Burn That Bridge

/ The WheatandTares

Yeah, I’ll probably just leave that right there…

When you take care of you, and you remove toxic, dangerous or destructive people from your life, it’s okay to burn a few bridges. It’s not mean. It’s not hateful. It’s not even a spiteful act on your part (granted, you don’t add a lot of hatefulness in words or actions😉). Just burn that bridge and move beyond.

That girlfriend who chased you down, and then, went a bit psycho when you needed some space… yeah, burn that number.

That boyfriend who beat you to a pulp, and then, said he was sorry, wouldn’t do it again… yep, need to light a little fuse.

That childhood friendship whose crises-to-crises living is sucking the life from your veins… yes, close that door, burn that rope.

That old flame who wanted you to cheat on your spouse just so he/she could “make you feel alive” one more time… yeah, you better take that lighter fluid and pour the whole can out.

Walk away.

Light that match.

Burn that bridge.

You’re better than that. You deserve more.

And those who truly love you deserve more.

Do it now before you second guess yourself.

Just do it … and breathe.

Hidden Strength

/ The WheatandTares

Strength isn’t always what you might think…

Strength, especially when it comes to women, seems to be such a divergent scale. Some would say women of solid vocals and boisterous actions are strong. Yet, I’ve seen those of the meekest demeanor muster a measure of strength to fight that made these shutter.

Some would say women of fierce glare and untamed tongue are full of valor. Yet, I’ve watched those with a gentle glance and words like a lullaby slice fear like a knife.

Some would say women of intense stance and stubborn rebellion are destined for such greatness. Yet, I’ve witnessed those holding a stable foundation and a submissive heart to truth become more ferocious and full of purpose than the others could ever imagine.

Strength is not measured in the affluent or vociferous generation. It is not valued in the vivacious muscle of a class. It is not even symbolized in the insurgency of defiance and contempt of a race.

Strength is signified by honor, integrity and absolute truth. It is manifested in unity and compassion for life itself. It is evidenced in a life consumed by liberty for all not just for one. It is revealed by mercy, justice and grace all intertwined in a purity of hope and love.

Strength comes by laying down our wants and desires for a higher purpose. It blossoms by releasing our ambition and selfishness for a greater cause. It grows by realizing this is not about me but rather about us and what will become of tomorrow as a direct result of what we do with today.

Tuesday’s Treats #173

/ The WheatandTares / 14 Comments

Rocky’s Old Fashion Soda Fountain & Grill

Location: Brevard, NC

Oh. My! Oh. My! Oh. My! This place is the “bomb,” as my son used to say! When they say old fashion, they weren’t kidding! The place is totally vintage, and the staff and food are amazing!

We ordered all kinds of burgers and a pimento cheese sandwich with bacon. The burgers were absolutely amazing! You’ve got to try the pimento cheese with bacon, both on the burger, and on the sandwich! The burgers could be a little thicker for some liking, but I thought they were great. The buns taste amazing, and the chips are good. It’s a bit disappointing to get chips with burgers, but we all agreed it was nice to sit in the restaurant and not smell all the grease from fried potatoes.

Ok, now for the desserts. If you like old fashioned milkshakes, root beer floats, brownie sundaes, or anything with ice cream, this is your kind of place!! Between our two visits and ten people, we ordered chocolate, vanilla and strawberry shakes, hot fudge brownie sundae, strawberry ice cream with sprinkles, vanilla ice cream on a cone and a root beer float. Everything was incredible! The strawberry milkshake and the brownie sundae were probably my favorites. The strawberry milkshake is made with vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries added; the kind that get stuck in your straw with the “just right blended” amount of ice cream. It almost tasted like homemade strawberry ice cream! (The chocolate shake was also made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. If you like it doubles, you can order chocolate on chocolate.) The hot fudge brownie sundae was to die for! Holy Moly! Good God Almighty! 😂 I think I gained 5 lbs just looking at it, and probably another 5 lbs eating it! It was soooo good!!

We will be back there a thousand times over whenever we can! Be sure to check out the D.D. Bullwinkle’s gift shop next door as well, and note, if the line is too long in the restaurant to pay your bill, you can head into the gift shop to pay as well. 😉

Website

*note: this website is the Facebook page. The google search “website” takes you to another great store in town, Bullwinkle’s, but I’m not sure why the misdirection.

Filling In The Gaps

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

It’s been amazing to me how God’s goodness has just followed me throughout my whole life. This doesn’t mean my life has been perfect, nor does it mean that it’s been devoid of pain and sorrow. That’s actually very far from the truth. However, looking back through the years, and even at the very beginning, His goodness was there, almost lurking in the shadows at times.

