love

What’s Love Got To Do?

/ The WheatandTares

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The best piece of advice would actually be two statements given by different people, but the statements work together:

It takes 1,000 tiny miracles to make a marriage work.

Marriage will only last best when Christ is at the center.

These might sound a bit cliche, and if you don’t have a relationship with Christ; then, it might not even make sense to you. Or if you’ve “been a Christian but everything went wrong in my marriage/in life,” then, it might be a difficult concept for you to accept.

Let me say this loud and clear and long:

Just because the statement did not/does not ring true in your own life, does not make the statement untrue.

That’s why these two statements work so well together. It truly takes a 1,000 tiny miracles to get the right two people together, at the right time, in the right location, under the right circumstances, and in the right context, in the right season for each.

Much more is it tiny miracles that keep those two love birds together over time. After all, he is marrying a woman. And she is marrying a man. Imagine that. Lol. They think differently, act differently, speak differently, react differently, even feel differently. How in the world can that work?

And that’s where God comes in. He is the Creator of our very lives. He designed every part of us and breathed breath into our lungs. How could He not be the miracles working within our lives? But there’s one caveat. He allows us to have the freewill of choice.

You heard me right. He’s the Almighty, great Creator of heaven and earth and all that we see. He is the Master Designer of all creation and of the intricate, complex beings called humans. He is the Alpha Omega, the Beginning and the End, meaning He can create and finish life and everything in it and around it.

Yet, He in His ultimate design, He gives us the ability to choose. We can choose Him or not. We can choose love or hate. We can choose life or death. We get the beautiful freedom of choice.

And what we do with that choice will determine the beautiful finality of those 1,000 tiny miracles that it takes to make a marriage work. What we do in choosing determines where we end up in life and who we end up with. What we do with the choices determines how we think, how we speak, how we act, interact and react, and it determines how we live our lives.

Every. Single. Day.

Every. Single. Minute of that Day.

Every. Single. Second of that Minute of that Day.

These choices don’t automatically make us somehow perfect. They don’t make us sinless. But if we’re daily choosing Christ and the things of Him, it will make us seek perfection, and it will make us sin less. And if two people are seeking, choosing, sacrificing and loving in these ways, it surely helps to support and strengthen a healthy union.

So, what will you choose?

Or better yet, WHO will you choose?

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

Look Up Through the Hard

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Sometimes, life is just hard.

Circumstances go awry.

Relationships go chaotic.

Things just don’t seem to be as they should.

Add injustice, insecurity or instability of heart to any of this, and it can feel like a pit is swallowing you whole.

At that moment, look up.

See the beam of brightness shining through the rocks?

See that sliver of light at the end of the tunnel?

It’s not a train. It’s hope.

And it’s coming for you.

Keep walking forward, even if you have to crawl.

Keep looking up. Change is coming.

Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.

Luke 21:28

Music to My Ears

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

What would your life be like without music?

Honestly, I think any life would be dull and lifeless without music. There’s a quote that says, “Music is the words of the soul.” And I believe it’s true.

I’m not just referring to music with instruments, vocals and different genres, but I’m talking about any music. There’s a melody in the trees as the wind rustles the leaves. There’s a lullaby in the setting sun basking upon the mountains. There’s a cadence in the insects that hum and the birds that sing. There’s a crescendo in the waves crashing upon the rocks and shoreline.

In all actuality, there’s probably more music to be found in the nature around us, or in the children’s laughter that rises above the chaos, or the babies cries that surround a mother’s comforting coos than there is in the simple clanging of cymbals and piano keys.

This music brings peace to the soul and laughter to the lips. It brings strength to the mind and healing to the whole being.

So, where my life be without music: lost. Totally and utterly lost without hope. And I am eternally grateful for great melodies, regardless, of where they come from.

How about you?

On Top of the World

/ 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

One Opinion

/ The WheatandTares

One opinion can wreck our whole day.

One opinion can destroy our whole mood.

One opinion can demolish our whole level of success.

Why?

Why do we let one simple opinion do that?

The wise statement is so very true:

“Care about what others think, and you will always be their prisoner.” – Lao Tzu

Enough said.

Let it go and go do better.

The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

Proverbs 29:25

You Lead. You Influence

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Do you see yourself as a leader?

John C. Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence.” So, when the question is posed, “Do you see yourself as a leader?”, the answer for all of us should actually be, “Yes.”

The question should rather be, “Who are you leading?” And “Where are you leading them?”

