Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, February 12, 2026

It has been fun to go outside this week when it is sunny to listen to bird songs. In winter, the local birds have a lot of cold rainy weather to endure. So when the weather turns nice, they seem to really cut loose with their songs.

Juncos in particular seem to be regulars around here along with Robins. I always marvel at how friendly the Juncos are. They seem to get along with other small birds, and they frequent this bird feeder with a built-in web cam.  The image is fuzzy due to the sun’s rays, but I think it gives the feel of the Junco’s boldness.

That may be a Junco’s superpower. It enters new situations looking for food and cautiously checks things out including people, as long as the people move slowly and show respect for them. So they might have a bit of an advantage for surviving.

This reminds me of the following verses.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5

It seems like ultimately when we love, it makes a lot of things work smoothly that otherwise would fall apart. So maybe we can make love our superpower.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, February 11, 2026

You’ve probably heard the phrase “head in the clouds.” It’s usually used to describe someone who’s unrealistic or a bit disconnected from what’s happening around them.

But in this photo, you can clearly see Mt. Baker—along with smaller surrounding peaks such as Colfax Peak—rising just above the blanket of clouds. I captured the image from a commercial flight, and the view was nothing short of breathtaking.

Unlike “head in the clouds,” the phrase “above the clouds” carries a far more uplifting meaning. It reflects a state of being where the everyday worries of life feel distant, replaced by clarity, peace, and positivity. What a beautiful place to be—above the clouds.

So how do we get there, and stay there? The answer is simple: God’s love.

Psalm 108:4

For great is your love, higher than the heavens,
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Whether you’re soaring thousands of feet in the air or standing firmly on the ground looking up toward the sky, remember that God’s love stretches far beyond what we can comprehend. It lifts us, centers us, and helps us focus on the goodness we have been given.

Thank you, God, for all You do.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Monday, February 9, 2026

The pages of Scripture have a good deal to say about the unexpected.  This includes both warnings against the dangers of failing to be prepared, and, the joy of unanticipated discovery.  Christ’s parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25) comes to mind as a powerful example of the negative sort as do the words of Solomon found in Ecclesiastes 9:12:  “Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net or birds are taken in a snare so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. (NIV)

Birds provided another reminder of the unexpected, this time from a personal meeting.  We think of the tropics as filled with color, of brightly plumaged parrots dangling from the branches amid flowers of vivid hues.  And that stereotype can certainly be true, but what I didn’t expect was the degree of color added by a North American migrant.  I knew Baltimore Orioles wintered in the area, but what I didn’t expect was their number and to see them in full breeding plumage providing some of the most vibrant colors we encountered.  I also didn’t expect them to be so color selective in terms of the food they eat.  They are drawn to the ripest fruits and will ignore yellow cherries, even if they are ripe, and pass on green grapes, like Thompson Seedless, because they don’t display deep, rich color.

Fortunately for us there is also unexpected good news offered to us as well.  And not surprisingly, that good news centers on the person of Christ.  It’s unexpected, not because we can’t picture Him as the bearer of good news, but because it’s so good, it’s beyond our wildest dreams.  Look how Paul describes this:  “Now to him who by his power within us is able to do far more than we ever dare to ask or imagine—to him be glory in the Church through Jesus Christ for ever and ever, amen!” (Ephesians 3:20 J.B Phillips New Testament)  So, if I understand this passage correctly, we are left with the most pleasant of paradoxes, that we should look forward with great expectations to being wonderfully surprised.

Photo ©2010 and Commentary ©2026 by Chuck Davis
Monday, February 9, 2026

Near the end of August 2010, this tiny chipmunk arrested me. The trail to Gem Lake follows high above the waters of Snow Lake and this small creature, without fear, posed on a rock long enough for me to capture this image. As a volunteer backcountry wilderness ranger for the US Forest Service, I have had encounters with many of God’s creatures. Most of them scurry or gallop away. So, I was glad that this chipmunk joined my library of wilderness photography.

How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number — living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things (Psalm 104:24-28 NIV).

When we see one of God’s creatures, it may be tempting to provide them with a small snack from our lunch. This Chipmunk displayed the classic signs of frequent interactions with humans. In those moments of temptation, I encourage you to remember the above passage from the Psalms. Just as the animals look to the Creator to give them their food. We too will be satisfied when we turn toward our Creator and Redeemer in times of hunger.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, February 8, 2026

Every year when I turn the calendar page to this month, I think of the last lines of a poem that’s a friend of mine, and grin. The poem is simply entitled, “February.”¹ In eight brief lines N. M. Bodecker describes the cold, dark days of the shortest month of the year. He concludes:

how nice to know
that February
is something purely
temporary.

When I was scrolling through my February 2025 photos I was surprised to find several snow shots of our front yard and neighborhood – how quickly I forgot! So far, this year has been much milder for us in western Washington, but we know that much of the country has struggled and suffered with snow and ice and frigid cold. These folk might gain a bit of encouragement to remember that, despite appearances, February “is something purely temporary.”

