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Set The Mood

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Music can certainly set the mood for me.

img_5022Some songs can put me in a sappy, melancholy mood, and others can get me bouncing and jumping all over the house. There are others that bring back sweet memories of childhood days and faraway places. A few can even drum up a feeling of irritation or maybe even a bit of anger if it draws out a memory long forgotten or hidden. Anyone who says “music is just music,” and it doesn’t effect them, I’d have to seriously question if they have any feelings at all, and I might even question their integrity in the answer. Music can draw out the deepest emotions from a person. It has lasted the span of time, and it continues to move cultures and people close together and far away from each other.

img_6819-1Like right now, I’m listening to Josh Garrels’ newest album Home. This is one of my absolute favorites! I just get in a kind of easy going attitude when I’m listening to this album. He is so versatile and great to listen to, no matter your mood or circumstances. He has a variety of styles within the same album, and I never get bored with each song sounding the same.

While listening to this, I can kind of see why he chose the title Home. Each song takes me through a different memory of home and leads me on to dream of my eternal home.

There is a song on this album that sounds like Led Zeppelin, which I plan to use in a later blog, and then, the very next track sounds like a love song. One of my other favorites is, Morning Light. I’ve included it at the bottom here; so, you can enjoy at your leisure. You can go to bandcamp.com to buy and download the whole album or just a track or two. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

Daily Post Prompt: Music

Music

Scarred

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

SCARRED
Originally posted: OCTOBER 11, 2014

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I stand here in shock, not knowing what to do;

I cannot believe the feelings I’ve caught here from you.

Memories from the past overwhelm my weary mind,

But now, in chains, these memories they do bind.

My hands to you, we were reaching for the stars.

My dreams, our friendship, now you have scarred.

The distance you’ve placed, this I do not understand.

Between us, our sisterhood, is it now banned?

The anger, the jealousy, I pray it does not last.

So many questions I’m left with, only not to ask.

This brokenness and pain, I wish I did not feel.

They all say it takes way too much time to heal.

As I stand here with this bleeding heart,

I pray that one day we have a brand new start.

God can cleanse, forgive and always can mend,

But it takes you and me with this friendship to tend.

Penned – MG – 7/7/99

Daily Prompt: Scar
Scars

Purpose and Appreciation

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

 

http://www.mannersmentor.com/personal-polish/the-gracious-5-step-formula-for-writing-thank-you-notes : Source

 I wanted to take a minute in today’s post to say, Thank you. This blog hit 400 followers, and I’m just tickled! It amazes me to think that just maybe this little blog is making traction in the blogosphere, and that it just might make an impact in someone’s life. 

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read one of my posts and click that little “follow” button. It means so much for you to care enough to want to come back here. It means so much for you to allow my words to have a little portion of your thoughts today. Thank you. 

Sometimes, I grow discouraged when I see someone’s blog who just started this year, and they have 1,000+ followers; then, I see another, in the same time frame, has less than 100, and maybe, I think, “Well, I guess, I’m not doing too bad.” However, I am beginning to reconstruct my thinking, because I know that is just simple comparison, and that isn’t what matters most! If you live your life always comparing; then, you’re just simply better or worse than those by whom you compare. I must compare myself by my own abilities and achievements, my own goals and from whence I’ve come. I must compare myself by Him and to that which He’s called me. When I live in that comparison, I will always be able to find my way and know where I’m going… 

I believe our words have purpose. Our words have meaning. Sometimes, they have more meaning than we meant for them to have. Sometimes, they have more meaning than we once believed they might. Our words make up who we are, and they impact those upon whom we encounter. The words we use matter, and though I do believe this, sometimes, I find myself wondering if my words actually can make a difference… 

This is why I chose The Grizzle Grist Mill as the title for my blog. I believe it is important for my words to be given to God, and let Him “grind” them into the purpose and calling to which He has called me. My prayer is He will use the words I have written to impact your life with hope, faith, love and even challenge us both to be more than we thought we could be…

Thank you again for reading, following, and even taking the time to comment from time to time. I pray you are blessed by the words I write, as I know, I have been thoroughly blessed by yours! 😊💕

Questions to Ponder

/ The WheatandTares / 10 Comments

   
 I saw a list of questions today on a delightful blog post here, and as easy as the questions seemed while reading, I began to ponder them for myself, and I realized they’re not as easy as they first appear. I’d like to share them with you now and see if you might want to share your answers as well…

If you had a shelf for your three most special possessions (NOT including photos, electronic devices and things stored on then, or people or animals) what would you put there?

