strength

Healing Brings Clarity

/ The WheatandTares / 7 Comments

I’m not sure if there’s a statement that could be more true…

Well, I’m sure there are others, but this healing business is serious, and it’s needed by more than is realized.

When you are wounded, clarity is almost impossible to find.

When you are in pain, certainty can be so cloudy, so evasive.

You can be looking straight at the problem but never see the face staring back at you in the mirror.

You’re blinded by the agony, but you claim all is well.

You can speak with words, yet the emotions are lost within the anguish of grief.

It’s like trying to walk through a crowded room with your arm in a sling, hoping no one will bump it, all the while acting as if nothing is wrong, and the room is empty.

It borders on insanity.

Yet, every one of us stands with the accused.

Every one of us has lived in this ludicrosity.

Every one of us has chosen the absurd from time to time.

But if we can simply grasp the moment to receive healing,

If we can simply accept the bandage,

Embrace the cast,

Take hold of the remedy as if it’s a lifeline,

The vision we achieve will be amazing.

Then He [Jesus]said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

Matthew 12:13

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James 5:13-15

Who’s Carving Your Name?

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

When I was a little girl, I always dreamt of having a guy carve our initials to share our love with the universe.

When I grew older, I learned it’s better for him to carve his initials on your heart and yours upon his.

When I was a teen, living in emotional train wrecks, I’d carve hate into an edge of skin to somehow blind the pain.

When I grew older, I learned it’s better to let Jesus carve His love on my heart to ease the turmoil within.

When I was a young adult, I hoped one day my name would be carved in lights to shine for the world to see.

Now that I have grown older, I have realized it’s better to have it etched in the hearts of those around me.

For shallow loves drift.

Broken promises shatter.

Glitz and glamor fade away.

All in a moment’s breath.

But what you leave behind in memories and legacies can sustain for a lifetime.

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…

Proverbs 13:22a

Where Are You Headed?

/ The WheatandTares / 5 Comments

So many people are going in all directions.

They’re scattered.

They’re frantic.

They’re never ending.

And they’re lost.

They have no peace.

They have no hope.

You pass them, consumed in your affairs, closing your deals, making your stash.

Never asking.

Never wondering.

Never even giving a glance.

Maybe if you stopped to see her…

Maybe if you paused to feel his pain…

Maybe, just maybe it would change their day.

Maybe it could turn them away from the ledge…

Money is not the answer. It’s only short lived.

Fame is not the solution. It changes with the wind.

They only need a hope that will bring life.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:3-9

While in the Fire

/ The WheatandTares

What do you do while in the fire?

What do say while in the Potter’s hand?

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.

Jeremiah 18:4

Run Away

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

My heart wants to run away from all the chaos, all the pain.

My mind wants to shut down from all the turmoil, all the chains.

My soul wants to hide from all the torment, all the insane.

So, I go to the solitude place.

The place to hear my heart beating again to the rhythm of Your waves.

The place to see my mind clearing the clutter, to remember You hold my days.

The place to feel my soul settle the wandering, to understand Your peace that guides my way.

The solitude place where the noise stands still in the beauty of Your face, where the crowds fade in the light of Your grace.

Penned – MG – 6/12/22

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

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Refiner’s Fire

/ The WheatandTares

The trials of life feel like fire to the heart.

They burn and destroy as a forest ablaze.

They break and bend the impurities of our motives.

They draw out the ugly, unusable parts of our nature to reveal the good.

May we yearn for the heat.

May our hearts long for the fires that will bring forth the beauty of character and purity of the soul.

Let the fires burn.

He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;

He will purify the sons of Levi,

And purge them as gold and silver,

That they may offer to the Lord

An offering in righteousness.

Malachi 3:3

Let It Burn

/ The WheatandTares

Sometimes, we’ve got that thing that hinders holding us back.

Sometimes, we’ve got that thing that makes us pause, and it’s slowing us down.

Sometimes, to get rid of it,

You’re gonna have to let it burn.

Fire purifies. It refines.

Fire cleanses. It redefines.

Let it burn away the dross.

Let it burn away the residue.

You will be brought for as precious silver.

You will come forth as brilliant gold.

I will bring the one-third through the fire,

Will refine them as silver is refined,

And test them as gold is tested.

They will call on My name,

And I will answer them.

I will say, ‘This is My people’;

And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”

Zechariah 13:9

But who can endure the day of His coming?

And who can stand when He appears?

For He is like a refiner’s fire

And like launderers’ soap.

He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;

He will purify the sons of Levi,

And purge them as gold and silver,

That they may offer to the Lord

An offering in righteousness.

Malachi 3:2-3

Finding Time to Breathe

/ The WheatandTares

Will it ever let up?

Will it ever relent?

Time keeps ticking.

Life keeps moving.

There is no release.

There is no reprieve.

Normal is never returning.

Yet, was it ever here to begin?

What was will never again be.

So, why are you surprised?

Why are you dismayed?

It has always been as it is now.

Sometimes, stronger.

Sometimes, lesser.

But never really much contrast.

Never really much disparity, indeed.

So, why must you fight it?

Why must you rage?

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.

Romans 5:3-5

Remembering

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

What did you remember?

What did you see?

All those years ago, when my existence wasn’t even a thought.

What did you recollect?

What did you hear?

All those sleepless nights, when the bottle became your friend.

What did you reminisce?

What did you feel?

All those days of overcast, those memories of horror, those years of agony…

What demons did you try to forget?

I wish I could have reached you.

I’m so sorry for your pain.

And I’m eternally grateful for your sacrifice.

Remembering Memorial Day 2022

Penned – MG – 5/30/22

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

John 15:13

Grief: It Comes In Waves

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

There’s no limit to grief.

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.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9