Southern Heart

May 18, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

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I am a Southern girl, born and bred, and I am proud of it. In the South, we grew up knowing trust in God, family and country were three of the most important things to take care of in life, and when one of those got out of balance, the others were soon to follow. We were taught to respect our elders, appreciate our relatives, (even if they’re a little crazy), and good friends and food go a long way to make a good day great. Old dirt roads are best enjoyed on the back of a pick up truck, and front porches were made for rocking chairs and long late night talks. Fireflies were made to catch in mason jars and catfish were made to fry up for dinner. Sweet tea is made only when the sugar is poured before the tea gets cold, and chicken is best served fried with a side of mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits…oh, and with an apple pie for dessert. “Yes ma’am,” “No, ma’am,” and The Pledge of Allegiance isn’t just polite, it’s expected, and being a sass mouth is just plain rude…there can be found a hickory switch or two for that one. Barefoot and swimming holes are sought for in the summertime and wintertime is simply harder to find. Thanksgiving is for pumpkin pies, turkey and dressing, and Christmas is for gatherings of family and friends to remember our Savior’s birth and sing of that glorious story. Being from the South makes up who I am, and even if I wasn’t born here, I don’t think you could drag me away. It’s in my heart, and it’s here to stay.

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If you aren’t from the South, don’t like the South, or you’ve never been here, that’s ok. You may be proud of where you’re from, too. You don’t have to love my home, and I don’t have to love yours, but I will try to respect it; that’s just the Southern way. 😉 It bothers me to no end those who ridicule the South by saying we’re less educated or less cultured, because our dialect is a little different than theirs, or because we didn’t grow up where they did. I won’t spend a lot of time here on that soapbox; however, I don’t believe it’s from whence you came that makes you smarter or more stupid than the next guy; it’s all in how you act, react and treat your fellow man that will determine your intellect or lack thereof.

I am so thankful to be from the South, and I can’t think of many other places I’d rather live. I’ve been to many other states, and I’ve yet to find an area I like more. So, if you’re from the South, “Welcome Home, Ya’ll!” and if you’re not, “Come on back to see us soon!”

Daily Prompt: South

Mom’s Job

May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

We, as moms, have so many jobs, so many responsibilities to fulfill. These change often, too, depending on the age of our children, the different seasons of life, and the various needs of our family. What my roll was, as a mom with our boys, 10 years ago looks somewhat different than today; yet, I have found a few “mom jobs” to remain constant over the years. If these go missing, chaos seems to presume.

Speak Life – It is our responsibility to speak life into our home and our children. We need to encourage, admonish, admire and lead by example. Christ said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…” When we speak life to them, it is the beginning of their seeing Christ. It causes them to see a better way than where their fleshly desires would entice them. When we speak life, it guides them in truth. Solomon, the wisest man in Scripture, had a mother who spoke life into him. You can see that in Proverbs 31, when she admonishes him about drinking and shares with him what kind of “good woman” he should seek. Speaking life is not condoning sin or emphasizing failures. It is giving them God’s best in their moment in order for growth, strength and transformation to occur.

Provide Liberty (freedom) – It is incumbent upon us to give our children the freedom to grow into the man or woman they are meant to be. We begin this from a very early age. We hold their hand to teach them to walk, and then, we let go so they can. We hold onto the back of the bike so they can get steady, and then, we let go and watch them bike around the block on their own. We help them in so many ways, at the beginning holding on to make sure they’ve got it, and then, we watch them as they learn to do things on their own. We must do this with their dreams as well! It is our job to help them to dream and to one day fly to higher heights, and we must give them the freedom to do so! When we hold on to tightly, or we hold them back because of fear, competition or even jealousy, we cripple them and cause their way to be harder than it needs to be. They may still reach their dreams, but oh, the hardships and battles they have to face along the way!

Give Love – It is our calling to love those God puts in our care. We were made as nurturing creatures. We were created as networking beings, to reach out, to connect. We have been developed to care, to cry, to comfort and to cover our loved ones with our love and prayers. If we are not reaching our arms up in prayer and out in love, we will wreak havoc on all those around us. That’s why it’s so important for us, as women but especially as mothers, to release anger, bitterness, strife and unforgiveness. If we hold onto these things, we don’t just simply “cover it up and hope it goes away,” as we often want to believe we can. It breeds in our home and eventually manifests in all areas of our lives, as well as, in the lives of our children. We must love. We must care. We must reach out. Hannah brought a new coat to little Samuel every year at the time of the feast offerings. There is a whole book in the Bible devoted to the story of Ruth and how she not only loved her husband but how she loved her mother-in-law. Esther changed the heart of a king by her love for her God, her husband and her people.

