I’m Not Okay

August 24, 2023August 24, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

There is a modern day push to tolerate all things, no matter what it might be.

To remain silent even when injustice is being propagated.

There is a peer pressure within society that you may speak, so long as your words aren’t too strong, too forceful, too conflicting, or God forbid, too spiritual.

Yet, I want to ask, WHO SET THE RULES?

WHO claims you are right and I am wrong?

WHO gets to choose what is common decency, kindness to mankind, justice to the abused?

Kindness does not begin where your intolerance ends.

Common decency does not get defined only by those with a specified ambition and agenda.

Justice does not get unbalanced weights to apply innocence to evil and evil to righteousness.

There has to be an absolute foundation on which to stand.

There has to be a voice that rises above the muck and mire.

There has to be an outcry for purity, holiness and truth.

And there must be a gathering of like minds who are bold enough to speak that truth with love.

Stop being a doormat.

Stop being used a vessel for wrong.

Stop being weaponized to destroy the innocence of all humanity.

You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16

Hear this, you who swallow up the needy,
And make the poor of the land fail, Saying: “When will the New Moon be past,
That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit, that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— Even sell the bad wheat?”
Amos 8:4-6

These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:16-19

Read That, Again. Now, Choose.

August 23, 2023August 22, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

This statement is the proof between maturity and immaturity.

It is the difference in the choice driven life and victim driven life.

It is the challenge of every human being alive.

You can either grow through your pain or allow it to consume you.

You can either choose to let it change you for good or for evil.

You can either live with determination or excuses.

It is up to you, and what you choose, what you allow will determine not only your outcome.

It will very likely determine the outcome for your children and/or those around you.

So, what will you choose?

How will you grow?

And who will reap the benefits ..or consequences?

Choose wisely, please.

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

Peace is a Key

August 19, 2023August 19, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

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

August 19, 2023August 10, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Bring Beauty to the Thorns

August 17, 2023August 15, 2023 / 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

August 16, 2023October 29, 2023 / 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?

August 15, 2023August 12, 2023 / 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

August 14, 2023August 12, 2023 / 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

August 11, 2023August 11, 2023 / 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…