How do you react when your life is being stretched like a rubber band?
Whine, Rage, Hide, Distract, Bite and Rile
Laugh, Rest, Sing, Worship, Serve and Smile
What you find yourself doing in the middle of the storm can determine your promotion or demotion at it’s end.
You will destroy and kill, or you will lead and make a friend.
The choice is yours.
Penned – MG – 6/13/22
But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
Isaiah 64:8
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
All you can do is open your eyes and let wisdom reside.
All you can do is exhale and find time again to breathe.
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
There’s no timeframe, no confines, no box in which to place it.
It just is. Grief.
The loss can be a spouse, a child, a parent, a grand, or even a friend.
There’s no hinderance of relation that changes it.
It just is. Grief.
And it can come in waves just like the ocean.
It can be quite peaceful, making you look twice to see if it’s still there.
It can roll in unexpectedly, with riptide and tumultuous waves.
It can swirl around like a hurricane, seemingly with no end and no beginning.
It is just what it is. Grief.
Just as the tide recedes but always returns, so it is with grief and the pain of the loss.
Just as the ocean never stops, but it has its peace and its rage, so it is with grief.
As expanse as the ocean, the emotions of grief.
And sometimes, to cope best is to grab a board and surf the waves.
For only from atop can you clearly view and find the shore.
Penned – MG – 5/11/22
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:2
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
There’s an old song that proclaims this adage for some, “War. What is it good for?” And the singer answers himself to say, “Absolutely nothing!”
*I do not own nor possess this pic.*
As we have a war raging on the other side of the world, this song came to mind, and it caused me pause…
Pause, to think.
Pause, to wonder.
Pause, to ponder.
War is always devastating. It is always mind boggling. It is always consumed with questions and concerns. It is always heartbreaking and oh. So. Overwhelming.
Overwhelming enough to bring panic.
Overwhelming enough to bring depression.
Overwhelming enough to bring paralysis.
War often can bring a surprise along with it. Although, we wish it came so differently, it can bring a sense of togetherness, a bonding that would never happen in any other scenario. Whether they be broken, fearful, wounded or strong, it’s a gathering of souls.
Souls that need protection.
Souls that need encouragement.
Souls that need reckoning.
Souls that need redemption.
War, in a crazy kind of way, can bring about resilience never realized until that moment. War can bring about courage that is fortified in the midnight hours. It can bring about a needed change to rebellious hearts.
Hearts that beat as one.
Hearts that beat with anger.
Hearts that beat with fear.
Hearts that beat with love.
Love can rage war on evil like nothing else ever can. Love can bring light to the darkness. Love can bring hope to the hopeless. Love can bring resistance and a halt to evil that would try to prevail.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have thegift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
It’s the month of love. Valentine’s Day is either loved or hated, depending on who you are…
So, what is this “love” everyone talks about?
Is it really real? Or is it just a fantasy?
Can it actually last? Or is it just a fairytale?
Love is everything they claim it is, and yet, it’s none of that and so much more…
Love is new birth and discovery. Love is exploration and the bloom of a flower.
Love is friendship and honesty. Love is mystery and the patient waiting for an unveiling.
Love is finding each other in the brokenness and surviving the tragedy by sheer determination.
Love is grieving and remembering, laughing and forgetting, holding on and letting go.
Love is acknowledging truth while having eyes half closed and speaking clarity while not saying a word.
Love is a 1,000 tiny miracles that bring two hearts together despite the chaos, the doubt and the criticism of the outside world.
Love is best described by the One who created it, implanted it, and destined it to be…
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
But which overflow you choose is vital to your vitality and peace.
You can choose to live in the overflow of anxiety: no peace can be found here, no rest for your weariness, no strengthening for your bones, no joy for your sanity.
But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to pick it from the bunch.
You can choose to live in the overflow of anger: utter rage will consume you, suspicious and discomfort will be your bed and pillow, every moment filled with drama, every relationship teeters on the edge of fire.
But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to pluck it from the bundle.
You can choose to live in the overflow of nothingness: no happiness can be found here, no purpose for your apathy, no relief for your depression, no clarity for your fog.
But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to pull it from the plunder.
You can choose to live in the overflow of sorrow: grief will swallow you, tears will be your blanket, every second enveloped by brokenness, every friendship walking on the knife’s edge of the grave.
But this choice is on the list. It’s your decision to grasp it from the pile.
Or you can choose to live in the overflow of grace: no loneliness can diminish you, no indifference can devalue you, no hatred can murder you, no fear can unravel you.
It is your choice. You have the ability to select from the narrative and create your own story.
The freedom of truth is waiting.
Come and drown in the overflow.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
the grizzle grist mill 