If you are like me, and you call yourself a Christian, we should be leading others to Christ. Not to a religion. Not to church. Not to a “feel better” lifestyle. Not to a program or to a group of people. But we should be leading others to a relationship with Jesus.

All of those other things might come with the territory, and if we truly have a relationship with Jesus and actually read His Word, many of those things will fall into line. But the relationship is where it’s at. And if you have that relationship, you will have influence. And if you have influence, per John Maxwell, you will be a leader.

And even if you don’t claim Jesus as your Savior, or maybe you declare you’re not into “all that religious stuff,” you’ll still be leading someone somewhere. And again, I’ll insert the question, “Where are you leading them?”

If you have no leader yourself, and you have no foundation of truth, than your path will be quite a crooked one. And in this modern age, a crooked path can simply be foolish and quite frankly, dangerous. For there are buyers for your soul on every street corner, both physically and metaphorically. And typically, the highest bidder will win.

But at what cost? And are you willing to gamble your life upon it? Or better yet, are you willing to gamble with the most innocent among you? Or maybe even better to ask, what about the ones you love the most? Are they worth the precarious journey in your lack of leadership?

Whether you decide to choose or not, it will be decided. Refusal to answer is still an answer, and it will still bring consequences.

So, choose, my friend.

And lead on.

I pray you will choose and lead well.

Dreaming My Week Away

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Describe your ideal week.

My ideal week seemed to have happened this past summer. We spent some time out West in the beautiful scenery of The Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. And it simply took my breath away. Again.

It wasn’t my first time. We went last year, and I went when I was in High School, and we may very well go again next summer. We love it that much.

I read an article or a Fb post recently that described exactly how I felt about it: “Why do you love it? … Because it’s wild. … Imagine a place where you gaze from horizon to horizon and don’t see the hand of man, only God’s.” Yes. This. That’s one of the many reason it is the land that I love. It calls to me.

So, my ideal week was spent living in a cute little home on the other side of the mountains, in a little town in Idaho. We’d drive through the mountains to get to the parks, or we’d drive north to enter the park from the other side. We’d go watch a rodeo down the road or tool on over and go to the zoo in Idaho Falls. We’d walk in downtown Jackson to enjoy the sights, the sounds, and of course, the beautiful antler arches on the square.

We’d go find a hike with a waterfall or an alpine lake, and I’d enjoy the sidelines while my husband snorkeled that crystal clear, frigid, c-o-l-d lake. We’d get up early and drive into town to enjoy a hot, homemade breakfast or come back from our afternoon adventures to enjoy a huckleberry shake at the local emporium.

It was a glorious (almost) two weeks, and we didn’t want to come home! It’s a place to explore, to relax, and simply to breathe.

Yeah. I’m ready for my ideal week already. Let’s go again! And until then, if you catch me napping, I might just be dreaming of my ideal week…

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

Swing Away the Monday Blues

/ The WheatandTares / 8 Comments

Sometimes,

a good swing session is like therapy…

And if at first, it doesn’t help,

just keep swinging…

It was truly therapy…

Aspen meadow

Grudge Not

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Are you holding a grudge? About?

It’s almost funny, that the daily prompt today is asking if you’re holding a grudge, and my blog post earlier today was about forgiveness.

As they say, maybe great minds do think alike. Lol.

Do I hold a grudge? No. I’d have to say not because I’ve learned forgiveness is more important and more freeing than holding grudges that I could rightfully hold.

Yet, for some whose relationship has been effected by my distance and even my walking away, their narrative could be different. But sometimes, toxicity must be avoided at all costs. And that’s where the judgement begins.

But to hold a grudge means your intent will eventually be to bring harm. Holding a grudge has the intent of revenge. Holding a grudge has the motives of destruction.

Holding a grudge is rooted in the foundation of unforgiveness. Holding a grudge brings resentment and bitterness. Holding a grudge actually brings more harm to you than it does to those against whom the grudge is held.

That grudge will create a prison in which you’ll live if you’ll let it. That grudge will be the hot iron that you think you’re grasping in your hand, yet the longer you hold it, the more it burns your flesh and all those closest to you.

But if you’ll release that grudge, it’s like releasing the hot iron to go back into the fire from whence it came. And the release brings you more freedom than you could ever imagine.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:13

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Ephesians 4:31

Forgiveness Finds Freedom

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Forgiving those who wounded you doesn’t free them from guilt.

Forgiveness isn’t pretending it never happened.

Forgiving the one who brought harm is never justifying their wrong.

Forgiveness only frees us from their poison overtaking our soul.

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:21-22