It is said, “The mother is the heart of the home.” I tend to agree with this statement, but I want to make it a little more specific. I believe she can be the heartbeat of the home. With her attentiveness, her effort and her consistent focus on Christ, she can not only keep a hand on the pulse of the home, but she can also become the heartbeat of that home. If she is stable, loving, courageous, bold, prayerful, gentle and kind, her home has a better chance of being the same. If she is imbalanced, hateful, fearful, lacking in prayer, grouchy and just plain mean, her home will most likely emulate the same attitude and personality.

Men weren’t created to do these things the way a woman was! They have their own purpose and their own calling within the home, but it is different than a woman’s. We have a purpose, and we must fulfill it, or everyone loses!

“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” Proverbs 31:28-31

Happy belated Mother’s Day!

Where Did We Go Wrong?

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

I’ve been thinking of the post I posted on Monday. The question keeps rolling over in my brain… Where did we go wrong? How did we get to this place of remaining silent while this world is fading? How did we get to this point in life that “being tolerant” overrides our personal convictions and faith filled standards?

I’ll tell you when we began sliding on this slippery slope: when the church became silent in the public arena and began turning on itself, accusing each other of judgmentalism and condemnation. It began when we started looking more in the mirror and at our fellow man rather than staying focused on what’s most important: God. It happened when we became more worried about what the world thinks of us than what God thinks.

It is unfortunate and disheartening. We have forsaken our first love for a lie and have become enamored with our own vanity and popularity. We have abdicated our prayer closets of holiness, and we have embraced our gateways of tolerance. We have forsaken our knees of prayer and become consumed by our mouths of gossip and destruction. We have relinquished our rights for higher standards and grasped the liberal demand for concession on every issue. We have surrendered our fight for a better future for our children and allowed our lives to be diminished and minimized to an anemic, powerless and silent walk of faith.

It’s not the world that has been led astray. The lost will always be lost without the Savior. Those in darkness will always be dark without The Light. It’s the church who has veered from the way. It is our responsibility to seek first His kingdom and reach this world for Him. We must look to God and get back to our prayer closets. We must stop looking to our phones and our friends for direction and comfort in this world and return to the One who called us out in the first place.

We must fall down on our knees in prayer and remember from whence He has called us. As Christians, we are called to a higher purpose, and that purpose is prayer and having power with God! If we don’t seek Him, how can we truly reach them?

2 Corinthians 4:1-6, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”

Set The Mood

May 2, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Music can certainly set the mood for me.

Some songs can put me in a sappy, melancholy mood, and others can get me bouncing and jumping all over the house. There are others that bring back sweet memories of childhood days and faraway places. A few can even drum up a feeling of irritation or maybe even a bit of anger if it draws out a memory long forgotten or hidden. Anyone who says “music is just music,” and it doesn’t effect them, I’d have to seriously question if they have any feelings at all, and I might even question their integrity in the answer. Music can draw out the deepest emotions from a person. It has lasted the span of time, and it continues to move cultures and people close together and far away from each other.

img_6819-1 Like right now, I’m listening to Josh Garrels’ newest album Home. This is one of my absolute favorites! I just get in a kind of easy going attitude when I’m listening to this album. He is so versatile and great to listen to, no matter your mood or circumstances. He has a variety of styles within the same album, and I never get bored with each song sounding the same.

While listening to this, I can kind of see why he chose the title Home. Each song takes me through a different memory of home and leads me on to dream of my eternal home.

There is a song on this album that sounds like Led Zeppelin, which I plan to use in a later blog, and then, the very next track sounds like a love song. One of my other favorites is, Morning Light. I’ve included it at the bottom here; so, you can enjoy at your leisure. You can go to bandcamp.com to buy and download the whole album or just a track or two. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

Daily Post Prompt: Music

Music

Straighten Your Crown!

April 28, 2016April 28, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

This post came across my Facebook account thread last night, and I couldn’t help but repost it today. I wonder, “Does it jolt you like it does me?”

You see, I walk with a limp everyday. I go forward in life with pains that I try to hide from the outside world. I’m always walking around with a scar here and a cut there, which I cover well, and I place a pretty smile on my face to hide the battle within of inadequacy, loneliness and worthlessness, but the scars remain regardless of the facade.

It doesn’t mean God isn’t healing me, and it doesn’t mean I am pitiful, nor do I desire your pity. Just because someone learns to survive their pain doesn’t mean it’s gone away. Simply because I learn to thrive through the storm doesn’t mean the rain doesn’t bring a chill to my bones sometimes. Learning to cope, learning to survive is just what we do. It’s what we all do in this journey we call life. Yet, I don’t want to simply survive till the end. I want to thrive! I want to live victoriously, and I want to lead others out of the bondage they are in!

