reality

Peace is a Key

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What positive emotion do you feel most often?

As I noted in another blog, peace is the one thing I carry with me at all times, and it is the positive emotion I try to have and to feel most often.

Peace is a key to unlock so many more positive emotions.

I’m usually not a real dramatic person, not a person of high emotion; so, this emotion might seem to come to me more easily than some. However, I work on it as well.

If you’re a person of lots of drama or a person of high emotion, it might take a little more work to get to a peaceful state, but it really boils down to your thought life.

What you think, you become.

If you dwell on fear, you’re gonna deal with lots of anxiety and fear.

If you dwell on sadness, you’re going to be sad and even depressed.

If you dwell on anger, you’re going to live in a state of anger and rage.

If you dwell on doubt and never ending questions, you’re going to be consumed in a cloud of confusion.

You get my point.

Negative thoughts breed negativity.

Positive thoughts breed positivity.

The beautiful thing is we get to CHOOSE what we think about.

Some would say, But thoughts just pop into my head. Yes. You are truthful in that.

However, it’s the thoughts you choose to keep that produce the outcome.

The thoughts you choose to nurture, strengthen and continually go back to, these are what you become.

So, I ask you: What positive emotion do you feel most often?

And maybe a better question would be:

What positive emotion do you choose to feel most often?

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

Silly Saturday

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Bring Beauty to the Thorns

/ The WheatandTares

This life can be like a cactus many times.

The pain, the hardships, the struggles, they can all feel like piercing thorns that stab and poke into your most vulnerable moments.

The difficulties, the mishaps and failures can become like so many briars and dry patches that never seem to end.

But if I could encourage you today…

If I could give you one thought…

Blossom amongst the thistles.

Flourish amongst the bramble.

Don’t allow your circumstances to steal your beauty.

Don’t allow the heartache and brokenness to squelch your lovely fragrance and striking brilliance.

Bloom until you thrive and show the world there’s still elegance despite afflictions.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Isaiah 61:1-3

Walking Through the Fire

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Talking with a friend the other day she said, “We’ve been walking through the fire together, haven’t we?” My first thought was my fire is a small kindled ember compared to her recent turmoil, but the statement brought with it two kindred hearts and souls.

A mentor of mine once said to me:

You always need someone ahead of you in the journey to help you navigate the next steps, as they’ve been there and can help to give wisdom, challenge, reproof, and strength.

You always need someone beside you on this passage of life to link arms with, to uplift, to cry together, and to fight together.

You always need someone coming behind you into whom you can pour love, encouragement, guidance, and provide some shelter from the storm.

If you find all three, you can count yourself blessed.

If you cherish and nurture all three, you will be a better person for it.

If you seek all three, you’ll find you will forget more about your own problems and become a wounded healer, helping others across the broken bridges and rocky roads of this life.

And you’ll be receiving healing, affirmation, and compassion in the meantime.

So that even if you’re walking through the fire, you have a sister (or brother, for you guys) spirit joined with you to share in the heat and pain.

I am eternally beholden to my fire walkers who are blazing the path before me, showing me it can be done.

I am so grateful for those who are fire starters for whom I am able to spread the ashes to give some respite.

And I’m especially thankful for those right now who’s feet are as scorched as mine.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Isaiah 43:1b-3

What’s the Rush?

/ The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

What is the rush?

We run to get dressed. We hustle to get the kids ready for school. We hurry to get to work. We scurry to get our jobs done.

We dash to get the kids home, to eat, to practice, to do homework and off to bed. We bustle to get ourselves to sleep to start the new day all over again.

We rush, rush, rush like a hamster on a wheel.

Even our breaks and our vacations seem to fill up with more scheduling and more doing.

But why the rush? What is so important?

Our breathing, our health, our expressions of love?

Our legacies, our memories, our impressions of care?

What is really vital? Our advancements or our investments?

What really makes a difference? Our successes or our impacts?

Can we take a breath and inhale a little peace and exhale a little gratitude?

Can we take a pause and look around us and reach to the ones coming behind?

Slow down a minute and really see who is watching you.

Stop seeking the approval of those who won’t matter tomorrow.

Seek the One who will be there for eternity.

Encompass those who await your calm.

Envelope those who need your adoration.

Take a rest and make a memory for life.

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 46:10

The work of righteousness will be peace,
and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, though hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation.

Isaiah 32:17-19

Practice Makes Permanent

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

I always heard as a child that practice made perfect; so, I practiced playing the flute, and I practiced riding my bike, and then, I didn’t.

Because I wasn’t practicing accurately. I was just putting into rhythm the actions that wouldn’t make me better.

Practice truly makes permanent what you are doing, but it doesn’t make perfect if you’re doing it all wrong.

If your words are bringing pain, the continuation of those will only continue to wound and harm.

If your actions are bringing trouble to your life, to your family, or legacy, that turmoil will not stop as you continue the same steps.

We must change our practice to change our outcome.

We must alter our path to alter our destination.

Actions become habits. Habits become lifestyles. Lifestyles become character.

So, if change is to come, change is the action that must be taken.

You’ll never climb a mountain if you don’t start hiking.

