On Top of the World

September 20, 2023September 20, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Even when you’re living on top of the world, you might have to pause and take a moment to look around.

You might need to take a minute to catch your breath.

You might need to wait just a second to ponder and take it all in.

Even when you’re living in the moment of your greatest successes and doing all the things you dreamed, you might need to deliberate a juncture.

You might need to suspend the occasion to contemplate the point in time.

You might need to interrupt life to reflect and meditate on the given adventure.

Even if, or maybe especially, when you’re on top of the world…

I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
Psalm 77:11-12

Grief: Learning to Breathe

April 1, 2019March 29, 2019 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

Learning to BREATHE AGAIN is a normal process of grieving. Grief can be caused by so many variants. It can come from the loss of a physical being through death, both tragic or long-term illness. It can be from divorce, tragedy or abuse. It can even be from a severance of relationship due to danger or destruction.

I do not claim to have all the answers to this process of learning how to breathe again when grief invades. I do not claim to have all the knowledge afforded to those much older, wiser, and more experienced than I. However, I would like to point you to one resource I have found, and I believe it can help you on your journey with grief.

This resource, coupled with my personal faith in Jesus Christ, and intertwined with a host of leaders in my life, is helping me to learn the process of healing and enabling me to share a newfound hope with others…

Shameless Shout-out: I have begun listening more to Dr. Laura Schlessinger on XMRadio, and I just love her no-nonsense truth speaking! I appreciate how she deals with problems, people and the process of living. She gives incredible advice on grief, love, emotions, people, life, in general, and so much more!

Sometimes, when you are walking through the journey of grief, you need others to help you along the way. Sometimes, you need professionals who can give you proper perspective and appropriate approaches to this new you, this new life and this new “normal” you will encounter once grief enters your world. Sometimes, you’ll need to start listening to someone smarter than you, in order to simply learn to breathe again.

Dr. Laura is someone I would recommend to add to your resources, as you begin this journey of learning to breathe again, and as you walk this path of grief. The following pics are from her Instagram page. I encourage you to find her on any social media site, as well as, on XMRadio (Triumph 111) and start listening!

If you are a person who doesn’t just want to cope for the rest of your life, but you want to learn to breathe, to walk, to run, to even fly, listen to her and to people like her. If you are a person who appreciates self-improvements and learning how to deal with challenging situations and people, you will not be disappointed!

*Disclaimer: I am not recommending her as a spiritual advisor or counselor, as she never claims to be a pastor, teacher or even Christian instructor. She is simply a truth speaker who is not afraid of confrontation or spouts of emotional outburst and will “tell it like it is,” no matter the situation, conflict or difficult outcome that may result from the truth being told.

Breathe Again

February 23, 2017February 20, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

Life can feel like a heavy blanket resting on your chest, soaking up the rain, getting heavier and heavier. You can choose to get lost under the weight, dwindling down to nothing, expelling all the air from your lungs. You can close your eyes and simply allow the pain to wash you away in the storm.

Heartache and grief is bound to come to each one. If it hasn’t visited you, just hold on, your hour will come when reality slams through the door like a hurricane, and you wonder if the sun will ever shine again. Those days, the air can become so suffocating, as if your house is on fire, and you’re caught within the fumes and the smoke, grasping for one more chance to breathe again.

In that moment, in that lapse of time, you have to choose to breathe again, even when it is a struggle. Those are the minutes you will have to fight to survive. If it takes clawing your way out of that pit, then claw you must, but never give up.

Never lie down and give up the fight so easily. Never roll out the red carpet for death to seize your mind and your soul. Never let the reaper consume you with hopelessness and despair. He will try, and he will scream horrors upon horrors to make you see him. Don’t let him win.

There is Hope. There is a better way. Hope will bring light into the darkest night. Hope will return the song to the wind. Hope will chase away the clouds in due time, and Hope will help you to breathe again.

Just take one tiny breath. Take one tiny step forward, and whisper His name, “Jesus.” He will answer. He will give you breath to breathe…

Wednesday’s Ode #33

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015 / The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

Originally posted April 22, 2015… Now, with a few more pics. 😉

Today, I’d like to be headed toward what I am going to give tribute: the mountains! Oh, how I love the mountains! We live near the North Georgia Mountains, and every time I get near, every time I get even a glimpse of them, I have to take a couple of really deep breaths and just close my eyes and let everything else simply slip away.

