God works in mysterious ways, does He not? And what He showed me early that morning wasn’t pretty.

The great chicken adventure is well under way and I’ve come to the conclusion that raising chickens isn’t a lot different than raising children for the following reasons:  

This morning I'm finding myself very scattered. It is a characteristic of my personality to be somewhat scatter-brained at times. I have other much more commendable qualities. But this is one characteristic that I'm not proud of and that I get very frustrated with.  

I wanted to make a fun, witty update this morning. I tried several times, as a matter of fact. I wanted to be positive and upbeat, but the best I can do today is transparent and raw. 

As adults, we too easily lose the joy of our pursuits. We lose our sense of adventure.

If Jesus took over your heart for 24 hours, walked in your shoes....how different would your life look?

When we're born again, the Holy Spirit comes into us and changes us. We become a new creature. Yet the old nature is still there. 

The early settlers of south-central Missouri have fascinating stories to tell.

If we look at ourselves as the clay and God as the one who is at work to form something beautiful, we have to realize at first he has to do a work in us that often seems brutal.

This is the story of Jane Gould Tortillott who traveled West on a wagon train in 1862. 

News Flash! Satan hates God. Satan hates everything that God loves. 

There's nothing like a long camping trip or a missions trip to a third world country to make us keenly aware of the comforts we enjoy on a daily basis. 

Face it! Our culture is a mess! 

Several years ago I was awakened at 1 am by my college-aged son. He burst into my room and begged me to please come to the living room to pray with Travis, another college-aged young man who had just "found God ". 

Our scars can overwhelm us and set us down a self-destructive path... Or they can draw us closer to God. 

Our world is in pain. Our world has always been in pain. You don't have to look very far to find someone who is hurting.

Belly down, feet up in the Florida sunshine. Being VERY still...Soon enough it HAPPENED!

Let's learn how to simply be with Him.

Our country seems in turmoil, and as someone who spends most of my time outside photographing the wild things, I sometimes ask myself what I bring to the table in terms of anything that really MATTERS.