I suddenly thought back to my junior high days when I had to pay painful visits to our family dentist to have my braces tightened. I dreaded those visits, and remember sitting in the chair, mouth open and nerves on edge, muttering to myself, “This, too, shall pass.” I don’t recall where I first heard that sentence, but it seemed custom-designed to get me through my dental visits.

After over three years of this teeth torture, my braces were removed, and as time rolled along we discovered, much to my parents’ and my own distress, that the teeth-straightening results of all those months turned out to be . . . purely temporary. My teeth reverted to their misalignment.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “temporary” as “lasting for a limited time.” That can be a good or bad thing. Good if it describes something bad, and bad if it describes something good!

One thing I know for sure: I don’t want my life to be temporary, lasting for a limited time. I see myself as living forever. I think I have God to thank for that:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts . . . ” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a NKJV)

I know it’s in my heart; I want to live forever! No wonder John 3:16 is the best-known and perhaps best-loved verse in the Bible, with its promise that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Everlasting life . . . eternity.

Have you heard the story of Arthur Stace? You would not have predicted his future if you had known his childhood.  He grew up in very rough circumstances—his parents and sisters were alcoholics and involved in unsavory and criminal activities.  He followed down those same paths, and by age 12 became a ward of the state, having had no formal schooling.  He was jailed for the first time at age 15.  He enlisted in World War I at the age of 26, and returned home partially blind in one eye.

He became a Christian in 1930, when he attended a preaching service in order to get the tea and food offered after.  His life turned around completely after that, and he would preach on street corners for over 20 years.

But two years after his conversion he heard an evangelist speak passionately about eternity, saying:  “Eternity, Eternity, I wish I could sound or shout Eternity through the streets of Sydney . . .”

That word kept ringing through Arthur Stace’s head after he left the meeting, and he said he felt a powerful call from the Lord to write Eternity.

Even though he could scarcely write his own name legibly, when he wrote the word Eternity in chalk on the sidewalk, it came out smoothly, in a beautiful copperplate script.

He wrote that word several mornings a week for the next 35 years, leaving home early in the morning to do it, since he wanted to avoid notice — which he did for 24 of those years.  Even after he was finally discovered he continued his one-word ministry, still getting up early to write that word all over Sydney, wanting people to contemplate their future when they saw it, and turn to the Lord.

For more on Arthur Stace’s amazing ministry and legacy, and to see a photo of his handwritten Eternity, search for Mr. Eternity in your browser and marvel at how he faithfully answered the call he sensed from His Lord.

As we step out into this brand-new week, I invite you to read these verses every morning with me, and perhaps learn them by heart:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV)

¹ February by N. M. Bodecker – Your Daily Poem

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, February 7, 2026

On a neighborhood walk a couple of weeks ago I angled off on a slightly different route, and noticed for the first time this amazing little tree. Notice how it starts out as an upright trunk, but then its branches suddenly shoot out in all directions, making you wonder whether there’s something wrong. Will this tree survive?

Well, if you’ll take a moment to follow the course of each branch, you see that eventually they veer back toward the center, and the taller and more mature branches have started growing shoots which (in spring and summer) will produce leaves and maybe flowers.

To me, this tree is a parable of how God works with willing human beings. Haven’t you ever had a time (or times) in your life where everything seemed to go off the rails for you? And haven’t you seen the Lord patiently and lovingly urging you to return to Him, so you can grow to your fullest potential?

Click the link below for several Bible verses about encouragement. And yes, they’ll encourage you – that you might be able to encourage someone else with them!

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/encouragement

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, February 6, 2026

A few days back my wife Shelley told me that she’d been examining greeting cards in a store, not finding any which suited her purpose at the moment. A nearby woman, who was feeling the same frustration, finally said, “I’m going over to Ace. They have a good supply.”

Shelley, and later I, were startled to learn that our local hardware store stocked this kind of item. And this Thursday, when I told her that I was going over to Ace Hardware to buy some replacement furnace filters, she asked if I could take a photo of the greeting card display.

This is what you see, above. Actually, for Shelley’s greater convenience, I snapped this photo and then swiveled the racks and took another one, and sent them both to her.

I’ll confess that I did a bit of eyebrow-raising during that store visit. I have never once entered a hardware store with Valentine’s Day on my mind. I’m there solely for furnace filters (and in Thursday’s case a roll of electrician’s tape), or duplicate house keys or that kind of thing. These display “spinners” are located right next to the paint section (notice the “Benj” of “Benjamin Moore” peeking out from behind the sale poster?).

Home repair is often why I go to Ace. But a focus group somewhere decided that what might minister to heart repair might dislodge a few additional shekels from the male pocketbook. Or from purses of the females, once word spreads about the colorful spinners.

And of course the Designer of human hearts is supremely interested in both heart and home repair. Want to read seven Bible verses about this? Click the link below.

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/marriage-and-family