I am, specifically, in love with the N.GA mountains and the Smoky Mountain National Park; however, I have been to the Rockies, as well as, several other parks and mountain ranges along the East coast, and I love them all!!
There is just something about standing at the base of an ancient hill that has withstood the test of time. Those ranges have stood strong amidst rain, blistering heat, earthquakes, snow and mankind. Their strength precedes them. Their peace hovers around them, and it can be felt with more intensity the closer you get.

Some fear the mountains, because they are unpredictable and unwavering in the raw elements; however, I have found my time spent hiking, walking, or simply gazing up at the trees, is always refreshing, revitalizing, and it reequips me for the days I have ahead. Some grow frustrated and restless as they draw near to the sheer size of the mound; yet, I find myself longing for moments of solitude in their midst. They are a fortress, a refuge, a high tower upon which I will lean and find rest. They bring me peace, strength, and even, wisdom, as I gaze at their majesty. They are a constant reminder to me of their Creator and mine.

I just love, love, love the mountains!! My heart is longing to escape to that fortress even now. …Hmmm, I wonder if I could possibly squeeze in a trip to them today…or at least, over this coming weekend! 🙂

Plug Me In

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 / The WheatandTares

Originally posted Oct. 14, 2014…

This day in age, we all have to have plug-ins and cords and iPhones and iPads and Samsung and Galaxy…. They’ve all got chargers , and they all take time to charge. I walked down the stairs after a wedding yesterday and almost tripped over a guy, because he was sprawled out on the stairs watching a video while his phone charged.
I watch as a family sits in a restaurant, never speaking to one another, all tuned into the little hand-held device grasped between their tiny fingers. I read status updates daily where husbands and wives, parents, and kids are joking about how they are sitting in the same room while typing to one another via Facebook or texting via iMessage. We are a “plugged in” kind of world, but I often wonder how “plugged in” we actually are. We no longer want to talk on the phone, go for a walk or even have much of a face-to-face conversation, because these take up too much time, too much effort, and, frankly, too much emotion.
We are more high-tech, computer savvy and data ready than we have ever been; yet, I read article after article that this generation is less connected than ever before. I learn that, too often, this generation doesn’t even know how to be engaged in an actual conversation, because they are more comfortable with the typed word and unimposing responses than the vocal language and heart-felt reactions. I often wonder if we’ve advanced far enough or progressed too far.
Before you think I’m just “way too old fashioned,” and write me off as some “old geezer,” realize I am the mother of 2 very savvy boys who keep up with the “latest and greatest” fad (yes, that can qualify on a few notes. lol). We’re a “Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and gaming” kind of group. We have 2 iPads, 3 iPhones, a Kindle, 2 laptops, 2 iPods, and an iPod Nano, oh, and a PC, too. So, needless to say, we are a very “plugged in” family. I just, seriously, ponder the depth of this involvement at times. We can get so caught up in tweeting, blogging, posting pics and reading about everyone else’s life, and latest happenings, that we miss the very things, and people, who make up the world in which we live.
I have made it a rule that when we sit down to eat together, the electronics go off. I want to know my family, and I want our boys to know how to carry on a conversation beyond, “Hi…Uhh? … Do you tweet?” It’s not a perfected rule, and I’m surely not the “mom of the year,” but I can say, we’re a work in progress, and we’re learning to sit back and take a “breather.” Sometimes, you have to cut off the life support system to learn to breathe again.
So, I guess, I wrote all of this to simply remind myself, and others, to unplug the techno and plug back into the life-o.

Grace and Mercy

January 29, 2015January 27, 2015 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Bruised, shaking fists
Clenched, knuckle-white hands
Twisted face

Tightly closed-shut eyes
Letting in not a droplet of light
A life branded by pain
Where is the grace?
Where is the mercy?

A life cut short.
An unexplained sin.
A life-long disease.

The wounded, wound.
The pained cause pain.
The abused, abuse.

Oh, God, my heart grieves.
My eyes weep till tears are no more.
My knuckles are bloody from the pain.
Where is the grace?
Where is the mercy?

The flowers are denied their bloom.
The sun refuses to rise to give any warmth.
The wind will not send the breeze.

The world has turned gray.
The laughter is silent for miles.
The innocence has been hidden.
When will this pain end?
When will this grief hide?

This brokenness, a bloody mess.

