In about 1991 I stumbled on David Kline’s book Great Possessions in a bookstore in Berlin, Ohio. Kline is an Amish farmer and a skilled writer. Great Possessions is a simple collection of essays about things he observed on his farm in Holmes County, Ohio. At the time we were blessed to have a five-year […]
Guest Post: Gail Lancaster King
These are just a very few seconds long and are from last spring near the NWHS pond. A storm was moving in and I sat in the car observing the behavior of the Canada geese. There were several large families and, as the rain began and the wind picked up, they all got off the […]
Thoughts on an Early Autumn Evening
In the morning (as I write this) Lois and I will leave for Holmes County, Ohio to celebrate forty years of marriage. Sunday night we drove down to Camp Selah to give testimony four decade of the goodness faithfulness of God to us. Tonight I’m gathering my thoughts out on the east-facing porch enjoying the […]
Winter Mercies
The sacrament of a south-facing window. A half-moon high in the starry sky shining down though bare tree branches. A doe silent in the tree-line alternately eating and lifting her head to watch me. The breath of my prayers hanging silver on the night air. These are winter mercies… For which my heart is deeply […]
Winter Birds in Summer, Summer Birds in Winter
Our lives matter more than we think. We are more influential than we imagine. Even if we were to try to live isolated lives, our lives touch so many other lives in so many ways. Only looking back from the perspective of eternity will we see the full wonder of it, I think. In beautiful […]
Unhindered
He who believes in me out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38) Most trout-fishermen know this beautiful quote by Robert Traver from Trout Madness: “I fish because I love to. Because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds […]
All Ground is Holy Ground
The ancients would sometimes say that there are places on earth when the distance between heaven and earth is thin… They called them “Thin Places.” To a devout woman or man every place can be a “Thin Place.” What a difference it might make today if you treated …all ground is holy ground …every bush […]
Beautiful Places
A little over five years ago I met Woody Shoemaker. We were both pastors. Most recently he had pastored in the Flint Hills in rural Kansas. I had pastored in the lovely village of Fremont, Michigan. Our families both had relocated to downtown Flint, Michigan to take part in a ministry housed in a sixteen-story […]
Ugly Things in Beautiful Places
Red Jeep Journal
July 21, 2017
Do You Have a Quiet Place?
You need a place to be alone with the Lord. I learned this lesson when I was just a young boy… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikhPUQ7GjUs