I don’t consider myself a real materialistic kind of gal; so, this question took me a little bit of time, because my first thoughts were of my family, all the photos I cherish, and one special book that I treasure. Since, I wasn’t allowed to include people or photos, my list shortened, and since my treasured book will be placed in the ‘happiness’ box below, I was back to square one. I, then, thought of my wedding band, but I could never leave that on a shelf, I would always be wearing it; so, again, I pondered. The next three things I treasure in life would be these: my journals, my camera and my gun. That may seem like a very strange combination, but let me explain…my journals for all of my writings of thoughts, goals, dreams, feelings and agonies of life. Here is where I work out my emotions and seek out the depths of my heart…my camera for all the many photographs I take to try and capture the moment and document the memories forever…my gun for a sense of security and protection, for if this world goes crazy one day, I will protect my family with everything I have and more. 

If you had a box labeled ‘happiness,’ what would you put in it?

This one was pretty easy for me to decide, because I believe true happiness can never come from a thing or even a person. True happiness can only come from within, and it can only be found, and be found everlasting, within the joy of the Lord. The One True God is the only one who can bring us perfect peace in a storm, beauty from ashes and joy through morning. So, my Bible would go inside this box, but it would be opened everyday; so, I might read, listen, learn and commune with my Heavenly Father. 

  
What do you want more of in this life?

There’s really not a whole lot more that I want more of. I feel like I have been blessed so much that I don’t really have a right to ask for anything more. I guess, if I had to choose, I’d say I’d like to, personally, have more discipline and confidence I my life. I get so frustrated with myself when I get lazy and when I back up or hesitate due to a lack of confidence. 

Daily Life List:  What do you do on an average day? Make a list of your usual activities that you do each day.

When I read Paardje’s daily life list, I have to admit I was quite jealous of her disciplined routine. I cannot say I am that precise in my daily agenda; even though, I so long to become that way. My daily life list is more like this:

1. 6:30am Wake up call

2. Devotions/Bible reading

3.  New found exercise routine (Mmm, working on the consistency of this one…As of this post, Day 5 in progress)

5. Shower and get ready

6. 3 days a week – Make sure the boys are up and getting ready for school…make sure they have lunches, and take them to school (2 days a week are home days; so, it’s a focus of schoolwork during morning hours)

7. While the boys are in school: 2 days of the weeks, we have a staff meeting and a prayer meeting, both ending around lunch time … And 1 day, I either work at the church or stay home to take care of “home stuff,” depending on the week and what the needs are 

8. Lunch with hubby

9. Pick up boys from school 

10. Run errands or return home and straighten/clean as needed

11. Dinner 

12. Evenings vary but are usually centered around family activities or down time

13. 8pm All video games and devices off…Tv/movies allowed if doing together

14. 9pm Boys to their rooms to read and settle down for bed…All electronics off and put up 

15. 9:30/10pm Lights Out for boys 😴

16. Bedtime varies for me… unfortunately, I am a night owl attempting to go to bed at earlier hours these days. 😁

Bonus Question: What are you grateful for from this last week? – and what are you looking forward to in this coming week?

This last week, I am grateful for the beautiful patches of snow we have had. It wasn’t much to speak of, only a dusting really, but I just love snow so much that even a little white dusting makes me feel like a kid again! 

This coming week, Sunday, is Valentine’s Day. My husband always says I’m a “sucker for love;” so, naturally, VDay is always a fun day for us! 😊❤️

I do hope you’ve enjoyed my little “heart and soul adventure,” and I do hope you’ll send me a few responses on some of your own answers. Or, maybe like me, it will inspire you to write up your own blog with your answers to these pondering questions. Please, be sure to link my blog; so, I can venture over to read! I’d love to learn more about you and what makes you who you are! 😊  I hope you have a great day today!!

