
He watches over us in the storm, and He can bring us out of the storm when His purposes have been fulfilled.
From Proverbs 16:9: “The human heart plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.”

He watches over us in the storm, and He can bring us out of the storm when His purposes have been fulfilled.
From Proverbs 16:9: “The human heart plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.”
From Isaiah 55:1: “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”

Seeking abundant life
Never arrives from man
All will thirst for much more
Accept God’s Holy plan
Our Lord’s invitation
Never hidden from us
Just step forward today
Follow God, always a plus
Tasting His bread of life
Never bitter to eat
Peace arrives with each day
Listen for its steady beat
Our Father’s always near
Never absent with love
Come, come worship the Lord
Read His Word, from above
Finding life’s one true joy
Never alone with Him
Invitation welcomed
Filling us to the brim

From Isaiah 55:12: “For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace.”

I find it wondrously strange how yesterdays can go too soon and tomorrows can come too early, yet moments can last forever.
If there’s even a slight chance of getting something that will make you happy, risk it. LIfe’s too short, and happiness is too rare.
Shall we judge others?
Who among you have not sinned?
Room quickly empties

Darkness covers life
Filling with harshness and pain—
Show love to others

Believers join God
Salvation belongs to Him—
Good over evil


If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it–then I can achieve it.
Inside of the ring or not, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.

The gymnasium thunders with cheers as the Bears steal a pass and score to lead by a single point.
The game clock counts down the final seconds. Whistle blows!
One of the Bears’ starters falls with an injury. A little-used sub enters the contest, appearing anxious to enter the big game.
To seal victory, the Bears only need to pass the ball inbounds. Beneath the opponent’s basket, stands a wide-open player—the sub!
He cleanly catches the pass, faces the basket, and shoots.
Score!
Oh my!
Game over!
The eager sub just scored the winning basket for the other team.
While this story is pure fiction, I have witnessed a couple players scoring at the wrong basket during my many years of coaching basketball and serving as an athletic director back in Montana. Even one of my brothers did it during a junior high game. Thankfully, none of these wrong basket scores decided a game.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.
We’re in very bad trouble if we don’t understand the planet we’re trying to save.
From Proverbs 30:5: “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”

Feeling weary and lost
How can any prevail?
Desolate road ahead
Actions will surely fail
Lost in darkness of life
Our Father lights the way
Filled with His righteousness
God’s road map saves our day
Our Lord’s Word speaking truth
Daily meditation
Bible’s meanings ring clear
Leading to salvation
Study God’s Holy Word
Share its hope and Good News
Trusting each promise
His commands, we must choose
Inhale, breathe it all in
Fed by the “Bread of Life”
Quenched by “Living Water”
Transforming daily life

From the words of American-born missionary and Christian theologian, E. Stanley Jones: “The Gospel is not so much a demand as it is an offer, an offer of new life to man by the grace of God.”

God will make obstacles serve His purpose.
From Matthew 8:23-27: “And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him up, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ And He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?'”

From a ridgetop garden
Nature’s treasure hides out
Offering its harvest
Flora lives all about
Flowers blooming early
Winter now disappears
Colorful bouquets reign
Sweetest fragrances cheer
Warming springtime sunshine
Changes the ground cover
New, tender shoots of grass
Young deer will discover

Trellis roof shelters grapes
Ripen in summer’s sun
Fill with juicy flavor
Birds enjoy tasty fun
Apple and black walnut trees
Shading nature’s grand shrine
Fruit dropping to the ground
Squirrels and deer will dine
Former home site lives on
Garden paradise waits
Coming alive each spring
Winking back at its mates

All of the photographs were taken during a couple of recent morning walk at Chestnut Ridge Metro Park, which is just minutes away from Canal Winchester, Ohio. The hilltop garden remains long after the house (built in the 1930s) was abandoned. I was blessed to spend several minutes photographing a very cooperative deer while I was quietly standing near a tree.