Man-Child

April 14, 2016April 14, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

Our son shared a devotion during his youth service last night, and someone snapped a photo and sent it to me.

At first glance, I was in shock, in tears and in awe of who I saw. It was as if he had grown up overnight, or maybe just in the hour and half since I dropped him off. How does this happen??

They are so tiny when they’re born, so helpless, so dependent on everything we do for them. We survive the endless midnight feedings and sleepless restings, only to enter the toddler years, when they seem heck-bent in killing themselves in one fashion or another!

Then, it’s school days and taxi driving to every event and sports practice known to mankind. This is soon followed by the absence of mind and hearing through the teenage years, and we wonder some days how we could have given birth to such a creature. These days of challenge and adventure are continued as those, once tiny dependents, start testing their abilities and spreading their wings. They push for their independence, and we seriously wonder how our hearts will handle the empty nests once they’ve flown.

Yet, there comes a moment after the night of events, when you’re watching his smile and hear the excitement in his voice, and you realize you wouldn’t want him any other way. You know within your heart you never want to hinder him or hold him back from his dreams. You see that the once little boy may no longer be in those days of youth, but you realize, as he wraps his arms around you and says, “I love you, Mom” that your man-child has grown past the point of no return, and you long for him to spread his wings and fly to the highest heights and let nothing hinder his dreams and aspirations.

You call me FRIEND??

March 24, 2016March 25, 2016 / The WheatandTares

“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”” C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

This very statement, I believe, sheds light on the reason it is often so hard to become a friend of God. Sure, we can truly see ourselves as His daughters (or sons, respectively), His children, His servants and even, for those who really struggle with their place in Christ, His little, lowly followers who are just happy that He doesn’t decide to squash them today! However, sometimes, to see ourselves as His friend, it takes much more than just a quaint little understanding of who He is.

wmich.edu/grandparenting

Maybe I’m the only one who has struggled with this…

You see, for me, friendships don’t come that easy, not those kind of friendships that really last, those kind of friendships that are more like blood-kinships, family-types. It’s not because I’m not a friendly person; you can ask anyone who knows me, I may be shy, but I can meet and greet with plenty, and it’s not that I don’t want to have friends. I have tons of people who are great acquaintances, wonderful “friends” with whom I converse during the week, say “Hi” to on Sunday and even hang out with from time to time. These are great and wonderful people, people for whom I care deeply and love immensely. These are definitely friends of mine.

However, these aren’t the friendships to which I’m referring. I’m talking about those people for whom you know without a shadow of a doubt that you’d give your life, those to whom you are comfortable sharing the innermost depths of your heart, never afraid of what they might think once you’re finished, those friends who see you at your very worst and your very best and have loved you regardless of what you’ve said or done at both ends of that spectrum. They are people with whom you have a common bond, a covenant and a kinship of spirit which cannot be broken by circumstances, other people or even your own fears and doubts. These are the kind of friends I’m talking about here, and this kind of friendship is very rare.

Many times, when I look at Jesus, I see a King. I see my Heavenly Father. I see the Creator of the Universe. I see a God so holy, so worthy and so glorious that I can’t even fathom why He would look at a lowly creature like me and love me and desire a friendship with me. Often, my mind has a hard time comprehending such majesty, such faithfulness, such love, and such a friendship.

Yet, then, my fourteen year old son walks into the room, and I begin to think of the conversation we had at lunch earlier that day. We enjoyed laughing together, talking about his latest music find and musing about the days to come. I remember how my soul longed for more time with him and how my heart leapt when he asked my help with something I thought maybe he didn’t need.

That’s when this statement by C.S. Lewis comes alive in my spirit, and I see just a glimpse of what my Heavenly Father might be feeling toward me. If I, being just a human, just a creature of such flesh, can long for a friendship with my own growing son, maybe, He, as King but also Father to me, can long for a kindred spirit and deep friendship with me. As I spend more time with Him, the more I get to know Him and the love He has for me, I find myself saying this very thing that C.S. Lewis said, “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…”

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Jennifer*

January 30, 2015January 27, 2015 / The WheatandTares

She had a way about her that made everyone feel loved.

She wasn’t an ordinary little girl. No, she was just a cut above.

Her laughter could warm the coldest of any hearts;

From her welcoming eyes, you’d never want to depart.

Now to the Promise Land, she’s gone far away,

Never to return or come again to play.

We all will miss her sweet little smile;

But if we’ll hold on, we’ll see her in just a little while.

She has been made complete by the Great Physician.

Her mind and her body, both now, in great remission.

She’s probably dancing on those streets of gold,

And most likely, hearing all His stories yet untold.

If you could see her at this very moment,

She might just be praying for your life’s atonement.

If you could hear her message as she calls out your name,

She might just be telling you to not remain the same.

“The Master is coming for you; I know it won’t be long.

Please, don’t wait forever, or you may sing a sad, sad song.

What a terrible disaster to live your whole life through,

And in the end, not give to Him your love which is so past due.”

