perspective

Healing Processes

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

There is so much truth to this statement that it’s almost difficult to add anything to it.

Too often, we continually try to change people to fit what we need, or better yet, we work hard to “lead them” to a better place to accommodate who we are and who we are becoming.

But people are people.

You might can lead them well, and when that is feasible, by all means, carry on. But when it is someone who is bringing constant harm to you or to someone you love, be careful giving your time. Because you’re also giving your love, your thoughts, and eventually someone else’s flesh more than just your own.

When it’s toxicity, abuse, or dysfunction we’re talking about, step back and evaluate what you’re truly letting go of:

Peace of mind. Peace in your home.

Love in your heart. Love in your surroundings.

Sanity. Sanity in your loved ones.

If these things are given up for the sake of family, friendship , or other relationships, is it really worth it?

Sometimes, you have to hear what someone is saying, see what they are doing, and understand they are who they are. This is a a choice. And you f it doesn’t line up with the peace, love and sanity you need for your life and for those within your charge, then by all means,

Step away.

You both will be better for it.

As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly.
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 26:11-12

What’s Your Angle?

/ The WheatandTares
How do you like that? Even little Judy there's got an angle going.
(This is a small video clip. Just click to hear sound.😉)

This little clip from White Christmas is so revealing for many of us. If you live your life a skeptic or a bit of an “investigator,” this phrase makes perfect sense, because you already search for the angle in every person you meet. If you live your life as an ostrich or a small child, you may not comprehend it because you don’t look past the simple words someone uses or you completely ignore innuendos as a self preservation technique.

Either approach you take in life, many times, we ourselves as well as others have an angle for what we say and do. We may be protecting ourselves from further pain, or we may be in attack mode and looking for every opportunity to fight. But we all approach life with an Angel or looking for someone else’s.

So, what do we do about that? Do we live out everyday angry, reading into, and often misreading the other person’s responses, continually in strife for every hour of the day? Or do we turn a blind eye to every whim and wind coming from the direction of a person and just ignore any possibility of malice, believing as if we live in a Pollyanna World where we are all innocent and nothing could ever be evil or vile?

I say NO to both these extremes. I say Get your trauma healed; so, you can live effectively in this world and go out and help another. I say Get your head out of the sand; grow up, and realize there is evil all around, but we get to choose to what we listen, to whom we interact, and to how we react.

If we live out lives by choices than we take responsibility, recognize failures and celebrate successes. Stop being a victim! And stop being an antagonist! There’s a better life out there for all of us!

There is wisdom in reading, gaining knowledge and asking good questions to help yourself heal. There is wisdom in gathering around ing good people who look out for you, defend you and protect you. There is wisdom in submitting yourself to a process of growth, to a challenge of change and to a hierarchy of those who will look at you and say, “You’re reacting with an angle. Stop it.”

So, get honest with YOU. Fo some deep soul searching today. Figure out your angle and why it’s there. And go get you some accountability to make yourself better than you are today.

Or not. And continue to live your life in the mud hole of brokenness, angst, confusion and failure.

It’s your choice. 😉

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

Faith Over Fear

/ The WheatandTares

That’s really easier said than done, isn’t it?

Faith over Fear

It’s such a cliche, such a catchy phrase.

It just rolls off your tongue like so much psychobabble.

But what about when you’re standing in the edge of a cliff, and it’s either jump or fall?

What about when you’re hanging on the side of the boat, and it’s either swim or drown?

What about when you’re climbing the side of that mountain, and it’s either step or stumble?

What about then? How easy to do those words come?

What about the moment your spouse wavers?

What about the moment your child is impaired?

What about the moment you falter and fail?

What about these moments of truth?

Where is your faith now?

Faith over Fear is not be the fairyland you once believe.

Faith over Fear is not the jingle jangle of the faint of heart.

Faith over Fear is the moment truth is revealed for all to see.

What will your vision be?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

What are You Seeking?

/ The WheatandTares

Some seek religions.

Some seek fortune and fame.

Some seek education and intellectualism.

Some seek philosophy and a higher power.

What are you seeking?

What you seek, you will find, when you seek it with all your heart.

What you seek, you will find, when you seek it with no bounds.

If it’s religion, you’ll find tradition and law.

If it’s fame and fortune, you’ll find self gratification and temporary pleasures.

If it’s academics, you’ll find knowledge and affluence.

If it’s philosophy, you’ll find a wisdom and deeper meanings.

Yet, in all of these things, you will still find an emptiness, a void, a vast domain within your soul that cannot be filled.

But if you’ll seek a relationship with the One who created it all,

You will be filled.

…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 4:13-14

Two Peas in a Podcast

/ The WheatandTares / 8 Comments

What podcasts are you listening to?