These wounds and scars too deep to heal.
We clutch at life. No heartbeat is felt.
The air is toxic. No breath can be found.
Where is Your grace?
Where is Your mercy now?

It is found at the cross.
That bleeding, broken, wretched place. That is where Your grace abounds.
As You watched Your own Son die, You saw our sin. You saw our redemption.
It was there, Your grace and mercy from death began its prevention.

We only see what isn’t.
The grief. The emptiness. The death. We live with the loss.
The regret. The shame. The failure.
We see only the holes on the canvas of life.
Never realizing the void can be filled again with a joy that overflows, a love that is unconditional, a grace that is unending.

In the pain, knowledge is built.
In the sorrow, wisdom is rendered.
Emotions raw and undone.
Words broken and unsung.
How can we find this grace?
How can we receive this mercy?

Run into His loving arms.
Take His guiding hand to lead, to love.
Living breathless or breathless living.
Living fully or lifeless living.
More than alive or just less than dead.
We choose. We decide. We live life or death.

Penned – MG – 1/23/15

Your Rest

January 23, 2015January 20, 2015 / The WheatandTares

Sometimes, I’m consumed by the cares of this world.

Many times, the weight of this life becomes suffocating.

My thoughts and imagination, around my head, they swirl.

But then, I see a glimpse of Your face, and it’s intoxicating.

The stress and strife, they weaken in light of Your grace.

Your yoke is easy and Your burdens are light, just as You said.

The worries of my soul are lifted as I come into Your holy place.

Your grace is so sufficient, and my neediness is fed.

Thank You for Your comfort and for Your peace.

You’ve done all You promised; how could I ever forget?

I praise You for Your rest and much needed release.

Thanks for Your provisions and the plans for me You’ve set.

You are holy and so worthy of all my praise.

Thank You for Your love and for saving me from me.

I will worship and adore You for the rest of my days.

Of all my passions and desires, I pray the most You will be.

Penned – MG – 8/19/03

The Chasm

October 31, 2014 / The WheatandTares

So many hurting souls

So much sickness

So much pain

They hold onto hopelessness

They hold onto chains

So many broken lives

So much confusion

So much strife

They hold onto faithlessness

They hold onto knives

My heart weeps at the loss

My spirit grieves at the void

The chasms of empty souls deepen

As all wisdom is forsaken

And all fallacies are breathed in

My eyes strain from the hurt

My hands grasp for sanity and relief

This canyon of death is all-consuming

As they jump for loss of reason

And crash to the end, never resuming

There is only on chance of survival

Only One can mend this paroxysm

So many truths to give

So much forgiveness

So much love

He holds the very breaths we breathe

He holds the good gifts from above

So many fulfilling promises

So much mercy

So much grace

He holds the moments within His hands

He holds our very life to embrace

Penned – MG – 10/30/14

Think Jeep, Blue Sky, Fresh Air

September 22, 2014October 11, 2014 / The WheatandTares

Do You Know Him?

September 10, 2014September 10, 2014 / The WheatandTares

Death can be so sudden, or it can be so painfully slow…Which is the harder one to accept? I believe they both have their griefs and sorrows bound up in time…For we were never actually meant to die…If God could have allowed, we’d be in the Garden of Eden at this very moment, enjoying every precious moment with Him and all our fellow mankind. Oh, how I wish we could be there forever rather than here on this dying sphere called Earth.

In death, I believe, we can see the hand of God…If we will take a moment to open our eyes and look for Him…Whether it be in the precious memories of our fallen loved ones, in the sweet echo of a baby’s laughter near the graveside, or in the joyous celebration of our loved one’s home-going…He is there…He is always there…longing and waiting for our last breath here on earth that we might breathe our first eternal breath in heaven.

So, I ask you today, “Do you know Him?” Do you know His life-saving redemption? Do you know of His life-cleansing blood? Do you know His life-changing salvation? Do you know His life-ever-after promise? Do you know Him today? Or do you just know of Him?

He loves you so much, and He longs for you to spend eternity with Him…If you don’t know Him, or if you have walked away from that once desired friendship with Him, will you take just a minute today and ask yourself, “Why?” Why not surrender your heart to Him today? Why not be sure of where you’ll spend eternity when you draw that last breath? Why not allow your loved ones to be sure of where it is you will spend eternity?

Get to know Him today..
.