Wednesday’s Ode #13

May 6, 2015April 27, 2015 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

I love waterfalls! I absolutely LOVE them!! I love the walks and hikes that take me on a little journey to get there. I love them when they have an abundance of water flowing, and I love when there’s not so much. I love the refreshing feeling I get as I gaze up at them, and I love the tingling of my toes when I’m gazing down the falls.

I love what happens every single time I get near a waterfall…my soul is renewed. It is as if a calm comes over my whole being and the cares of this world are simply washed away like the water going over the falls.

Once again, it reminds me of the Scripture I quoted in last week’s ode: “…and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.” Ezekiel 43:2, and here’s another that reminds me, “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.” Rev 1:15

I hear Him calling to my heart every time I’m near the falls. I love those times. …hmmm, I think I need to take a hike and find some rushing waters real soon! 😉

Wednesday’s Ode #12

April 29, 2015April 26, 2015 / The WheatandTares

I love the beach! White sands, blue skies, blue green waters…Ahhh. What a beautiful day! It can be summer, winter, spring or fall, I don’t care. Let me go and stick my toes in the coolness of the sands. It is a beautiful place to be.

Now, I have to admit. I am a little picky on my choice of beach. I haven’t been to the Pacific since I was like 18 months old; so, I can’t really say I remember it. However, I’ve been to the Atlantic in several places: Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida (Daytona, St. Augustine and Ft. Lauderdale), and I have to say I am simply partial to the Gulf Shores of Northwest Florida. The sands are so white, almost like sugar, and in so many places, you can still find remote areas even in the heat of summer and the peak of tourist season.

I’m sure I’m partial to these beaches, as well, because I grew up in those areas. As a kid, we went to the beach all the time, and I have had more than my share of sunburns, sandy britches and PB&J sandwiches on a blanket (beach picnics), but nonetheless, as a child, I loved splashing in the ocean and get sun-kissed freckles on my nose! As I’ve grown older, I don’t care as much for swimming with the sharks (ha!) and the sand in my bathing suit, but I could sit out by the shore and watch the tide come in for hours. I love to walk barefoot along the shoreline looking for sand dollars and seashells, too. It’s a great pastime. Now that we have boys, it’s so fun to go and watch them swim, boogie board, jump, dive, look for shells and build sand castles. I love to see the beach and the ocean through their eyes of wonder.

What I love most about the beach is the settling within my spirit that occurs every time I sit and listen to the surf. The ebb and flow of the tide calls out to me as if a voice is speaking straight to my heart. This used to amaze me until, years ago, I read these Scriptures:

Psalm 29:3, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters,” and Ezekiel 43:2, “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.”

Then, it all became incredibly clear. That is why my soul is drawn to these locations, whether it be to the ocean or to a waterfall: His voice can be heard by my heart in those places. 🙂 I am so thankful for those times…

In the Depths of the Falls

March 30, 2015March 29, 2015 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

I saw a glimpse of something today. We took a little hike to Amicalola Falls and were standing on the bridge, looking up at the falls when I saw it. Looking up, this song started rolling over and over in my mind, and before I realized it, I was softly singing:

Peace, peace, wonderful peace

Coming down from the Father above

Sweep over my spirit forever I pray

In fathomless billows of love

As I stood there, listening to the waters rush over the rocks and tumble down below, I began to really see it…The rocks were solid, strong, unyielding. There were sharp places and dark places…green, squishy patches and dry, splotchy parts…even some spots with crackly, dry weeds. Yet, where the water flowed, the rocks were smooth and even shiny, almost like jewels glistening in the sun. The waters rushed over the edge at one place and trickled down, hardly noticeable in another. Sometimes, it would bounce and jump, almost seeming to dance in laughter off the rocks, and in others, that same water swirled and pooled, making little collections of shimmery basins in which you could’ve cooled and refreshed your feet. The falls were simply beautiful, invigorating and peaceful, inviting and overwhelming, all in the same breath.

As I stood there, tears streaming down my face, I could see the depths of my very soul. The rocks are the image of my soul. It’s solid, strong, and unyielding, sometimes for very good reasons, sometimes for not so good. The water is the Living Water of God. It washes my heart, cleanses my mind and purifies my soul. It causes the green patches of soft, squishy grass to grow.Those are the places where I’m tender and soft toward the things of God. I’m pliable, moldable, easily moved and quickly changed. These are the places where I long to stay, to learn, to grow.

Yet, there are other areas where it’s not so sweet. His water has to smooth out the sharp, ragged, painful places, those places we’d rather not talk about, those pains we’d just as soon forget. He pours over those jagged rocks of my soul to bring life, restoration and joy.

I was reminded, in that moment, all our souls are in this similar state of being. Some are more, some are less, but we all have sharp, jagged rocks that need His soothing. We all have dark places, those things which are ugly and hidden from the world that need His cleansing. Each one of us has a dry spot or two that needs more water and oh, those pesky weedy areas that are in such need of His purifying. Every one of us has a need for so many more of those soft, squishy, green patches, those places where His love and mercy abide. Our soul longs for those times when we are fully immersed in His goodness and grace.

You see, when we let Jesus into our soul, His rivers of Living Water rush into our lives to show us His love, His grace, His mercy, those things which He’s just been waiting to pour out. Sometimes, the water is so loud, so consuming, we can’t even contain it or comprehend it. Other times, He lets it trickle down a forgotten path, one we thought we’d pushed far into the past to a place never to be seen or remembered again. Yet, He gently lets His waters flow, washing over those places, drawing us back, soothing our soul.