I can see His hand at work so many times, comforting me, shielding me, overshadowing me and even uplifting me to be encouraged and reminded of this. I hear often, from people who want to reject Him, ask the question, “If He’s so good, why do bad things happen? Why do people get hurt? Why doesn’t He rescue all from evil?” To completely, and theologically, try to explain the answers to these questions, it would take too long for this blog, and it might be too deep or too boring for some.

Yet, I will say this much, typically, these questions aren’t from true searchers who would actually accept God if they found Him. These questions are designed to set up rebellion in a heart and argument in a mind to the point of stubborn resolution that either there is no God or He’s just a deity that is too lofty for our minuscule life, and He never cared anyway. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and I’d have to contend that you are not a true seeker nor a very good reader. You don’t do any research or read anything to truly help you find the answers to the questions you ask. But I digress. That will be another post for another day.

We live in a fallen world, and just as a person being sick doesn’t make the doctor less of a doctor, dealing with the evil of a fallen world doesn’t make God any less God. Having bad things happen in my past doesn’t nullify the Sovereignty of my God nor does it mean He loves me any less. There are a ton of reasons bad things can happen, and I won’t try to pretend to have all the answers for the Whys. I will say, the more I focus on Him and on His goodness, I see more and more of Him intricately intertwined into every piece of my life’s tapestry, and for this, I am eternally grateful!

I see the godly men He brought into my life when my own father abandoned me time and again. I see the godly women He brought into my life when my own mother and I could never see eye to eye. I see the friends He brought in when another would wound and scar my tender heart. He has always filled in the gaps when the entities of this world left my soul wrenching in pain and agony.

God places specific people in your life to fill in those voids that others leave, those gaps where others have failed their purpose. Sometimes, we are too fixated on what was lost that we fail to see the refreshing fulfillment He places right before us. We have to get our eyes focused back on Him, and He will give us sight to see what we could never have imagined possible.

“Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” 1 Samuel 16:1

“Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” 1 Kings 19:11

To Steal One More Quote from LOTR

/ The WheatandTares

Everything we do impacts another. Everyday we impact someone.

Will you be ordinary?

Will your deeds be extraordinary?

For good or for evil, we all must live.

To Steal A Quote from LOTR

/ The WheatandTares

What will you do with the time given you??

Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.“

The Pale Moon Rises

/ The WheatandTares

You said you loved me to the moon

I was your sunshine

I was your baby love

Then I began to shine

I searched to grow beyond

You grasped for the reason

You clung to the control

Then I moved into another season

You and I would never be the same

I walked away from your consuming flood

You sought love from so many facades

I could not remain as you drained the blood

You said you loved me to the moon

You told them I was your jewel

You made the endless promises

Then I realized you only wanted the moon to rule

Penned – MG – 7/15/19

Tuesday’s Treats #172

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Angelo’s Family Pizza & Pasta

Location: Waynesville, NC

Ok, first off, DO NOT go here if you’re dieting or trying to watch your calories, because it will only be a terrible, uphill battle! One of which you will fail miserably, unless you have the willpower of a stubborn mule! 😂 … Seriously, going to a restaurant like this and not trying to eat all the yummy offerings would just be silly.

The rolls alone must have 500 calories each! Oh, but they are simply scrumptious! Oh. My. Goodness. With all that buttery, garlicky, almost yeast roll-eske deliciousness, it took all I had in me to only eat one! I am still having a craving for them!

The pizza is so good as well! Our son got his own personal pepperoni, and we ordered the medium supreme. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so good! The pizza was so big, we thought the two of us could not finish… Shamelessly, we devoured every piece! 😂 (Our friends did get a piece to try!) Our friends ordered the broccoli, bacon and cheese pizza and the meat lovers, in personal sizes, and they loved each of theirs.

Honestly, the staff needs a refresh course in hospitality and serving “etiquette,” as they were just crowded around the front, talking, when we came in, and it took a little bit longer than necessary for them to finally come over. Yet, once we moved to the back room, the server we had and the atmosphere was great! We will definitely be back when we’re in the area!

Website

It Is Time

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

I’d like to ask our modern culture and our “evolved” Christian believers, when did we get to the place where Truth cannot be spoken for fear of offenses and Sin cannot be confirmed for fear of judgement? If we are a follower of Christ, Truth is absolute and irrevocable, and sin is sin, not “grace-filled” or “judgement-filled.” It just is, because God deems it so.

