Born in the Big Sky Country of Montana and now living in the Buckeye State of Ohio, Richard is the creative mind behind Big Sky Buckeye. Retired after 40 years of teaching, I enjoy writing, photography, traveling, and following a healthy lifestyle.
Personal Bible study is the best way to sink your roots deeply into the faith. You’ll be like a tree planted by rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in season.
From Psalm 1:2-3: “But their delight is in the law of the Lord,and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like treesplanted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season,and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.”
David Jeremiah (born 1941) is an American pastor and Christian author.
This informative post will be published on Saturday in place of my regular one. You are invited to participate with the opening question.
Brain Teaser Question
What’s always found on the ground, but it never becomes dirty?
(answer found at the end of this post)
Featured Facts
One of the insect world’s most destructive forces can be termites. Yet, few people really know much about their characteristics and culture.
Here are some interesting facts about termites:
Size: 1/4 inch (queens are 4-6 inches in length)
Color: usually white (some may be orange)
Diet: wood, decaying leaf litter
Location: every continent except Antarctica
Termites seek a habitat that will allow their colony to grow and expand. Some of the best places to discover them will be wooded areas where rotting stumps and fallen trees provide protection as well as food. Some homeowners discover the presence of termites who have reached the wood framing of the house through mud tunnels. These tunnels begin underground and continue upward into the foundation of the home and beyond.
Because of their usual white color, termites are sometimes called white ants. They possess small, yet soft bodies with the ability to bite. They are wingless except for reproductive males and females. These members of the colony will emerge in swarms during mating times. Queens may live up to 10 years.
The life cycle of termites begins when the queen lays thousands of fertilized eggs. The eggs are tended by worker termites. These attendants feed hatched nymphs for the first two weeks of their lives. Their destiny will include being workers, soldiers, fertile males, and females.
Within a colony of termites, their way of life is similar to that of ants. Termites perform a variety of jobs much like ants do. Within a colony with its queen, there could be anywhere from 100 to a million workers in a vast network of underground tunnels. Many of the workers will be white in color due to living far under the ground where they avoid contact with most sunlight.
Termites are important ecosystem engineers, and their decomposing skills are good for soil condition. They digest cellulose with the help of microorganisms in their gut. They feed on each other’s feces, and males help raise the young. Workers and soldiers are nearly blind, and soldiers are slightly larger than workers. Soldiers are capable lookouts for predators such as mammals, birds, insects, scorpions, lizards, and spiders.
row 1: various members of termite colony, workers building mud tunnels of tubes, queen. row 2: soldiers, workers. Row 3: termite-damaged wood. row 4: diagram of colony beneath an unsuspecting house, queen surrounded by WORKERS. (all images courtesy of PINTEREST)
Look around each day and experience the richness of the expressions of art which surround us.
Do you write a daily journal? This inspiring thought comes from my journal, and much of what is written in my journal comes from reading and commenting on other bloggers’ posts. Thanks to many of you for adding so much to my journal.
Norman Rockwell found endless ways to portray American life, just as he is doing in this photograph. (Courtesy of Pinterest)
Commonplaces never become tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative.
The view of life I communicate in my pictures excludes the sordid and ugly. I paint life as I would like it to be.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was an American artist and illustrator. His works were published in magazines, advertisements, covers, calendars, and so much more. He accurately displayed the essence of American life.
One’s faith journey accepts encouragement from the grace found in God’s Word.
Do you write a daily journal? This inspiring thought comes from my journal, and much of what is written in my journal comes from reading and commenting on other bloggers’ posts. Thanks to many of you for adding so much to my journal.
If we trust in what the Scriptures reveal about God’s character and ways, we can endure affliction faithfully, whether or not He ever explains why.
From Job 23:9-11: “If I go forward, He is not there;or backward, I cannot perceive Him; on the left He hides, and I cannot behold Him;I turn to the right, but I cannot see Him. But He knows the way that I take;when He has tested me, I shall come out like gold.”
Charles Stanley (1932-2023) was an American pastor and Christian writer. He was dedicated to leading a teaching ministry.
Do you write a daily journal? This inspiring thought comes from my journal, and much of what is written in my journal comes from reading and commenting on other bloggers’ posts. Thanks to many of you for adding so much to my journal.
We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.
If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells (1866-1946) was a British novelist, journalist, and historian. Many of his published works share a futuristic view, and this has earned him the distinction of being the “father of science fiction.”
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