The Marriage Picture

Following is a slightly expanded version of what I said at B and K’s wedding, mostly because I read only Matthew 22 since Ephesians 5 had been read before I got up to speak: A Wedding is a day of celebration that has greater and deeper meaning than the happy couple, as significant as they [...]

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Costa Rica

Five students, two parents, and I went on a tour of the natural beauty of Costa Rica from June 17-25. It was a very active tour walking, ziplining, horseback riding, walking, swimming in the ocean and in a lake, walking, swam in hot springs, and kayaking. The walks were never long but the destinations were [...]

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Colorful Treasure

I can’t always get out to the woods for a hike so on the weekends I enjoy the more rugged parts of the greenway by the river in our town.  I can’t say it is undisturbed because the environmental perturbation was and is causing far more briars, poison ivy, hedge, and honey suckle than ought to be.  However, there [...]

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In a neighborhood ditch near you

I wanted to take a walk and others I usually walk with were occupied.  So, I decided to be random and go off of the paved trail, take my camera, and see if there was anything worth seeing. A few others had a similar idea.  Snow on the ground for a full week is rare [...]

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Hawk’s Bill Panorama

I never get tired of mountain vistas, even if they are ones I’ve seen many times before. Today the snow and the atmosphere were exceptional. We had to stand off abit since the gravel road comes downhill, was snow covered, and I only have 2 wheel drive. That’s OK. We hiked in about a mile [...]

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White Snow

I’m happy that snow is white. In fact I don’t believe there is anything whiter. Paint store white, white white, ultrawhite don’t compare and everything else looks dingy. “‘Come now, and let us reason together’, says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow…’” (Isaiah 1:18) “Purify me [...]

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Gorging on Beauty

It is referred to as simply the Gorge around here.  I’ve seen it from all angles in every imaginable weather with any number of people, though mostly my children.  It is a miniture of some of the greater canyons of the world but it is a compact bit of beauty and extremity.  Some of the [...]

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Part of the Image in Us

It totally makes sense and points to His glory that we should be creative. Since we are made in His image and He is the Creator, then we should be creative.  We are not amazed at much these days because we think we’ve seen it all.  Well, we haven’t.  “Things which eye has not seen [...]

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Washed, Rinsed, Eternally Clean

I made a new aquaintence in church today. We exchanged interests and learned that one was classical music and another was potentially poetry.  He wrote down a poem from memory and gave it to me at the end of church.  At home I sat down to read the poem.  I was really enjoying it, but [...]

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Gorge Swim

At least once a summer, the boys and I go to a great swimming hole and play until we are worn out or too cold to move.  The weather has been plenty hot enough to preclude the latter. There are many jumps into foaming deep water from heights of 5, 20, and 25 feet. There [...]

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Energy Intertwined

I am far from being a materialist but God has ordered a material world which is fascinating. It shouts of deep complexity and beautiful simplicity.  He is intimately involved and yet He set it to work. Oh, what a wonderful Creator and Sustainer is He! Sunlight on the grass and trees Photosynthesis within the leaves [...]

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The Wonder of Knowledge

The very idea of knowledge has many fascinating angles. Four examples are the wonder of discovery (Hey, just think, that old person with dementia that you feel so sorry for is really very happy because of their new discoveries each and every day, even if they are just old ones rediscovered), the satisfaction of knowing (This [...]

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Orange Dots

During the collection of insects last semester one of my students collected a moth.  After a day in the ziplock there were small round dots in the container. “What are they?”  We put them under a microscope and there appeared these translucent moth eggs.  They contain an embryo you can see, looking almost like crystals, and [...]

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9″ Snow

It was one of those “around the end” weather patterns that bring us the big snows.  When we more typically get a front come over the mountains, because we are in the lee, most of the snow is shed on the Tennessee side and in the mountains.  But when the cold comes over the mountains [...]

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Room 417

On the hallway wall next to the door is posted “Room 417 Storage”.  In this fairly new facility it is used as an occasional office.  The majority could not tell you where it is or for what purpose it is utilized.  I was assigned to sit in silence in Room 417 with three other people for [...]

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Bored to Death

      On my classroom wall is posted the statement, “Bored is not a circumstance; it’s a state of mind.”  From the frequency of gaming, surfing the web and channels, and various other vicarious pursuits of entertainment coupled with short attention spans and lack of excitement for anything short of amazing I would say it is [...]

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Finally!

To say that snow is uncommon in my little town would be an understatement.  And when it does come it tends to fade quickly.  We had three inches last night and cold enough to retain it half a day today.  I am so thankful for its beauty and God’s creativity! Spring delayed                  Not bad sledding           Would [...]

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Heightened Praise

The more we see of God the more our praise will be raised and our lives be purified. Oh that this might be true of you and me:   What praise can this feebled mind impart           Or glory give to God           But He commands the soul Lift up words and life to make a [...]

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Complementary Effects from One Cause

Here is an oldie but a …. well you’ll have to decide about that.  It certainly isn’t an easy one to get nor was it easy to do.  I sometimes get hung up in my own devices poetically.  I’m sure the poetry suffers but it’s about the challenge.  Hopefully the message does not equally suffer [...]

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Narnia: Looking in

No, the movie wasn’t like the book, and I think some of the original intent was lost by obscuring it in more introspective and mature themes. But taken as a story alone it had merit to rightly excite the imagination on some points. Perhaps some will read the book who would not have otherwise. I [...]

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