Well, I’d love to say I’m listening to some podcasts. I’m so far behind in this that every time I hear podcasts mentioned, I hear a little voice in my head that says, “You are too far behind the times!” Lol!

I’ve started a few podcasts from time to time, but I have a bad problem of getting too easily distracted when I’m simply listening to something. I can read a book and be so in tune that I won’t hear you calling my name, and I can watch something and be highly focused; yet, when I set something to audio and start doing something else, whether it be driving, cleaning or writing, I may not catch everything the speaker is saying.

And I’ve really tried. The only time I can be focused with precision with audio is if I’m walking. This does work; however, when I’m walking, I try not to be distracted from those whom I might meet along the way. It seems rude to me to walk passed someone and not say hello, and more so, I don’t like to have my ears plugged when I’m outdoors. So, I’m in a bit of a predicament. Ha!

However, if I were to dive into some podcasts, and the few I’ve listened to before are Dr. Mark Rutland, Pastor TD Jakes, Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, and a few audio books like Lord of the Rings (the one that used to be on Spotify was phenomenal!).

I’ve heard there’s some dynamic ones; so, maybe if I would just settle in to listen, I’d find some great ones!

Keep Healing

/ The WheatandTares

Sometimes, healing comes instantly, but more often than not, it’s a long and tedious process.

Just as it takes a broken limb weeks, even months to mend, the heart needs so much more.

We are emotional beings. We are thought-filled humans, and wounds are like a heavy broomstick lying atop a tangled web of cords.

You’re not going to move that stick without disturbing the cords. You can’t just grab it, swoop it up, and call it a day.

You’re gonna have to move slow.

You’re gonna have to breathe deep and exhale at a snail’s pace.

You’ve got to ensure the healing is there.

And sometimes, a tiny gesture, a simple word, a small memory can come crashing in to slam that stick back onto the pile and even twist it a good bit!

Slow down, one more time.

Breathe in deep, one more time.

Exhale slowly, one more time.

Now, go work on picking up that stick again, one more time.

You can do this hard.

It might be messy, excruciating and long, but I promise you:

The healing is worth it.

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

Mark 8:22-25

Grief … Part 742

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Grief can be hidden and tucked away so deep, you almost forget it’s there.

Yet, when it peeks back through the shadows, it’s like a scream within that no one else can hear.

But you can sense it, even in the deepest shadows.

You can feel it, even in the stillest night.

You can almost see it, even in the blackest of eves.

And it will return with such fierce vengeance while no one else recognizes it’s deafening sound.

That is grief.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Beauty in the Miniscule

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

In the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon, one small tree branch can seem minuscule.

Just as my life can seem futile in the sense populate of the human race.

What can my life accomplish among so many?

How can my life make an impact within he density of the crowd?

And it would be so easy to stay tucked away in a hole, never reaching, never moving.

Yet, how is it with that little one by your side?

How is it with the coworker across the room?

How is it with the roommate on your hall

How is it with the ones surrounding you day to day?

If you quit, who will lead them?

If you let go, who will breathe life to them?

If you walk away, who will speak hope and truth?

That small branch on the side of the canyon might be the resting place for the weary, fluttering butterfly.

That small branch might be just the finishing touch for the next of a feathered friend.

The insignificance we feel might be just the highlighted reel of the one who can’t see tomorrow.

Don’t look out over the sphere and lose your way.

Look right in front of you, beside you and behind and reach.

Be hope. Be light. Be truth. Be life.

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Matthew 13:31-32

Beauty in the Expanse

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Sometimes, it’s hard to capture the true beauty in the vast horizon.

Just as it’s hard to look ahead to see charm when life is uncertain.

And when the days seem like eternity, the elegance of what could be is surely a fog.

But somewhere in depth of the night, the light will come.

Somewhere in the darkness, the tiny glow of embers will spark.

That’s where you’ll find you can breathe again.

That’s where you’ll find hope.

Never stop simply because the next step is unstable.

Never falter simply because it’s the unknown.

Keep searching in the vast domain.

The morning will come again.

And it will illuminate the immensity of your gaze.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

Isaiah 9:2

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in theregion and shadow of death Light has dawned.

Matthew 4:16

Beauty in the Small

/ The WheatandTares

Beauty really does come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It all depends on your perspective and angel.

Viewing a brilliant mountain sunset can be all about the incline or all about the glowing orb in the sky. It can be all about the painted sky.

Or it can be about the tiny patch of flowers at your feet that will be trampled if you take another step.

Viewing an enormous crisis can be all about the chaos of sights and sounds or about the multiple dilemmas that have just been added. It can be all about the loss of time, money and energy.

Or it can be about the tiny hand grasping yours that is desperate for reassurance and comfort.

It all depends upon your vantage point.

So, what do you see?

Where is your focus?

Beauty is all around you if you can only open your eyes to see.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Jeremiah 24:6-7