Always Be Ready

June 15, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 4 Comments

Photographing wildlife is all about three essential things: 1) being in the right place, 2) at the right time, 3) with a camera in hand. Any two components without the third = no picture. I must admit that the times when I’ve had all three work out at once have been rare. But they’ve been all the more exciting as a result—and these two photos are some of my favorite examples.

If you look closely at the first photo, you’ll see it’s really an action shot—that’s a pretty mama doe nursing her fawn, eyeing me warily even across the field. This was shot from my car window, on a day when I just randomly happened to have my camera in the seat right next to me.

And the second photo was a breathtaking close-up chance encounter in a wild raspberry bramble. I was out walking, camera in hand for a wildflower shoot, and came upon this little one’s mama suddenly, sending her leaping frightened off into the woods. This little guy was probably not more than a day old, still wobbly on his feet, but he followed the instructions she left to the letter: he dropped to the ground and didn’t move a muscle even when I stepped a little bit closer to take his portrait.

The lesson here is that one should always be ready for the unexpected.

As in, never leave the house without a camera.

Or in other vastly more important ways like this:

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44)

(For more information and instructions on how to be ready for Him, read the whole chapter and the following one as well!)

6:36 AM

June 12, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 1 Comment

This is only a tiny slice of the beauty of this morning.

No camera can capture the feel of cool morning dew on bare feet, or the warmth of the rising sun on my face as it burnt through the swirling mists on the lake.

You can’t know that sky high over my head was patterned with a magnificent rippling pattern of cirrocumulus clouds, all shining and white.

Perhaps a video recording might capture the liquid trilling flute of red-winged blackbirds, the trumpeting of many swans and the distant drumming of a grouse that blended in symphonic harmony all around me—but I doubt it would do it justice.

If you looked very closely, you might be able to tell that there is a miniature scene inside every single one of those water droplets, that, if magnified, would be a sparkling world of a thousand blades of grass strung with more pearls of dew with a million more worlds inside.

These pictures are a lovely glimpse of this moment in time, 6:36 AM—but there was so much more.

That’s kind of how it is with heaven. We read about streets of gold and robes of white and singing praises around the throne of God, but they are all only glimpses into wonders that we can’t even imagine. Lovely glimpses, yes—but there will be so much more. I can hardly wait!

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully…” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Wild Calla Lilies

June 9, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

I was never overly fond of calla lilies—until the summer we moved to our current home and I found them growing wild in the swamp down the road. They quickly became my favorite new flower. They are much more diminutive version of the cultivated versions, little white points of petals peeking out from amidst the brilliant green of arrow-shaped leaves, growing up all along the watery edges of still brackish pools. They bloom just as the lilacs are beginning to fade, so it’s become my tradition to walk down and pick a handful of these when it comes time to replace the wilting lilac bouquet on our table. There are so many of them in this spot, I call it the Calla Lily Pools—it’s so lovely!

“Why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all His glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28-29)

Silly Goose

June 8, 2015April 21, 2017 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

I came suddenly upon a family of Canada geese crossing our driveway the other day. Almost all of the goslings hurried off as fast as their little legs could take them into the field grass, following their mother who led the way to safety honking wildly in alarm. But this little fellow seemed to have an independent streak and I imagine he’s the child who has given his poor mother the most gray hairs—er, feathers.

Off he went foolishly running in the opposite direction from his family, right down the center of the driveway in front of me. I was fortunate enough to have my camera at the ready, and of course, since his legs were very short and he had hardly any wings to speak of, he was no match for me. I easily caught up with him and snapped a portrait of the wayward little guy before shooing him off to where his mother and siblings were calling for him at a safe distance away. Silly goose! Good thing I was just an appreciative human with a camera and not a hungry wolf, or that would have been the end of him.As I watched him go, I was reminded of this passage in Isaiah:

“All we…have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way…”

Good thing for us the verse doesn’t stop there, or that would have been the end of us, too!

“…and the Lord hath laid on Him [Christ] the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

We have foolishly wandered, but He has provided a way to safety anyway. How unworthily blessed we are!

Farewell to the Lilacs

June 5, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

The lilacs are turning brown around the edges and fading away, and all the yellow swallowtail butterflies that have been flitting happily about them for the last couple weeks have gone away, too. Bless the farmer or farmer’s wife who planted a small spindly seedling in our yard some 100 years ago! Did they ever envision how splendid it would become, this massive bank of lavender every spring that wafts its heady fragrance on the winds to our porch?

How grateful I am for their foresight! Those people are long dead and gone, but their vision of beauty continues to live on in our front yard for our benefit and enjoyment. As I savored the last remnants of perfume from my porch today, I was reminded of Someone else who envisioned and planned something beautiful long before I was born, stunningly, and very intentionally, with me in mind. Actually, as long ago as before the world began.

“God…hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Not only that, but there’s more to come:

“For…eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I am so grateful!

Pinecone at Sunset

June 1, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ Leave a comment

The newly forming cones on the red pine in our yard, beautifully highlighted by the evening sun.

“And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth…the tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth, and it was so.'” (Genesis 1:11)

The Gift of Violets

May 26, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 1 Comment

For years, it’s been my personal goal every spring to find every color of violet native to our area. (There are actually up to 17 species, but I limit my goal to the four colors—lavender, purple, yellow and white.) Some years, I have time to actually go search the woods for them, some years, I don’t—and this has been one of the latter. So you can imagine my delight when, over the last couple weeks, I stumbled—sometimes literally—across every single one without even trying!

