious.

Website

Tuesday’s Treats #176

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

KTCHN

Location: Brevard, NC

This place has a great atmosphere and really good food. The servers were nice, and we left full and happy. The vegetable beef soup we ordered as an appetizer was incredible. The special of the day was chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and our son ordered “Lola’s Mac and cheese” with it. The chicken was a tad bit dry but had a great taste. The Mac and cheese was just like homemade and AMAZING. Our youngest ordered pepperoni pizza, and it was delicious. My husband ordered the prime rib sandwich, and it was very tasty. I had the chicken sandwich with bacon and an herb mayo. I don’t even like mayo, and it was incredible. They had several other items on the menu we’d have like to try. Maybe we’ll be back one day.

*Btw, yes, that IS the correct spelling! 😉

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Tuesday’s Treats #175

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Square Root

Location: Brevard, NC

We are here three times during our vacation. The first two times were absolutely amazing…the third time, maybe not so much. The atmosphere is great, but if you want a corner or wall seat, you need to make reservations or arrive early. It gets crazy packed. There is also nice outside seating for both lunch and dinner.

The pretzel barrel app is crazy good! The pretzel is delicious along with the smoked Gouda, Swiss, salami, ham, pimento cheese, and mustard…the fried black eyed peas weren’t quite my taste, but you might like them.

Like I mentioned, we ate here a total of three times. The salmon on cedar plank is so very good. The first time, my husband ordered it as it is on the menu, but the next time, he ordered it with pimento cheese grits. Oh. My. The egg battered fried grouper sandwich, on a pretzel bun, is very tasty. The burgers are amazing, and our son loved the kids pepperoni pizza.

The second time we were here, my husband had his salmon on the grits, and I ordered the chicken marsala, and both were Oh. My. Word. Amazing!!

The third time we ate here, the pretzel board and the pizza was still amazing; however, the grouper sandwich, BLGT (bacon, lettuce and fried green tomato) and rabbit gumbo, maybe not so much. The waitress was kind enough to remove the sandwich charge, and we went next door for chocolates; so, all is good. 😉 oh, and the sides were all tasty: sautéed zucchini, fries, salad, fried zucchini slices.

The desserts were scrumptious; even if the key lime pie didn’t have a stitch of key lime in it! 😂 It actually was an amazing taste of sweetened condensed milk creamy goodness on an Oreo crust. The tuxedo cake was also delicious with it’s three different, creamy chocolate-y goodness.

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Happy Monday

/ The WheatandTares / 7 Comments

After falling asleep around midnight, my body woke me up around 5:30 this morning. I laid in bed for another thirty minutes, hoping, praying I’d fall asleep again. At 6:05, I just decided to give it up and go downstairs to fix a cup of coffee, do a devotion and read some.

This was definitely how I was feeling, except I had no one to be upset with, except my own brain. So, I decided to just make the best of it.

So, instead of cursing the day, I thought I’d count a few of my blessings instead…

It’s Monday, and I don’t have to get up and get dressed for work…I’m sitting here in my pjs. 😂

The kids aren’t in school today; so, I get to enjoy a few days more of summer with them. ☀️

I walked my son to the door, as he left for work today, and it was raining outside, but the birds were singing a beautiful little melody. 🐦

By these weekend, we will have an 18 year old in the house. Wow. As much as my heart breaks for the way the years seem to slip by, I am so thankful for the years we have had together, the precious memories we have made, and the handsome and amazing young man he has become. ❤️

Happy Monday!

Yeah, You be YOU!

/ The WheatandTares

There’s not a lot I need to add to that. You be you, because God didn’t make you to be someone else! If He wanted us to all be the same, He would have created us as clones with no individuality and no difference of personalities, and definitely no difference of backgrounds, families or even race. Yet, here we are, and not one of us is the same!

So, why do we have such a growing consensus that demands everyone to think, speak and act the same? STOP IT! Let us all demand individuality instead of demanding conformity. Let us all expect uniqueness of those we encounter in this world instead of uniformity.

If we will refuse the cultural agenda to make us all identical robotic minions, we can turn the tide back to originality.

Be original. Be unique. Be like no other.

You be You!

Is God Good?

