Back In the Saddle!

July 8, 2017July 8, 2017 / The WheatandTares

Ok, so my deepest apologies go out to those of you out there who might follow this blog rather frequently and who might have wondered for a bit why I’ve been so lax over the last month… There might not be too many of you, but I know there’s some, because we’ve kind of formed “friendships” along the way. So, I felt like I should take a minute to tell you that your attentiveness and caring to this little blog space, in the vast and vague world of blogging, hasn’t gone unnoticed. I appreciate you, and I thank you for your kindness and patience in my “lag time.” ❤

June just kind of came and went in a whirlwind, and I found myself covered up with our boys’ summer plans of constant activity and busyness. I also found myself in a lot of reflective moments but not a lot of moments where I wanted to write and share what was going on in my heart and mind. It was almost like I was in those last few minutes after a surgery, where the anesthesia is wearing off, and you hear and feel things; yet, you’re still too groggy to make sense of any of it, and you can’t speak or see to really share it with anyone anyway.

So, all that to say…I’M BACK! I have so many things to share with you; so, it’s time to start inking up the pages! 😉 … I hope you’re ready for a great adventure ahead!

PS. I hope you’re having an AMAZING summer, and I hope, maybe, you will share your summer stories with me, too! ❤

Path to Purity

May 31, 2017May 22, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

Too often in our society today, young people are taught to do what they want, when they want, and whatever they want. They are intensely guided to be whatever they feel like on that particular day, or even hour, and they are excused for any outbursts, irresponsibility and even wrath. They are coddled and cradled with every whim of desire.

Please understand, I don’t say this out of judgement or anger, as some might want to claim, as any disagreement in this culture is also taught to be certain judgment and hate speech. No, this comes more from a heart of disappointment and sorrow. Too often, our young people today are deprived of strength, dignity and grace because of this mentality of neglect and immaturity. They are robbed of knowing true respect and honor from hard work, self evaluation and strong decision making for the choices presented in their lives.

It seems there is more cultural pressure to remain a child well into the adult years, and then when this choice is made, they wonder why they don’t have the respect and honor from their elders that they so desire. They cannot see that, as an adult, the lack of standards and values does not make you a more intellectual and affluent human being, but rather, it causes you to appear more childish and infant-like. Then they wander aimlessly through life with empty eyes and hollow hearts blaming all those around them for the pain and lack of life they live.

This is a sad state of affairs I see before me, and although, I am not able to change the whole world, and I may not be able to impact all those around the globe, I can start within my own home. I can start within my own community, my own neighborhood, my church and my city. It only takes one small match to start a wildfire. It only takes one youth to change a nation.

Let’s start right here, right now…

“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:9-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/psa.119.9-16.niv

Your Wake of Tears

May 24, 2017 / The WheatandTares

Your words constantly tumble out, as if no one truly understands.

Your mouth moves methodically,never caring where the next victim lands.

Your phrases spin detailed webs to catch your prey and bleed.

It is like a blood-letting, all believe the lies you cast are exactly what they need.
When will you see the tragic damage your envy has brought?

What destruction has your venomous language been wrought?

Why do you persuade and manipulate, claiming all the time it’s not yours still?

Who will be the next one on the list as you close in for the kill?

For an endless time, my eyes have witnessed this harm, the anger your ambition brings.

I can no longer remain within the vicinity of your grasp and strings.

I am leaving your wake of tears for I have shed too many to regain.

It is in wisdom and grace and love and peace where my heart will now remain.
Penned – MG – 5/20/17

Time Heals

May 17, 2017May 1, 2019 / The WheatandTares

There’s not much more I can say to this, except to say, this is so very true. A deceased pastor friend of mine, who lost his wife of many years, once said, “I don’t want to get over it, I just want to learn how to handle it.” Grief is never easy, and it never totally leaves you. Just when you think you’ve moved beyond the pain, it can wash over you like a cold, hard rain. Time never really heals the wounds, it just helps to allow you the ability to breathe one more time…

Where Is He?

April 12, 2017April 12, 2019 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

Did you see that baby cowering in the corner, trying to hide from the screams and profanity swirling around her head?

Did you notice the young boy who got into a fight at school, making his friends a substitute for his anger, because he can’t hit his abuser?

Did you recognize the young teen shielding her face from the crowd, looking for the one who will make her feel loved and secure?

Where is God in all of this? Where is His mercy? Where is His grace?

Do you see that man marching off to war, preparing to slay a few demons of his own in the battle?

Do you notice the woman working three jobs, living a frazzled, exhausted life, simply trying to give her child something a little better?

Do you realize the old man wandering the halls, the same who doesn’t even know his children’s names who desperately long to love him and reach through his darkness?

Where is God in all of this? Where is His mercy? Where is His grace?

Some ask and plead. Some scream in demand. Some just sit and stare. Others simply walk away, veering this way and that, never making much sense of the journey.

