The day we had been waiting for had finally come! With the Kowalchuks as our experienced tour guides, we ventured down Rt. 11 into Banff National Park, took in the awesome mountain scenery along the Icefields Parkway, and explored Abraham Lake, Waterfowl Lake, and Bow Lake on our way to the shores of iconic Lake […]
What a blessing it was to be part of the VA FEW earlier this month! There are more pictures in this album and an excellent overview (with even more pictures!) in a recent post on the Wilkes’ website. We’re looking forward to the next and final conference of the year in New […]
Being in Korea on Memorial Day is a little different than being in the States. Though it is not a recognized holiday here, Donald and I took the opportunity to recognize with honor a special group of great men and women from the past during a recent fieldtrip to Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in Seoul. […]
I have fond memories from childhood of reading and re-reading a delightful little children’s book called Someone is Eating the Sun, which in it’s own humorous way described the scientific marvel of a solar eclipse. Now as of this morning, some 15 years later, I can officially say that I have experienced a real solar […]
At 6:30 this morning, we all quietly and quickly got out of bed and climbed up the hill to have our Wisdom Search during the sunrise. Because it was April 8 we read Psalm chapter 8 which turned out to be a very fitting passage for this day of remembrance for the resurrection of our […]
The Essence of Christmas A freezing, snowy night + an old, rickety piano + an ancient, homely building = a cozy, fantastic picture! This is what went running through my head as I passed through the deserted Staff Center meeting room at the IBLP Headquarters in Hinsdale, Illinois, that late, wintery night in mid-December 2009. […]
Morning Light One could hardly have asked for a more marvelous Christmas morning! It was probably the earliest I had ever awoke for a Christmas Day, but what did that matter? On vacation with the family in Sanibel Florida in 2009, we were blessed to follow whatever schedule we pleased. And being in-landers from West […]
Autumn Wandering I haven’t spent much time in West Virginia during the fall season over the past few years. This year, I was in California. The three preceding years I was in Chicago. Thus, the last time I had the opportunity to shoot fall colors in West Virginia was back in 2007. And I remember […]
First Morning Light It isn’t every morning that the sky is scattered with gold-lined clouds broken by colorful rays of warm sunlight. I was at the Northwoods Conference Center in the Ottawa National Forest for almost an entire week and this was the only sunrise of it’s rank in splendor. The hardest part of taking […]
Falls in the Forest Of all the pictures in the 2012 Calendar, this one is my favorite! I had been on the lookout for an image like this for years, and yet I didn’t even see it when I first stumbled upon it. It all started on May 22 of 2011 when I decided to […]