Friday’s Friends #3

February 17, 2017May 26, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Today’s Friday’s Friend holds a very special place in my heart. She holds a special place in my heart, because she is so very brave, and she loves to the depth of her soul. She is funny, creative and sometimes even unpredictable, and I just love her! I am proud to call her my friend. ❤

Karen has a special way of just getting into your heart and staying a while. She blogged many years ago, and then, she created a new site this year with a fresh new outlook. She is such an inspiration to so many, and she has fought hard to become the beautiful soul she is today. I am so proud of the hope she has brought forth and the art she is creating. I do hope you will drop by and check out her site and maybe even purchase a piece or two of her beautiful, handcrafted creations! 🙂

Ps. For “techie newbies,” just click on one of the highlighted lines above to go to that part of her blog. 😉

Love Me Challenge #16

February 16, 2017February 16, 2017 / The WheatandTares

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Something I like about myself is, also, something I dislike at times. I am a very soft spoken person, and someone who works overtime to not impose upon other people. Generally, I keep my thoughts to myself, and I’d prefer to speak when spoken to rather than speak out of turn.

For those of you who struggle with your extroverted personalities might think you would love to have this personality trait; however, for those of us “blessed with such a skill” might have quite a difference of opinion. However, this post today is about what I like about me; so, what I like about it…

Walking into a crowded room, I can slip in almost unnoticed, find a friend and smile before everyone realizes how lonely I might be feeling that day. When someone hurts my feelings or makes me mad, I can hold my tongue until I’m over it, and I don’t have to worry about saying something stupid I might regret. When there is someone else hurting or alone, I can come beside them and help them carry the load, ever aware of the possibility of pushing too hard or staying too long. When a friend is in need of someone, but doesn’t need noise and fanfare, I can sit for hours just enjoying the company and offering a helping hand. When my children are acting like hooligans, I can calmly walk up to them, whisper their tiny thread of existence between joy and utter sorrow and walk away… well, no, that’s not quite the truth. I’m sorry, I don’t have that much patience or soft spoken qualities.😂

As with any strength, there are equal traits that will make it a weakness when I let it. There were years when I hated this quality about myself, and honestly, there are plenty of days when I still struggle with this love/hate relationship I have built. However, as I am growing older, I am accepting the fact that God made me this way for a specific reason, and I am learning to grow with it, relish in it and explore beyond it.

If for no other reason, I am finding more and more that one of the greatest reasons He created me in this way is because He decided to place me in a home with three very strong, outspoken, outgoing men. I bring a great balance to all the activity and noise, and He knew that I, for one, would need it! 😉💗

Friday’s Friends #1

February 3, 2017May 26, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Hello there! It is Friday, and that means it is time for our very first Friday’s Friends event. As I shared last week, each Friday I will be sharing about at least one new blog in the blogging community. I will try to share more than one, and I will also try to share those blogs who not only have been an inspiration to me, but who also might be rather new to the blogosphere. Now, they won’t always be new, and they won’t always have a smaller number of followers, because some I would like to share simply because they are great blogs. So, if you will give me the liberty, I would like to share with you my first choice.

I picked It Is Still Real because she has been such an encouragement to me on my blog, as well as, she was the first to reply to my “big announcement” about today. I thought since she took the time to send a word of encouragement, I could take the time to notice her first! 😉

Emissary has a wonderful blog all about encouraging the readers and diving into the Word of God. I love her post from the other day, and her cat is absolutely adorable! I do hope you will check it out, and I do hope you will enjoy “meeting” her. 🙂

Friday’s New (event): Big Announcement!

January 27, 2017January 27, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 7 Comments

Well, we said goodbye to Friday’s New Angle a few weeks ago, and I’ve been thinking about a new weekly event we could do on Fridays to bring a fun and fresh outlook… My apologies for the delay. I had planned to announce last Friday, but I was still deliberating in my mind what to do. 🙄

Now, I have decided, and I do hope you’ll like it and join in to become a part! Starting next Friday, just as I hosted 100 New Angles over the past (almost) 2 years, I will now host “Friday’s Friends.”