Just as these falls towered before me, His Living Water towers over our souls. He cleanses us, changes us, and transforms us into a beautiful spectacle for all to see. As we allow His water to wash over the depths of our being, we will know He is God. We will know He loves us; we will experience His grace, and we will be transformed into a new creation. We will become a beautiful waterfall that others will gaze upon and feel refreshed, invigorated, challenged and changed. They will gain strength and wisdom as they see what the Lord has done in our life. Many will long for the same as they see the place where He abides. All we must do is allow His Holy Spirit, His Living Waters to flow into and through our lives. Will you let Him flow today?

“…And let anyone drink who believes in me.” As Scripture has said, “Out of him (or them) will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

Answer to Friday’s Angle #4

March 14, 2015March 14, 2015 / The WheatandTares

Were you able to get that one yesterday?? I tried to make it a little more tricky for intrigue. It is the inside of a water bottle…

Wednesday’s Ode #1

February 11, 2015February 18, 2017 / The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

For those of you who may have missed my post on Monday, this will be the first of my upcoming weekly features…”Wednesday’s Ode.” You can more about it here. I hope you enjoy these! 😉

As I was in the shower one morning, contemplating Wednesday’s Ode, I had a realization…I LOVE hot water!!
Refreshing, relaxing, invigorating, cleansing, soothing, smoothing. It
cleans bodies, dishes and clothes, sometimes, the dirtiest, smelliest, hardest things from which to remove muck and mire. It doesn’t seem to mind what the object of its affection might be on a given day.

It heats bottles for newborns, boils oatmeal for children and tea for fine old ladies; it even adds to the stew for burly men. It provides steam in locker rooms and adds to medicated steam in nursery rooms. It is poured in and heated through hot water bottles and hot water heaters all over the world. It seems to be no respecter of persons.

Have you ever been without it? It’s amazing what you miss when the source is no where to be found. It was the Bahamas. In the heat of summer. We were on a youth missions trip, and it definitely was not the resort side of the island! It was hot, and it was miserable, but in the early mornings of getting up, we still longed for a nice, hot shower…Nope! It was like the ice water challenge!! I will say this, the girls definitely didn’t take as long to get ready that week! Haha.

There was another moment in time when reality settled in about how wonderful hot water can be. I was on the coast of the Fl panhandle, after Hurricane Ivan of ’04 hit. There was water all around us in the bay and the ocean beyond, but not one drop of clean water to drink and definitely no hot water. You have to have hot water to sterilize anything that’s been swirled around with salt water, sewage tanks and brackish water…and all the mud and grime. No cleaning. No drinking, and definitely no eating anything that had to be boiled. That week, I sure did learn that military rationed dry food pkts (MRE) are actual edible. There are so many wonderful things about hot water! I just love it!
So, yeah, hot water is a wonderful thing!
Sometimes, it just makes me want to sing!
It even makes me feel full of power!
Especially when I’m in the shower!
🙂 haha!!

Living Water

January 13, 2015January 13, 2015 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

WATER IS AN INCREDIBLE, POWERFUL THING. It can trickle down the side of a boulder, and over time, it will carve a groove into the stone. It can come in like a flood and move that same rock across an entire city.

WATER IS A CLEANSING, REFRESHING ELEMENT. It can wash away the grime and muck of the mire. It can purify a hidden wound for healing.

WATER IS A REFRESHING,ENERGIZING SOURCE. It can bring life to the dying and diseased. It can restore the lost and the dazed.

“…but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

Along the Shoreline

October 11, 2014October 13, 2014 / The WheatandTares

Things seem more at peace along the shoreline…

Just A Little Spark

September 6, 2014September 7, 2014 / The WheatandTares

Years ago, someone gave me this little analogy, and I have adopted it as one of my mottos in life. It came to mind today; so, I thought I’d share it with you…

In every situation, whether it be crisis or peace, excitement or sorrow, you carry with you two buckets to use (Figuratively speaking, of course). With one bucket, you can soothe or dispel all you encounter. With the other, you can explode or inflame from the very core of a matter. You see, in these buckets, you carry water in one and gasoline in the other.
When you walk into a crisis, and you don’t know what to do, you have the option, at that very moment, to choose to pick up that bucket of water and sprinkle a little soothing liquid to calm the soul. You can even take the entire bucket and pour it out, leading an entire assembly to an utter calm by the words and actions you use. You can walk into that very same scenario, carrying with you the bucket filled to the brim with gasoline, and using that, you can send the whole congregating body into utter and complete chaos!
This can also be applied to a child and his dreams or a teen and her aspirations for life or even an adult struggling to make a new way for him/herself. You have the choice, in those moments of inspiration or desperation, to diminish any hopes of survival or fuel that tiny spark into the biggest flame, one that even a rain cloud won’t be able to quench. You can build a ladder upon which these tiny seeds can grow and thrive, or you can demolish the very foundation within which they were planted. It is up to you.
So, I ask you today, “What will you choose to do with those buckets you hold within your grasp? Will you do good or evil to those around you? Will you bring harm or joy to those you encounter?” You carry the power within your words and actions. You may bring life or death, depending on the liquid you choose. It just takes a little spark.