Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Thinking back to when you were in grade school, and it was time to pick teams for whatever game was about to be played. Did you ever worry about getting picked last? Or a birthday celebration was coming up for one of your classmates, were you going to be invited? The feeling of being left out, or almost forgotten, can be a real concern for some. Depending on the situation, it can be devastating to anyone.

God calls us His children, and we are all a part of the family of God. All? No waiting for an invitation or nervously listening for our name to be called? No – we have already been invited. We are automatically a part of His family.

Take a look at the image. What do you see? Well, most will see a sweet dog, staring up at his master. What’s really going on is, this good boy is asking permission to be “included” on the couch. His head resting on the footrest, longing to be part of the gathering just a few inches away.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

To be in the family of God means to be accepted for who we are: loved, cherished, celebrated, and fully forgiven. We HAVE been invited. We ARE part of the Family. We HAVE been chosen. Praise God for this!

In case anyone is wondering, yes, the fur baby was allowed to join the others on the couch. He, too, was invited.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Blame it on freedom of religion, blame it on tolerance, or blame it on apathy; whatever the reason, I find it almost impossible to imagine a sign such as this showing up on the reader board of an American airline. We were just getting ready for takeoff on an international flight aboard a plane from Qatar when the sign appeared on the screen. We, of course, recognized Qatar as a strongly Islamic nation whose many followers customarily bow toward Mecca as they offer their prayers. Out of concern for the safely of the other passengers, the airline encouraged the devout believers to remain seated. I suppose one could hypocritically belittle them for this compromise with modernity, but that’s not the weakness I’d like to focus upon. Instead, let’s consider our own personal and collective shortcomings.

It would be easy to excuse ourselves by suggesting bowing with our face to the ground is a cultural ritual, something most Westerners haven’t adopted. Perhaps that’s true, but I suspect it goes deeper than that. What if one of our own national airlines, out of concern for the safety of its passengers, elected to flash a sign reading: FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL PASSENGERS, PLEASE PRAY BEFORE TAKEOFF? My guess is the FAA would immediately be contacted over fear the plane hadn’t successfully passed its required two day checkup.

I suppose a few atheists might take personal offense, but that wouldn’t be the cause for concern from most of the passengers. Our freedom of religion should be valued, for if it isn’t freely given, then it can’t be genuine. Still, we shouldn’t let our passiveness become so diluted that it degenerates into apathy. I want that plane I’m on to pass every inspection detail imaginable. I want the pilot and the rest of the crew to be at the top of their game. But even more, wouldn’t it be great if all those on board wanted the hands of the One who created each one of them to have His hands wrapped around them?

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, September 30, 2024

I saw this pile of strange and wonderful pumpkins and squash just outside my local grocery store today (Sept 29,2024). There was such a variety to choose from!

Fall is definitely here. The temperatures are dropping, the sun is setting earlier and people are harvesting produce from their gardens and orchards. September is turning into October this week! Where has the time gone? The man I talked to at a local farmer’s market this morning thought that he might have tomatoes for a couple more weeks, which is when the farmer’s market closes for the year.

I thought that these Bible verses about planting and harvesting, which describe going forward after the biblical flood, when Noah and his family had left the ark and the land had started to dry up, to be very interesting since they still apply today.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things. As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

Genesis 8:20-22 (NLT)

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, September 29, 2024

I laughed, and then I took this photo. I was delighted by this miniature set of gardening tools, splayed out on the ground next to a big seashell. I’m not sure of the shell’s significance, and I’m not sure who the small gardener is.

What I do know is that I first saw these gardening tools a week ago, on our daily walk traversing neighborhood sidewalks and trail. It was officially the first day of fall.

And that, I think, is what made me laugh. It wasn’t just the small size of the tools, but how it looked as if the young gardener had immediately said, “Season’s over! That’s it! I’m done!”

I’ve heard of “throwing in the towel” as a phrase for acknowledging defeat, but this “throwing in the trowel” seems to signal a sigh of relief.

A “real” gardener might say, “Not so fast! It may be fall, but there’s still work to be done!” It’s time to cut back plants as they start to fade, divide and relocate any crowded perennials, plant bulbs like daffodils and tulips for spring bloom, protect fragile plants from frost, harvest and preserve veggies, take a good look at the garden and dream and plan on improvements for next year. Perhaps then you can throw down your tools!

However, some gardeners, perhaps those with two green thumbs and eight green fingers (and an encouraging climate), like to maintain a multi-season garden that brings them and others happiness 365 days a year, regardless of the season. They dream and scheme and research and find ways to make it happen.