On Friday of each week, I will provide a link for a blogging “friend” I have found to be interesting, intriguing, or simply inviting. I will share with you what I have found and why I’ve chosen him or her. I may post more than one on a given Friday day, but it will be at the very least, one.

I hope this will bring some excitement, commonality and community within these pages, and I do hope YOU, the readers, will chime in from time to time. I would love to hear from you, hear who is one of your favorite bloggers, and maybe even feature one of you in my weekly finds! 😊 If the requests grow rapidly, I may not always be able to get to all, but if you will give me the liberty, I will share all those I am able.

Looking forward to launching this “friendliness” this time next week! Hope you will join me! 😉

Who’s Your Top 5?

September 8, 2016September 23, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

I saw this post last night on social media, and it got me to thinking…

It is so true. We become very much like those with whom we associate. This led me to my next question: With whom do you spend the majority of your time?

The people with whom you surround yourself will determine the kind of person you become. It doesn’t matter how strong you think you are, how influential or how dedicated you are to “being you.” The longer you are with someone, the more your personalities can merge.

So, have you thought about it? Are the people you are around the most a good influence on you? Do they bring you down or lift you up? Do you leave their presence feeling better about yourself and the world around you, or do you leave feeling worse?

If you take the top five people with whom you spend time and average it out, what is the result? Who are you becoming??

*I’d love to hear your response. Please share with me your thoughts. 😊

**Note: I did not take this photo, nor do I own rights to it. Simply copied from social media.

The Dance At Sunset

April 13, 2016April 13, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 7 Comments

Thankful for friends

March 10, 2015March 7, 2015 / The WheatandTares

I am currently working on my list of “Gifts of a Thousand” in following the example given by the book, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. You can read and find out more here. Making a list of 1,000 things of which you’re thankful is not such an easy task. Sometimes, I feel I am making great progress; then, at other times, I wonder if my heart is even grateful.

The other night, I was at a restaurant with about 30 ladies from our church, enjoying a Girls Night Out, and this time of fellowship, coupled with thoughts of those who couldn’t be there that evening, inspired quite a few notes on my ‘thankful list.’ I thought it might be fun to share a little of this list with you today, and maybe it could even inspire you to start making your own ‘grateful’ list…

205. Watching someone be surprised when their meal is paid for
206. Hearing nice, decent men tell a group of ladies, “Have a nice evening, ladies!”
207. One waiter serve 30 women their meals both joyfully and graciously
208. A young mother smile through tears; even though, the doctor has said, “no more babies.”
209. A young wife testify, “The name of the Lord is great!” even after two miscarriages and no promise of a single child
210. An recent widow enjoying time out with friends even while she’s still grieving
211. An elderly widow enjoying time with the girls even though she has a tough time hearing while in big crowds
212. An ethnic friend sharing about challenges she’s facing, trusting God is in control
213. A mom to young girls, whose past could offend, but whose faith in God and surrender to His ways will change the greatest scoffer
214. A young grandmother, new to the event, comes on her own just to meet new friends
215. Young college girls being tight friends through thick and thin
216. A seasoned mom/grandmother whose words of wisdom is a cherished treasure
217. A grandmother whose grown children have gone through various tragedies and trials, yet her faith in God cannot be shaken
218. A vibrant grandmother whose young son lost his fight with cancer, yet through her grief, she’s learned to laugh again
219. A mother to three youngsters, all under the age of five, lead women with grace, compassion and poise
220. A grandmother who has a mother in a nursing home, just lost her daughter-in-law to organ rejection and is less than a year removed from her husband having a heart attack, share exciting news of an upcoming cruise
221. A mom of two teenagers who longed to ‘get with the girls’ and couldn’t due to illness, but sends a text of love and “I’ll miss you!”
222. A mom of three youth, who still grieves the loss of her momma, yet has learned to smile again in spite of the pain

These are the women, and many more, who make up my life. Some of them have been friends for years, some I had just met that night, but I still call myself blessed to be surrounded by them. They are women of strength, women of tears and women of God. They are each a piece of this wonderful tapestry called life, and for each of them, I am eternally grateful. 🙂