You’ll never succeed at anything until you first, begin the task.

And today is a great day to commence!

Be consistent in truth. Be faithful in love. Be reliable in kindness. Be dependable in joy.

These are some great places to start.

Let’s get ready! Let’s go!

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:17

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works…

Hebrews 10:22-24

I’d Like to Teach The World

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

Immediately when I read the question, what change would you like your blog to make in the world, I thought of that old song, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.”

I hadn’t thought of that song in ages.

If you’re a child of the 70s or 80s, you might be hearing the jingle chime in your head right now. (You’re welcome. Lol.)

If you’re younger, you’ll get the pleasure of hearing it in the video below.

I’d not actually want my blog to buy the world a coke or to teach it to sing, per se, but rather I’d like to convey those kinds of feelings and thoughts to all those who take the time to read something in the Grizzle Grist Mill.

“All is grist for the mill.” — a Proverb

I chose that old Proverb as the theme of my blog because I believe that’s just what it is. I have a lot of thoughts, words, stories and even strong beliefs I share here, but in the greater scheme of life, they may just be as sand on the seashore, or grist for the grinding mill.

This blog may not change the world. It may not even change a nation, or a race, or even a whole gathering of people. I’d love for that to be the case, but I’m not foolish enough to believe my words can be that impactful; although, every true writer has that dream.

Yet, if something I’ve written might leave you with a feeling of hope, of love, of joy, and of peace, then I will believe they have been worth something.

If these words might create a memory to hold onto, or a thought of things to come that you can run toward, or maybe a faith that keeps you coming back for more, then I will know I’ve done a good job.

If these letters converged together by pen and paper (or rather by computer and keys these days), if they mean anything to you, the reader, if they make an impression in any way, then I will consider my time, my effort, and my desire to make a difference can be effective, even if it’s only in my little corner of the world.

These heart notes may be as small as the grains of sand, but when piled up in one place, they might just make a beautiful sand dune to be enjoyed or an intricately designed sand castle that will capture a picture in your memory for a lifetime…

It’s funny. I never remembered the beginning of the song until I replayed it today…

Funny Friday

/ The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

Enjoying a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, I’d have to say this is true in certain areas, along with Wyoming mosquitos… lol.

And having grown up in Florida, I’d have to add those mosquitos must be brothers! 😂

And now, living in Georgia, late summertime afternoons, I’d have to say those mosquitos must at least be cousins! 🤣

Oh What A Day That Will Be

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Describe your life in an alternate universe.

In that alternate universe, I will not grow old. And in this current life, hitting half a century this year has been one of both joy and a slight irritation.

In that alternate reality, I will not feel pain, sorrow, or grief. I will not deal with disappointment, aggravation or even the threat of disenchantment.

In that new world, there will be no anger, no hatred, no violence, no death.

Can you imagine?

The tears will be wiped from our eyes, and we will never experience agony again. We will never feel heartbreak, regret or brokenness.

Everything will be made new.

Everything will be healed.

Everything will be refreshed, revitalized, restored to it’s beginning.

I will have no failures, no blemish, no flaw.

I will be made perfect, and you will, too.

Can you even imagine?

Oh, won’t it be grand?

And it will all last for eternity.

And to top it off, it won’t be an alternative.

It will be true reality.

You want to come?

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Revelation 21:1-5

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

Revelation 21:6-7

Don’t Worry. Be Happy

/ The WheatandTares

List 30 things that make you happy.

Here’s a list of 30 things that make me happy. Some are in specific order but some are not. You can probably guess which ones are which…

1. My Savior, Jesus Christ

2. My husband

3. Holding his hand and saying, I Love You.

4. My boys, both of them.

5. Hugging our boys.

6. Family

7. Friends who stay and stand the rest of time.

8. Worship music that lifts the soul, connects me to Him or just reminds me Whose I am.

9. Coffee, flavored, with cream

10. The little things often more than the big things.

11. A rosebush blooming.

12. A walk in the woods.

13. Sunsets and waterfalls.

14. A hike up a mountain.

15. Having a hope in an eternal life in eternity.

16. Walking along the beach.

17. My cat purring and wanting to be loved.

18. Watching someone give their heart to Jesus.

19. Watching someone’s life being transformed for good.

20. Giving orphans Christmas presents.

21. Holding a sweet baby, no matter the age.

22. Preaching and seeing that someone actually connected with Him.

23. Listening to our almost grown boys talk about God, life, and things they will do, and realizing they have made good choices.

24. Hearing my husband and sons tell me they love me.

25. Having coffee with a good friend.

26. Cooking a good meal or delicious dessert for my family and knowing they enjoyed it.

27. Traveling to distant lands, flying in a plane, or just taking a road trip.

28. Antiquing in a small town.

29. Having deep conversation, light hearted fun, or anything in between with my love.

30. Being able to bring a smile to someone else.

There’s a ton more I’m sure I could share. And probably tomorrow, I’ll look back over this and realize I’ve forgotten to list something oh so very important.

So, please don’t judge. Just enjoy. And maybe take a moment to think of your own listing.

I wonder if you can now tell me your 30 things that bring such joy?