I was the most excited, however, when I happened upon the sweet tiny white violets, which have always been the hardest for me to find. They are the smallest of the violet family, and the least showy—often their humble little faces are sweetly inclined toward the earth, hiding their purple-streaked hearts until you get down very low. They are so diminutive and unassuming, it’s easy to walk right past them, or even step on them without realizing it. But that makes them all the sweeter to me—and they’ve become my personal favorites.Aren’t they exquisite?

To me, the discovery of each of these little blossoms was a gift. A gift from a loving heavenly Father who knows the desires of my heart, even the small ones, and delights to give His children good things. I think He knew that all-four-colors-of violets were just what I needed to lift my spirits this spring. Whether He caused them to grow just where I would look, or guided my footsteps and eyes to just the right place at just the right time, I don’t know. But I do know that they caused me to smile and remember His lovingkindness as I knelt low to take their portraits.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17)

What gifts has He given you lately to remind you that He loves you?

Budding Tamaracks

May 21, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 1 Comment

I think I love watching the tamaracks bud out in the spring almost as much as the flowering crab trees. In the distance, across the swamps and bogs and all along the edges of moist places in the forest, they slowly turn the loveliest soft green, utterly transforming the barren watery landscapes they call home. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I found out the real treat is when you get a close-up look at those newly-budding lacy branches.

Close-ups like these always put me in quiet wonder at the Creator’s attention to detail. Certainly there is awe to be found in the magnificent distant views of the sweeping starry heavens or soaring mountain peaks, but God, the greatest Artist of all, is no impressionist. His masterpiece of creation stands up to the closest scrutiny.

“O Lord, our Lord! How excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9)

In Search Of: Morel Mushrooms

May 20, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ Beth ~ 2 Comments

Ask a fisherman around here where he pulled in the latest big catch he’s been bragging about, and he’ll quickly turn vague on you. “At an area lake,” he might reply, with a twinkle in his eye.

Ask the neighbor lady where she found the wild blueberries in that luscious pie that fetched $75 dollars at a local pie auction charity, and she’d reply with a smile, “Oh, just around, you know.”

Favorite fishing holes and wild berry patches can be pretty closely guarded secrets in our neck of the woods. But I don’t think I’ve ever encountered secret-ism as great as those of mushroom pickers. If someone really likes you they might offer a few tips on the kind of habitat to look for, but that’s about it. If you want to go hunting for wild mushrooms, it’s a commonly accepted fact that you’re mostly on your own.The thing is—they’re not exactly easy to find, even if you’re fortunate enough to happen upon the right spot. Check out the photo above, taken from a very short distance away. Now imagine standing up and stepping back several feet, add in a generous tangle of thick forest, brush, foliage and sticks, and you might begin to understand what I’m talking about. It takes patience and practice to learn how to spot them, and a lot of time spent crouching low, scanning the forest floor. They don’t grow in rows or clumps (the pair above is unusual) but pop up from the forest floor at complete random. Sometimes you’ll only find one, sometimes you’ll find a lot. You never know.

But—it’s so worth it.

Morels are a delicacy in the world of mushrooms, and not just because they’re elusive to harvest. They are also the most delicious mushrooms I’ve ever tasted. Granted, this statement is coming from a mushroom lover. But I’ve even known firmly avowed mushroom haters to go back for seconds of morels.

Recently we spent the good part of a rainy afternoon crawling around the woods with some fellow mushroom lovers and empty ice cream buckets—and came home with these beauties: bowl of morels mushrooms / rejoicing hills We rolled them in a simple breading of flour, salt and pepper, with just a hint of parsley and cayenne, and sauteed them in butter. The members of our mushroom picking expedition gathered around the platter with forks and you should’ve heard the exclamations of satisfaction as we savored the reward of our labors! They were gone in no time, and plans were already being made to go in search of more.Some things in life are worth every bit of time, energy—and, yes, even the scratched ankles, sore backs and wood ticks—required to secure them.

Kind of like the Kingdom of Heaven.

Of course, morel mushrooms don’t even hold a candle to the kingdom of heaven in terms of value. But as I scrambled over fallen trees, listened to the periodic triumphant cries of “Found one!” echoing from various parts of the woods, and scanned the forest floor with such intense scrutiny that my eyes hurt by the time the day was over, something occurred to me. What if I put this much time, energy, enthusiasm, and even sacrifice into seeking the kingdom of God? This man did:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

We’d do well to take a lesson from him. Maybe you wouldn’t consider wild mushrooms worth your time; if not, fill in the blank with anything you’d give a great deal to find or secure. The bottom line is, earthly treasure, of any sort, is temporal and fleeting; heavenly treasure is of infinite, eternal value.

Jesus said: “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom…Provide yourselves…with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34)

What kind of treasure are you seeking?

Rejoicing Forest

May 18, 2015May 16, 2017 ~ Beth ~ Leave a comment

“Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord. For He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” (Psalm 96:12-13)

We took a hike amongst these majestic 300+ year old trees recently, and I stood there and thought about what it might be like to hear this stately forest literally rejoice in anticipation of their Creator’s coming. Can you imagine? Kind of gave me goosebumps!

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