Wednesday’s Ode #42

/ The WheatandTares

  
I love Thanksgiving! I am so excited we have a day to celebrate thankfulness tomorrow. I have so many things of which to be thankful. I have a great husband, kids, home, extended family, church, town and nation. My heart is just overwhelmed with thankfulness, and I do try to maintain this thankfulness not just once a year, but rather, throughout the year. 

Yet, sometimes, I think we can get so caught up in the thankfulness of the “good things” that, maybe, we forget about the not so pleasant things for which we should be grateful, or, maybe even, the mundane things for which we should still carry a grateful heart. You might ask, “For what bad things could we ever be thankful? For which unanswered prayers could we possibly be grateful??” 

Well, let me share a little in a personal note…

I am thankful for the pain I experienced as a child when I grew up without a father around. Not because it was heartwrenching and left me with scars, but rather, for the joy in knowing what it’s like to have a grandfather who stepped into that role for me. I am thankful for the void that led to the fulfillment I felt when my stepdad walked me down the aisle. I am thankful for the maturity I experienced early in life and the ability to make better choices for my future than the harder lessons my mother had to learn at the same age. 

I am thankful for the pain of losing our first child through a miss carriage. Not because of the heartwrenching tears I cried, nor for the fear in wondering if we’d ever have another, but because I learned what it is to experience true loss and to have a heart-stopping doubt within my soul, wondering if God even cares, which caused me to the realize He loves me unconditionally and that love caused me to grow so much closer to my God during this time of doubt and pain. 

These are just two examples of when my pain and times of difficulty have caused a deep gratefulness within my heart for the things which I learned. So, today, as we get ready to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving tomorrow, let us be thankful for not only the “grand and glorious” things in our lives, but let’s also be thankful for those “not-so-grand-and-glorious” times when the pain of our experience elevated us toward our destiny! 😉

What surprising, and maybe painful, things have caused you to grow, learn, change and to become more grateful?

Wednesday’s Ode #39

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

  I love ORGANIZATION! When things are out of order, I start getting a little anxious and unsettled. If things get in total disarray, I actually might be able to handle it for a day or two, especially if I’m really, really busy; however, if it rolls on this way, I will set aside needed priorities simply to get things back into order. This isn’t always a good thing, but I have definitely determined this is one of my characteristics. 

It’s not really that I am overly organized either. I certainly joke about having OCD and how everything has to be “just so;” however, if you read articles and books about true OCD, I suppose, these descriptions wouldn’t quite describe my home or my office space. 

I think I might be more of an “organized piler.” I do like things in their place, and I don’t like chaos in my cabinets, drawers or closets; yet, I, also, have certain areas where I might have a basket full of things I really need to go through or maybe a small stack of papers on which I need to follow up. I’m trying to get better with these two things, because even that drives me crazy! … You know it’s bad when you’re getting on your own nerves! Haha.

I really do love being organized. I am often reading to improve some area, or space, in my life; however, I don’t want to be so crazy about the organization that I miss the point of it: to spend more time with the people I love and doing the things I enjoy! 

If your organizational skills become as such that you constantly forsake family time, or friendships, simply to organize something more, then you might want to take a step back, reassess, and determine the more important things in this life. 

You only have this moment, right now, and you may not have it again for the rest of your life! You’ll never, again, catch this memory that may be happening right now. I challenge you to set aside the need to organize today and go spend some time with those you love! Get out in nature. Go see a waterfall or watch the sky for the first constellations to appear. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed! 😊

Blessed Heart and Home

/ The WheatandTares

I read this article the other day, and it really hit home…

18 Things That Are Hard to Explain to Third World Country Friends

Please, know I’m not bragging at all, but I have to say, I consider myself an incredibly blessed person. God has blessed our family so much that, many times, I am simply overwhelmed to tears because of the favor and blessings we have. Please understand, I’m not going to be one of those “prosperity preachers” who claim you will always have favor, you will always be blessed if you just do (blank) and (blank). No, you don’t give to get.

That’s not how God works, but He does honor obedience. He does give wisdom, and when you walk in it, you find blessings. He does honor prayers when you diligently seek Him, and, sometimes, He simply blesses; so you can, in turn, bless another. I can’t tell you all the reasons our family is blessed; I’m sure I could write another post on that later, and I won’t tell you that I’ve never gone through sufferings and pain. That, too, can be saved for another post…and another, and another… but all I am saying is I count myself a very blessed woman.