So, when a post like this comes across my path, I need to pay attention. When a word this deep is sent to me, even indirectly, I need to stop and take note for God is speaking straight to my heart. He wants me to not only hear Him but to truly listen to what He has to say…

You see, I am a King’s kid! I am a daughter of royalty. I am a child of the Almighty. When you belong to a King, you walk differently. You talk differently. You live differently.

God never called us to live defeated lives. He never called us to simply survive, barely scraping by, in this darkened world till He calls us home. He didn’t intend for us to just live day to day, “clocking in and out,” as if it’s a 9-5 job of hard labor, and we’re just waiting for our paycheck to come in the mail. Romans 8:37 tells us, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Emphasis mine), and Matthew 28:19 reminds us to, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” It is our responsibility, our ‘Great Commission’ to go tell the world about the great love and joy we have found!

It is time we speak up, we speak out, and we let our voice be heard. Sister, walk no longer in sin, rebellion or shame. Go ahead, and straighten that crown on your head, and get specific in your prayers and walk in his calling. Share with your world the joy of the Lord, not just the mundane survival of faithfulness. Sustaining until the end is essential, but even Christ won one more soul while He hung on the cross! Why? Because He was overflowing love and hope even at that painful moment, and He was willing to be bold and truthful regardless of His circumstances and regardless of those who stood around Him in disbelief!

He has beckoned you. Did you think you wouldn’t get here? Did you think He wouldn’t come? Walk boldly into His presence and let Him tell you He loves you. Let Him lead you beside those still waters and remind you of who He is. Let Him guide you to that place of security, strength and confidence; then, go out and shout it to the world what you have found.

You are His baby girl, and He will fight for you. Stop walking through this life shamefully. Stop shying away from truth and victory. He has purposes for you to succeed. He has souls for you to rescue out of destruction. He has destined for you to win! (Jeremiah 29:11)

Go now, straighten that crown and live like a queen! 😉💗

To Abide In The Shadow

April 21, 2016April 23, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

To abide means to remain or to live somewhere. I wonder how often we, as Christians, actually abide in the shadow of the Almighty?

When I was younger, and my grandfather was living, I loved to be with him, to spend time with him and to be right up underneath him, no matter what he was doing. Especially, in the summertime, when it was hot outside, I remember stepping into his shadow and immediately feeling a relief from the heat. I felt safe and secure in his shadow.

We had big live oak trees in his yard, and I can remember standing in the shadow of them and feeling protected from the coming rain. I remember feeling as if I could stay there for hours if they’d just let me. (My grandparents never allowed me to stay outside in the rain; it was too dangerous. 😉) Yet, under those big oaks, I felt like nothing could ever touch me! As I would gaze up into the branches, I felt as big as they were. I felt I could conquer anything!

God is even more so like this. If we could ever learn to dwell in the secret place with Him, we would realize we are more than conquerors in His shadow! We need to “get alone till we’re not alone anymore.” We need to “pray until we do pray.”

Have you ever met those ‘old saints of God’ who seem to have all the faith anyone could ever imagine to have? They seem to never get rattled, never battle fear, never have doubts and concerns about tomorrow. All they seem to talk about is how mighty God is and how wonderful heaven is. I long to have that constant outlook on life! I long to be at the place where my faith is so strong, nothing seems to shake me, nothing seems to cause me pause. Those elders don’t get to that place simply by attending church and having a good song service. They pay the price in prayer. They endure the hard times holding onto His hand. They learn to lean on Jesus when all seems lost.

We can only get to that place when we spend time with The Father. I’m not talking about our cute little bedtime prayers and our dainty little daily devotions. Don’t misunderstand me, we need nighttime prayers and we need daily devotions, but there comes a day when we learn to travail in prayer, and we learn to just tarry with the Lord for awhile…we “get alone till we’re not alone anymore.”

We get to that place only when we rely on Him despite what the world says or what the circumstances look like. We get there when we trust Him in the mundane and in the fiery trials of life, when it becomes a daily walk, a minute by minute abiding in His presence, not because you’re on your knees 24/7, but because you’ve created a sanctuary within your own heart and mind, where He is welcome and into which you run when trouble comes and then you stay even through the sunniest of days.

This is the place I long to stay. This is the place in which I long to live. I want to dwell in His presence; so, I might live in His shadow.

In His shadow, I feel peace. I feel security. I feel strength. I feel I can conquer the world!

Man-Child

April 14, 2016April 14, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

Our son shared a devotion during his youth service last night, and someone snapped a photo and sent it to me.