Penned – MG – 9/20/03

*Wrote in tribute to a precious little girl I knew who lost her battle with cancer when she was only six years old…

A Child’s Perspective

January 5, 2015January 2, 2015 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

I love to see pictures that a child has taken, especially a younger child, like maybe between the ages of four and ten years old. Have you ever taken a moment to look? My son took this picture the other day, and I thought it turned out incredible. The cabin is totally focused; yet, all of the surroundings are completely blurred.

This picture created a thought within me… “What if we approached our lives like this?” Living life with one focus and one focus alone. Carrying on through our daily routines with one main goal, one desired end. Living a life in which the central goal is in complete focus while the surroundings are just sort of out of focus. Having that main focus being Jesus at the center of our life.

Too often, we go through life with so many goals, so many desires, so many ambitions that, too often, it seems the central focus gets blurred, and we get tuned into one thing and then another. We move from one agenda to another, many times, forsaking the real purpose we are even here on this planet. When we have too many agendas, too many goals, too many desires to be met, we become scattered, distracted, even chaotic in our witness and our testimony.

When we keep “the main thing the main thing,” HE is able to bring all the other things into the right focus. HE is able to show us the things which are needed and those things which are not. He is enabled to be the Lord of our lives, and the world turns to gray as it loses its hold on us.

In this new year, let us remember Who that central focus should be. Let us remember Who the one goal of our lives should be. Let us start this new year with one main thing, one goal, one central focus, JESUS, who will take us to higher heights, deeper depths and wider opportunities than we ever thought possible!

“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…” Philippians 3:13

Passing Time

October 4, 2014October 11, 2014 / The WheatandTares

Time brings about so many changes.

Some good, some bad, some exciting, some sad.

There are times when I wish I was a child again.

No worries, no responsibilities, no cares.

There are times when I wish I was all grown-up;

Then others would treat me like a lady not a child.

Time is like sand slipping through our fingers.

If we don’t wake up and enjoy the moment,

It will be lost from us forever.

So, take this moment, do not let it disappear from you.

Enjoy the time you have.

Enjoy the ones you love

For they may not be here tomorrow.

Penned – MG – 5/1/91

Childlike Distractions

October 2, 2014 / The WheatandTares

Grace* was at the beach with her mother, sitting in the sand, watching the ocean. Recently, her church had sung a very popular song titled, “Oceans,”** and as she was sitting there, she began to sing…..it was so beautiful. Her little 5 year old voice rose with the tide as she lifted her praise to her God.
“You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail…And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise…My soul will rest in Your embrace. For I am Yours and You are mine… And my faith will be made stronger…In the presence of my Savior…”**
Her mother sang along with her, lost in this incredible moment of surrender to Her King. They gazed over the waves, feeling the cool breeze as the water washed over their feet and legs.
It was a moment she would forever cherish in her heart.
Then, all of a sudden, in mid-verse, Grace* stopped, and said, “Okay, there is a lot of sand in my bathing suit. I’m going to go get in the water and rinse off now.” Her mother looked at her in shock at the sudden change, and simply said, “Okay ,” and off Grace* went to be a child playing in the waves.
As the mother told me this little story, I was struck at how similar our lives are with God. We can sit down to enjoy a “precious moment” with Him, and we can become so enraptured in His sweet presence when we just let everything else go. We can sing, pray, or even dance, without a single worry or concern. Then, all of a sudden, the waves of alarm hit us, or the tide of time comes in, and we jump up, telling Him, “Well, I’ve got to go now. There’s so many agendas and cares to which I must tend.” Not much unlike this little girl, we, as adults, too often leave Him behind, and go about our business, as if that moment with Him was great, but we leave Him there on the shore as the cares of this world cloud our vision of Him and the moments we spent with Him.
It would be so much better for us if we could learn that He longs for us to remain in His presence throughout our whole day! He does want to hear us say, “Good Morning!” and listen to our bedtime prayers; however, He longs to walk beside us and let us tell Him about every moment of every hour of our day, too. Some might say, “I just don’t have time to stop and pray all day long,” and to those I would challenge with a question, “Why not?”
So many have a misconception that our relationship with God has to be filled with a bunch of “Thees” and “Thous,” and our prayer hours must be enclosed with angels singing and some priest chanting scriptures. Who ever convinced us of that has deceived our wayward hearts! Sure, we should have moments when there is no one else around and we “get alone until we’re not alone anymore,” but Jesus spent time with His disciples off the mountaintop, too. He walked with them; He ate with them. He traveled from town to town with them. He just “hung out” with them. If He did all that with them, while here on this earth, don’t you know He longs to do the same with us while He’s away?
Our Heavenly Father longs to have a relationship with us – a living, breathing, real relationship, one that includes life-altering “holy” moments as well as those simple, seemingly obscure, chats about our day.
So, I challenge you to examine your heart and ask yourself how well you know this Savior, this man who died that you might live. Ask yourself if you have a real relationship with Him or one that may be filled with too many childlike distractions…

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

**Credit: “Oceans” by Hillsong United. Album: Zion, 2013
I do not own, nor do I claim to own, any rights to this song, including music, lyrics, or any other contents of this song.