/ The WheatandTares

Is God good, because of His own goodness, or is He good, because He does good things for us?

Many who are believers would automatically reply, “God is good simply because of His own goodness.” However, I’d question if you truly believe this truth. If this is your stance, let me challenge you with a question. “The last time a tragedy hit your family, did you say, ‘Praise God! He is so good!’ or did you rant and rage, wondering where God was in your hour of need? Did you rejoice and celebrate Him as the afflictions came into your life, or did you curse His name for ever tempting you with His promises of love and mercy?

Yet, for many nonbelievers, you might reply “God is good only when He proves He is good by bestowing blessings and goodness.” You might demand His eternal goodness for you to ever be obedient to His Word and submissive to His authority in your life. If this is your stance, let me challenge you with a question or two, “Why do you trust in all kinds of entities in this life that are proven to be untrustworthy; yet, to the one Deity that has been proven time and again (by scripture and by personal testimonies) to be trustworthy and faithful, you don’t hold the same standards?” You might wonder what I mean. Let me expound a bit…

So many, who question the integrity of God (because they feel “He has let them down” in one way or another) completely depend upon, and keep faithful, in entities of life which have proven to be faulty at one time or another. One example would be money. You hold onto that money, buying, selling, giving and receiving, as if it will last forever. You never question it’s worth. You never question it’s reliability. You never question if it will remain stable tomorrow, next week or even years from now, because you simply trust you will receive that paycheck, cash/deposit it, and withdraw it and use it at anytime you need. Yet, time has brilliantly proven the stock market can crash in a moment’s notice, and poverty can beset us all!

Another example would be government. (*Now, don’t get hostile on either side of the “party lines.” I’m not choosing sides here; I’ll hit you both. Lol.😂) You support that system; you trust that system; you invest in that system; you defend that system, and you live by whatever rules and regulations that system hands down to you or demands of you. Yet, time and again, through political scandals, bailouts, voter frauds, twisted officials and structural brokenness and gaps, that system had proven to be faulty and less than trustworthy.

There are so many examples to give, but I will give one final example here, and that would be simply the human condition. We all have people we have loved, people we have trusted, people we have leaned on, and people in whom we’ve confided our greatest fears and failures, our hopes and dreams. Yet, there have been people in each of our lives who have wounded us, damaged us or simply failed us in a multitude of ways (And if that’s not you, well, keep on livin’, my young friend). People have proven to just be people, with ups and downs, strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, and so much more. Yet, we keep repeating this cycle of trust time and time again.

So, with all of this on both ends of the spectrum, let me repeat the question, just so we are still on the same page…

Is God good, because of His own goodness, or is He good, because He does good things for us?

God is good, because He, in and of Himself, is full of goodness. Nothing He does can have bearing on His deity or on His character as God, because He is consumed of goodness and everything good comes from Him. He cannot lie. He cannot be untrustworthy, and He cannot fail.

Our believing the sun isn’t hot simply because we can’t touch it or feel it on a rainy day doesn’t change the gastric heat it contains. Our believing the ocean is no longer wet, because we are in a desert land and can’t presently be immersed in that sea doesn’t change a bit of the moisture it holds. Just as our believing God is no longer good because of a tragedy or because He didn’t grant our every wish never changes the goodness He is nor the goodness He can give.

God is God, nothing more and nothing less. His promises are true, and His goodness flows like a river for all to receive. All we must do is have the right perspective. We have to see Him clearly, and we have to believe.

Tuesday’s Treats #174

/ The WheatandTares / 13 Comments

Big Mike’s Pizza

Brevard, NC

This place was busy, the room had cool motif, but the “corners” were a bit dirty; so, we were worried, at first, that we may have walked into a not so great place. Well, we were wrong! The waitress was so sweet, and she worked her tail off serving and cleaning the whole time we were there! The food was absolutely amazing!!

We ordered wings and a large medium pizza, half pepperoni and half supreme. Oh. My. Goodness. Everything was amazing! We will definitely be back!! What a great place!

Oh, and next time, we’re going to order a calzone. Two of these were served while we were there, and they looked amazing!!

Website

*Pic Creds: google images – i didn’t get any of my own pics while there! We were too hungry. Lol!