Unknown's avatar

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.

Accept His Invitation

From Isaiah 55:1:  “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

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

A. R. Lucas Quotes

Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.com

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.

God’s Daily Notes (Haiku Series #88)

Cast the First Stone

Shall we judge others?

Who among you have not sinned?

Room quickly empties

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

Compassion

Darkness covers life

Filling with harshness and pain—

Show love to others

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Mighty God 

Believers join God

Salvation belongs to Him—

Good over evil

Photo by Rodolfo Clix on Pexels.com

Monday Memories: Final Shot

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

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.

Follow His Road Map

From Proverbs 30:5:  “Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel on Pexels.com

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 

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

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.”

Lettie B. Cowman Quote

Photo by Abby Chung on Pexels.com

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?'”

Ridgetop Treasure

From above the ground, a trellis provides a fertile place for grapes to grow.

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 

A young deer finds the tender grass to her liking.

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

Apples ripen in the warm summer sun.

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.