At first glance, I was in shock, in tears and in awe of who I saw. It was as if he had grown up overnight, or maybe just in the hour and half since I dropped him off. How does this happen??

They are so tiny when they’re born, so helpless, so dependent on everything we do for them. We survive the endless midnight feedings and sleepless restings, only to enter the toddler years, when they seem heck-bent in killing themselves in one fashion or another!

Then, it’s school days and taxi driving to every event and sports practice known to mankind. This is soon followed by the absence of mind and hearing through the teenage years, and we wonder some days how we could have given birth to such a creature. These days of challenge and adventure are continued as those, once tiny dependents, start testing their abilities and spreading their wings. They push for their independence, and we seriously wonder how our hearts will handle the empty nests once they’ve flown.

Yet, there comes a moment after the night of events, when you’re watching his smile and hear the excitement in his voice, and you realize you wouldn’t want him any other way. You know within your heart you never want to hinder him or hold him back from his dreams. You see that the once little boy may no longer be in those days of youth, but you realize, as he wraps his arms around you and says, “I love you, Mom” that your man-child has grown past the point of no return, and you long for him to spread his wings and fly to the highest heights and let nothing hinder his dreams and aspirations.

Get Back Up Again

March 16, 2016March 19, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

“Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.” – Oswald Chambers

Toddlers toddle along, walking, falling, holding on, letting go, falling, and getting up again. Constantly, all day, until they finally master the walking. I think we have a lot to learn from these little guys.
How often do we let mistakes and missed opportunities impede us from moving forward? How many times do we look back to past failures and let them hinder us from trying new things? I’d venture to guess it’s quite often. It’s human nature to say, “Well, I messed that up. Great. I’ll never get another chance.” Or “I’ve always been bad at this, why should I try again?”

We get so consumed on those past things, and I believe, often times, that’s why we get tripped up this time. When you’re learning to walk, you can’t look back the entire time. You can’t stay focused on what’s behind you, because you’ll miss out on the very things which are in front of you! Stop believing just because you have a shattered, damaged or imperfect past that your future is destined to be the same.

That’s not what Christ promised for us! He said, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11) He also said, “Nothing is impossible for God.” Here’s the cool part… When we start leaning on Him, rather than ourselves, when we start allowing Him To do the work within and through us, there is NOTHING we can’t do, because He’s doing the work.

So what, if we fall down, trip up; we’re just like those little kiddos learning to walk! It doesn’t matter how many times you feel like you’ve failed yesterday. The important part of failing is getting up today! So, get back up again! Dust yourself off. Ask for a little assistance from Him and those spiritual leaders He’s placed in your life, and try again! You’ll be amazed how fast you’ll run and achieve!

Go With The Flow

March 11, 2016March 11, 2016 / The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

Sometimes, you just have to get in the flow. The flow of traffic, the flow of harmony, the flow of God. Some people work so hard to work against the flow that they never find peace, because they’re always fighting, pinching, clawing their way against the norm that they never can just find rest in the flow.

Now, I’m not saying the flow is always the place to be. If it’s a controversial issue, and you find yourself on the opposing team, fighting for the right, by all means, keep fighting. If it’s a societal push to tolerate things which shouldn’t be tolerated, by all means, don’t remain silence for peace sake. If the innocent are being placed in harm’s way, by all means, stand up and be a voice before all is lost.

Never stand by silently simply for the desire of harmony. Never go with the flow simply for the attempt to bring tolerance. Sometimes, a war must be fought before peace can be found. Sometimes, the storm get stronger before the sunset shines through the clouds.

Yet, there are times, in all of our lives, when we need to be more flexible and go with the flow.

Like this week when I came down with the flu. I haven’t had the flu in years. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had the flu. It started with chills and high fever and put me to bed for three whole days. I tried to fight it, and when my fever broke on Thursday morning, I thought I could conquer the world…only to find myself back in bed a few hours later, because I had jumped too soon.

I realized I was just going to have to go with the flow and rest until this thing passed. It was aggravating. It was boring just laying around when I needed to get things done! I sure didn’t feel good as aches and pains ruled the day, but for the betterment of my health, and for the protection of my family, I just had to go with the flow and let that sickness pass.

I learned during that time that our boys can actually get their lunches together and get out the door on time without my constant reminders. I learned my husband and son can do the dishes and even save my baking stones that can’t go in the dishwasher. I, also, learned my husband can take care of the house and the boys just fine while I lie in bed with a high fever and aches and pains. All of these things, I really knew to be true, but watching them play out in reality sure was reassuring. 😊

Sometimes, when you decide to slow down and go with the flow, you learn to rest. You learn to grow stronger, and you learn the world (and your family) can make it while you get better! 😉

Flow