I saw 2 photographs yesterday- one of Laura's dad when he was 3 or 4 years old, and another of her mom and dad when they just started dating. We live in the present. God is not constrained by time. When he looks at you, he sees that little girl who loved to twirl, that little boy who dressed up like a cowboy. He sees you as you were learning to read and to write. He remembers every accomplishment-...  Read More

The complexity and beauty of the created world never ceases to amaze me. The Great Smoky Mountains were bursting with fall colors as we drove narrow, winding roads to Gatlinburg. We had the added pleasure of seeing a black bear and two wild turkeys on the drive. The 6 kids (ages 3-9) were mesmerized at a beautiful aquarium for more than 2 hours. Even at my age I saw a number of creatures I could n...  Read More

Our luggage came off the carousel one piece every 10 to 15 seconds. We stood for almost an hour and a half, and when we left probably 3/4 of the plane had not yet received theirs. Two very long phone calls during our layover held my rent a car reservation for 24 hours... they said. But that was not the case. Somehow the message never made it from Thrifty corporate offices to the desk in Atlanta. A...  Read More

Mmmm. Morning again. What did I say about travel? Sixteen to twenty hours one way? We're 28 hours and counting. If all goes well, about four more should do it. But- I shared Jesus with a server from Mexico, with a couple on their way to Kona for vacation., and with a man standing in line next to me. I shared my testimony and the gospel with a gold miner on his way home to Nevada, and got to know a...  Read More

Travel' means something different for those in Alaska. Airplanes are a necessity, but even then travel is often long, difficult  and expensive.  When you add weather delays and 'bad service' delays we often have 12 to 20 hours on a single one way trip. But... it's a lot faster than a ship or a horse or a covered wagon. I need to remind myself that travel is not simply about the destination, it's a...  Read More

Snow. It had to come sooner or later. I look out my window and see a covering of white. Everything is fresh and clean and beautiful. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Snow is a beautiful reminder that God forgives- that he's always willing to make us clean- to give us a fresh start, a new beginning. Come to him with your sins- be open and honest...  Read More

In Matthew 7:15 Jesus said, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." 2 Peter 2 warns us that there will be false teachers among us. There are Christians with whom I strongly disagree on points of doctrine yet I know they are brothers in Christ. Being a 'wrong' teacher is very different from being a 'false' teacher. To be a 'false ...  Read More

Jesus once said to the disciples, "I have food to eat that you know nothing of," and then, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." There was a 'food' that his disciples didn't understand- a filling that nourished the soul. Jesus was giving hope to a foreign woman who  was in the middle of a tragically disappointing life. Some things are not only more important than o...  Read More

Even though I had a cast on my leg, I had a 12 gauge and a 30.06 in my truck, with my bird dog 'Tucker' sitting on the front seat beside me. It was winter, the temperature was below zero, and there was at least 3 feet of a soft snow on the ground. I was driving the road looking for ptarmigan, grouse, fox or wolves north of Paxson, Alaska. I parked my truck at the base of a high ridge, looked up, a...  Read More

As a young man I was utterly directionless. I lived as though the world revolved around me. I was concerned with my immediate pleasure and honestly never even considered a future responsibility to earn a living or care for a family. When you live that way (as though everything is about you) it's impossible to move forward. You stand still- the world is spinning- and eventually you begin to sink. M...  Read More

I once read that Mark Twain said, "The boy who picks up a cat by the tail learns a lesson he can learn in no other way." As funny as the thought is, it would actually benefit us if all of life's lessons could be learned that quickly. That boy would go from mischief to an immediate and overwhelming FEAR along with PAIN and perhaps a few SCARS. From this moment forward, that boy will have a reverent...  Read More

We'd spent long, hard days with little sleep. Our feet and bodies were battered and sore. The hunt was over, but we still had a lot of work to do. Gear had to be cleaned and dried, the tents needed to be pitched so they could dry out before storing, and bloody backpacks needed to be disassembled and washed. Our sheep meat needed to be cut up, wrapped and put in the freezer. Rifles needed to be cle...  Read More