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About bigskybuckeye

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.

Monday Memories: Walk With Me

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Walking in the quiet, pre-dawn darkness

Inviting someone to share its calmness

Appreciating the morning’s starkness

Jesus joins these moments of peacefulness

 

Sharing these special times, feeling so blessed

Listening to Savior Jesus, what joy!

Feeling renewed, with mercy invested

God’s Son gathers peace, ready to deploy

 

Witnessing this time, brings purpose to life

Forgiving light, leading this faithful walk

Sensing Christ’s harmony, removing all strife

His eternal love, conveying faithful talk

 

God shapes His flock as a skillful potter

Drawing closer to our Holy Father

 

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Benjamin Franklin Quote

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Genius is nothing more than a greater aptitude for patience.

From 1 Thessalonians 5:14:  “And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.”

From Death to Life

From Isaiah 64:6: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

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Coming into this harsh world

Born spiritually dead

Ruled by darkest deceptions

Sinful nature fills life’s thread

 

Do we deserve God’s goodness?

Facing our Holy Lord’s wrath

Separated by our sins

Satan lights a wayward path

 

Our lives resemble darkness

Righteous acts, thin and meager

Offering nothing of value

Father’s true love, remains eager

 

Calling upon the Lord’s name

Deliver us from our sins

God, the Potter, molding us

Transforming the clay, He wins

 

Once living under the flesh

Filled with darkest death and sin

By Holy Grace, saved through faith

Walking with Christ, life’s linchpin

 

Placing virgin faith in Christ

In spirit, alive through Him

Body and blood, Cross vanquished

Sins pardoned, new life in Him

 

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From Ephesians 2:4-6:  “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Charles Swindoll Quote

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What’s true of creatures in the forest is true of Christians in the family.  God has not made us all the same.  He never intended to.

From 1 Corinthians 12:27:  “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Satisfying Moments (Elfchen Series #38)

Caffeinated

Morning

Needing ambition

Starting day’s engines

Fueled for another shift

Coffee

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Sugar Explosion

Dreaming

Sweet treats

Glazed or sugared

Some filled with sweetness

Doughnuts

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Comfort

Music

Artists singing

Streaming endless tunes

Thoughts lost in melody

Peace

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This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.

Oswald Chambers Quote

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The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross at Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit.

From Romans 8:37-38:  “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Lights in the Night

In viewing our decorated Christmas tree, there are so many blessings to be found.  It is the inspiration behind this sonnet-styled poem.  The photographs found at the end of this post come from our tree, which is loaded with so many memories.

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Angel overlooks wondrous scene below

Twinkling, flickering shadows spanning night

Christmas magic knocking at life’s doorstep

Brightest lights illuminate with delight

 

Past memories radiate all around

Precious ornaments and shapes of all kinds

Warmest smiles, children and grandchildren

Cherished, family love reveals and shines

 

Teddy bears proclaiming a mother’s love

Filling with peace, singing with hope and joy

Lights in the night, reverent birth of Christ

Angels celebrate, God’s grace now deploys

 

Sharing love of a Savior, lights the way

Father’s everlasting gift comes this day

 

Horace Bushnell Quote

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The greatest and sublimest power is often simple patience.

From 1 Thessalonians 5:14:  “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

One Holy Night

From Luke 2:12-14: “‘This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!'”

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Each year turns life’s blessed page

One decade, then another

Hidden in the thickest woods

Wee church stands, like none other

 

Hymns singing praise with each day

Worship long into the night

Circled by God’s creation

Snowfall covers, always white

 

Each Christmas Eve remembers

Joy arrives with love, gift-wrapped

Bringing lasting peace and hope

God’s faithful love, now untapped

 

Sing “Silent night, Holy night”

Candles’ shadows dance inside

Receiving our promised Prince

God lives with us, this yuletide

 

Night reaches up, touching stars

Father looks down, filled with love

Salvation’s gift, from a babe

Hosannas ring, from above

 

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Italian opera singer, Andrea Bocelli, sings “Silent Night” in this a cappela version.

Franklin Graham Quote

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We often become mentally and spiritually barren because we’re so busy.

From Proverbs 21:5:  “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.”