“He’s always there and always faithful,” says the church walls. “Just look up and you will find all you need,” states the sign as the tender ones lie dying on the front steps. My mind wonders if we really make a difference. Do we really share and care?

Some lash out in anger. Some wallow and cry. Others become cold and stone-like, never realizing hope knocking at the door.

His love never wavers. His mercy never fails. Just because you cannot see the sun through the tornadic clouds doesn’t void its reality. Hurricanes never validate the lack of peaceful showers on the ‘morrow.

Some answers I will never find until the other side. Some questions will still remain after the crisis of one life has vanished. Yet, I have found this truth to remain: He is faithful. He is love. He is true.

He will be there when you need Him even in the quietness of your soul. He will never leave you in your deepest sorrow or shame. He will remain when all else fails, when everyone else has disappeared into the dark of night. He will remain. He will be a shield. He will be a refuge.

Just call on His name and find He is the Hope which remains.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

Listen Up and Receive

March 15, 2017March 15, 2017 / The WheatandTares

Proverbs 15:31-33
“The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

Have you ever met anyone who just wouldn’t listen to wisdom? You know, that one to whom you could talk till you’re “blue in the face;” yet, he or she just simply refuses to open his or her ears to hear. To be honest, when this happens, I have to fight genuine anger within my heart and then I have to fight pure pity.

To watch someone who is so stubborn in their own will to refuse God time and time again infuriates me on the onset, because it is as if I am standing at the top of a waterfall screaming out to her of the coming danger. I am jumping up and down, waving my arms, yelling at the top of my lungs, desperately trying to make her see that if she continues to travel in her canoe, ignoring the rushing rapids, she will find herself busted and destroyed in just a short time, maybe even beyond repair. It is as if I am furiously throwing all lifelines out to help him get to safety, and yet, despite all my efforts, he shoves the ropes off the boat and scoffs at my concern.

Then, the undesirable but inevitable happens. She finally realizes the error of her ways, but it is now too late. She violently attempts to turn around, only to find the craft is teetering over the edge and racing toward the rocks below. There is nothing more you can do, except wait until he steps out of the destruction and finds himself again. You can pray, and you can cry, and rightly you should; yet, until he decides to remove himself from the debris, you will be struggling in vain.

That is when the pity and the sorrow settles into my view. To see her fighting against the hope which remains breaks my heart. To see her waring against her Maker draws tears to my eyes. To see him clawing and assaulting his Savior, refusing the grace and mercy right within his grasp, shatters my serenity and peace.

There is hope for all who are lost. There is redemption for all those broken and shattered by their own muck and mire. He loves you. He will redeem you. He is waiting there for you to see. Just call on His name. You will never be the same.

Friday’s Friends #6

March 10, 2017May 26, 2017 / The WheatandTares

Today is Friday, and that means it’s time for Friday’s New Friends! I have so enjoyed doing these Friday blogs when I am able to share with you a new blogging “friend” I have found!

Today, I’d like to share with you a rather new blogger who has really inspired me. Her blog A Necessary Pain released a new post the other day, and I happened to come across it, because she found me and liked one of my posts. This post encouraged me so and reminded me, once again, that we are all on a journey in this life, and regardless of the pain we may have endured, when we share our story, others can find healing. I hope you will go by and visit, and I do hope you will be encouraged by the stories she shares. 🙂

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…

Valley Praise

February 18, 2017February 11, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

psalms-42-11 What happens to your countenance when you are in the valley? What is the appearance of your face when everything seems to be going wrong, and you don’t know what to do? How do you react when trials, sickness or persecutions come? Are you sad? Do you get mad? Is confusion and chaos the ruler of the day?

Are you down in the dumps, or are you rejoicing through the valley? My pastor always says, “What you can PRAISE through, you can MAKE IT through!” Find something in that valley to take joy in. Count your blessings. Even the smallest things can bring the greatest joys.

Honestly, there are some valleys where it seems there is NOTHING about which to celebrate. Some desert places are NOTHING but hot, dry sand and a burning sun that makes you feel you will DIE of thirst and loneliness. Some low places in life simply feel like the abyss with no light, no sound and no direction or hope. Yet, those are the times when we must stand with Job and say, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21, and “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…” Job 13:15.

We must praise Him regardless of what we feel or what we see. Praising is a submission of our flesh. It is not something that comes when we “feel it.” It is something that comes as we force our stubborn will into submission. Praise helps us see hope again, because it opens our eyes to His truth beyond our current circumstance.

God is holy. God is righteous. God is gracious, merciful, loving and majestic. He is worthy of all our praise. He is honorable of all our affection, adoration and appreciation. Let us praise Him through the valley. For, it is in our loneliest hours, and through our darkest nights when His glory and grace is revealed in our lives. ❤