When did we get to the point where we care more that we not offend someone than we do about their very souls? When did we get to the point where we work so hard to preach grace that we forsake the reality of sin, hell and an eternal death? If we read the Bible, from the front cover to the very last page, God is so very clear.

We’ve come to the place where we’d rather argue, too often quite hatefully, with our brothers and sisters in Christ over the possible offenses taken or not taken over an issue rather than the merits of truth. We’d rather drum up dissension over the intentions of someone’s words rather than seek His Word for His truth on the subject at hand. We’d rather slash the hearts of our fellow kinsmen, and in turn, wound those who are listening and trying to find their own answers, rather than speak with love AND truth and let the Holy Spirit bring forth His conviction and mercy.

It sounds too much like the arguments of old when men and women would argue over the color of the pews and the length of the choir robes while their babies were battling issues of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It smells too much like the wayward youth of decades past who fought so hard for their independence and their owns rights that they forsook the ancient boundaries set before them to show them the only way. It looks too much like the sly dealings of darkness who always brings forth confusion, contention and chaos in order to distract, disengage and devour those who are most vulnerable and afraid.

Wake up, Church. Lift up your eyes. Look upon the One whom we have pierced! Gaze upon His torn flesh, His stripes, His pierced hands and feet. He was wounded for OUR transgressions! He was bruised for OUR iniquities! It was not for someone else. It was for our own prideful stance. It was for our own arrogant words. Not a one of us is not guilty. Not a one of us is worthy of the mercy and grace He gives.

It is time for us to stop claiming our own opinions and laments as Gospel. It is time we stop doing what is right in our own eyes. Lives are at stake. The innocent lie within the balance.

It is time we all repent. Moses stood between the children of Israel and God’s burning wrath. Moses stood between the children of Israel and the armies of Pharaoh. Moses cried out to God for their lives to be saved. Moses was their hero. Yet, he could never have brought them to freedom had they not listen, followed and obeyed him! He was not God, but He did show them God, and they chose to receive.

Whose hero will we be?

Whom will we follow?

To Nullify or to Rectify

/ The WheatandTares

To nullify or rectify, that is the question.

Sometimes, we are faced with the choice to swallow our fears and face our purpose and march on resiliently. Other times, we are faced with the temptation to embrace those fears, learn from them, process them and grow through them. Because, “after all they’re a feeling, and feelings are real,” aren’t they?

We are faced with the choice to nullify our fears in order to grasp our future purpose or nullify our future purpose by embracing our fears when those fears are all too overwhelming, all-consuming, and debilitating. Which should it be?

If this is your only crossroad of decision, then, you’re not asking me for a real change, but rather a shallow answer that you can simply follow for the moment and move on. No, if you truly want difference in your life when face with a deep rooted fear that threatens to take over, you’ll realize there’s another option than just nullifying the fear or embracing your purpose.

One definition of rectify is “to make a substance pure.” (Cambridge) I love this description, because it perfectly describes what must be done if you want to get rid of a confining fear that threatens your very hope of purpose and livelihood. Scripture tells us, “Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) It’s not that you have to push out the fear, deny the fear, ignore the fear or even pretend it isn’t real. You just have to love something greater than the fear!

In other words, i may be scared of being shot; however, if someone breaks into my home and threatens my babies, you better believe I’ll do everything within my power to protect those boys…even if it means stepping in the way of that bullet being fired. It’s not that my love for them is “perfect,” but my love for them is perfected in my desire to keep them safe, and my fear of that gunman is cast out because of my love for them.

You may be scared to death for the things you need to accomplish, the decisions you may have to make, the person you must confront or the new endeavors you have to face, but if your “love” is greater for the purpose you have, the hope that is coming or the God whom you serve, this love will cast out any and all fears you may have! You must carry within you a desire for something greater than that fear. You must hold within your soul a resolution of the hope for a better tomorrow, a purpose in the future, and this will rectify those fears of today!

Being truthful about your fears never nullifies your purpose. Recognition is the first step toward healing and personal victory! Once you recognize the hindrance, that hindrance can be moved. Once you recognize the roadblock, you can devise a strategy to get around it, over it or through it. Once you recognize a fear, you can rectify the problem and work to conquer it!

It is only when you recognize, embrace and refuse to take action against a given fear that you begin losing ground and take steps away from your future hope.

Your future purpose doesn’t not nullify your fears for today; however, if you dwell in them, those fears can nullify your future purpose!

So, face that giant today! Fully embrace and love your purpose more than that wimpy, gimpy fear. Realize it IS conquerable, and charge it! Nullify those fears by rectifying your purpose!