With that being noted, I really try to keep a grateful heart at all times, and I guess I do pretty good most of the times, but there are moments in life when I forget to be thankful. I forget to remember there are greater struggles in this life than the ones I am facing. There are people in this world who do not know from where their next meal will come, or even, if it will come. There are those who don’t even have a roof over their head, much, much less, an abundance of stuff that they’re needing to throw out!

I read this article the other day, and what the author described reminded me, again, of how very blessed I am…

Each of our family members sleep in their own beds every night.

When I’m hungry, I simply walk over to our refrigerator and decide what I’d like to eat.

When I’m cold, I put on a jacket, cover up with a blanket, or turn the heat up.

When I’m hot, I pour a glass of ice water, go outside and feel the cool breeze, or in the summertime, go stick my feet in a creek or waterfall.

Both of our boys have all the clothes they need, food they can eat, and even too much of material things they want.

When I want to go to the store, I simply jump in my car and drive over to the nearest store.

If we want to travel, we drive the car, fly in a plane, rent a boat, or ride in a train.

I take all the pictures my heart desires on my little smartphone and download them onto a “cloud” program to be retrieved at a later time.

When I want to share with the world what’s going on in mine, I simply sit here at my desk and begin to type, clicking the little blue button when I am finished.

When compared to our daily lives in America, these things I’ve listed seem like little, meaningless things, things that we each take for granted. Yet when compared to the daily lives of those from a third world country who don’t even live at the level of poverty, these simple things seem monumental. We all have something for which to be grateful. We all have someone for whom we can be thankful.

Can we take a few moments today to remember what and who those might be?

Appreciate the things you have. They are just things, and we should never be obsessive nor materialistic; yet, we can acknowledge the ease those things bring to our lives. We can enjoy them and not take them for granted.

Cherish those whom you have in your life. You never know which moment may be the last. Never let the sun go down on your wrath, and never let a moment to be cherished be one forgotten. Live. Love. Laugh, and remember what and who is most important. ❤

Blogging 201: Branding and Growth

/ The WheatandTares / 7 Comments

Ok, so in addition to my daily posts, I am going to attempt to keep up with Blogging 201 over next week or so. I know I did this last year; however, I feel like I could always use the extra help and refreshing of ideas. 🙂

Today, we must set three goals for our blog:

1. Increase followers by 20% by January 1, 2016…at 266 today… So, that would mean 318. (Wow, I can’t believe that date is almost a reality!)

2. Publish consistently everyday of the month, except Sundays. (This includes, but is not limited to Weekly posts)

…Since I already have two weekly features in place (Wednesday’s Ode and Friday’s New Angle), I’m not going to add another quite yet. However…

3. Visit fellow bloggers at least one hour weekly, comment and encourage them as I go.

So, here we go! Blogging U has now begun… 🙂

HAPPY ONE YEAR TO ME!

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

(…I know, I don’t usually post on Sundays, but today is a little exception…😉)

Well, today marks ONE year that I have been blogging!

 
It’s been a good year, and I have to say, “THANK YOU to each and everyone of you who have taken the time to drop by and read a line or two.” You have made these possible:

 
It’s been such a fun ride, and I hope we have many more. I’ve learned a lot, accomplished many personal goals, and, I believe, I have so much more to learn and much further to go in this new “blogging world” …maybe I’ll compose a book one day, who knows? 🙂 If I do, you can say YOU WERE THERE in the beginning stages. 😉 

Thanks, again for reading. It means more than you know. My heart is truly humbled and so full. 💗

Wow! Thanks a Bunch 2!!

/ The WheatandTares

  Well, the other day, I posted a great big thank you to all of you for the surprise post By WP that I had 1337 likes on my blog. Then, yesterday, I realized I now have 250 followers on The Grizzle Grist Mill! So, I wanted to say, again, THANKS SO MUCH!! You guys are wonderful!! You are so faithful to read and send encouraging words, and I am just simply blessed that you are enjoying my stuff. I am humbled, and my heart is full. Thank you. 💗😊