I’m an enthusiastic gardener with little to show for it. I consider myself a beginner with more dreams than results. My annual cry, along with Seattle Mariner baseball fans, is, “Wait till next year!” (Sigh.)

Much of my enjoyment when I’m working in our garden comes from memories of childhood, working side by side with my father, who was the gardener in our family.

He earned his paycheck as a policeman, but gardening was one of his hobbies. I loved going to the greenhouse with him in the spring. If I pause and mentally sniff the air, I can immediately transport myself back to the fragrance of warm, moist air and dirt and growing things. It smelled like hope, and anticipation. I picture all the pansies we would buy, plus bleeding heart plants especially for my mother.

Here are the other flowers I remember, tended tenderly by my father: rows of tall tiger lilies, golden globe plants on either side of our front gate, violets, snapdragons, a Sitka rose bush, bachelor buttons, a trellis he built for our climbing nasturtiums, lilies-of-the-valley beside our front steps, fireweed, iris, chocolate lilies, columbine, shooting stars, two lilac bushes, and the Alaska state flower, forget-me-nots. I’m probably forgetting a bloom or two, but my memory’s eye has moved back and forth over my childhood home’s flower beds, enjoying the view.

When I’m working in my garden I think not only of my father, but also my Father. Early in His Book we read about the garden home He created for our earth’s first couple to enjoy. Many pages and hundreds of years later we come to another garden, Gethsemane. And tortuous hours later, our lifeless Lord is buried in a garden tomb.

But it was from that garden that our Saviour strode forth, as Victor, not victim. It was here that the angel (perhaps with the widest of smiles) told the astonished women, “ . . . I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, he has risen, just as he said.” (Matthew 28:5-6a NIV)

Stories of gardens and growing things – and things that don’t grow so well — abound in the Bible. I’m thinking of the man sowing seeds that landed on four kinds of soil; and the tiny yet ultimately mighty mustard seed; and the enemy sowing weeds at night in a man’s wheat field, with the owner telling his servants to let them grow together until the harvest, lest any earlier intervention rip out wheat along with the weeds.

And John 15, where Jesus tells us He and we are what’s green and growing:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener . . . . I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1, 5 NIV)

There are so many other Bible passages that come to mind. Maybe, as I tuck away my gardening tools next month, I’ll pick up a pen and notebook in their place, and jot down all the gardening/agricultural type passages and what they’re saying to me. This winter I can be the good soil that receives the seed of God’s Word, and let Him nourish growth in me.

As we step into this brand-new week, and a brand-new season, may the assurance of our Gardener’s tender care warm your days and encourage your heart.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Friday and Sabbath, September 27 and 28, 2024

A week ago, driving home at rush hour from the library, I paused beside this car and noticed, hanging from its rear-view mirror, a photo of a smiling baby. After I snapped this shot, I pulled a little ahead and saw that the car’s driver was a young woman with a pleasant expression on her face.

I have no clue whether the real baby behind this photo belonged to the woman, or whether she’d hung the photo there in the fond hopes of one day becoming a mom, but one thing was clear: she wanted that little face always on view, because it lifted her heart and gave her joy.

And if you’ve read much in the Bible, you’ve realized that – even though He faces a lot more parental complexity than this woman ever will – God is first and foremost a heavenly Dad. Imagine Him gazing on your face with absolutely blissful joy. Can you believe it?

When Jesus spoke about God, He didn’t call Him “Sovereign Lord” or “Almighty” or even “God.” Almost 100% of the time He called Him “Father.” And that parental heart-throb can be felt all through Scripture, such as in these verses, written by a close friend of the Savior:

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1 – 3 NKJV)

For more Bible verses about God’s love for kids of all ages, click the link just below:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/gods-children

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, September 26, 2024

The symmetry in these bananas got me to thinking about how much we rely on balance in our lives. Too much of something might not be good, and not enough can also be bad.

Scientists like to talk about symmetry, and I often do not understand what they are saying. However, I understand that our atoms rely on a certain balance that makes things work.

In our spiritual lives, it may seem like we can get along fine without God by living by some basic principles. However, in day-to-day living, principles become diluted, and balance gets lost. Having a relationship with God provides a grounding that doesn’t waver. When we regularly look at the teachings of Jesus it keeps bringing symmetry or balance to our outlook.

This last week, I read to my granddaughter from a children’s Bible story book. The basic stories about Jesus seem to resonate with reason and love.

If you have a chance to read a little about Jesus to gain a little symmetry, I thought the following chapter was interesting: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206&version=NIV

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, September 25, 2024

At work we have a saying: “Welcome surprises.” The sentiment behind the saying is to be OK with change and to expect the unexpected. It’s a good attitude to have when we see challenges along the way. It’s also a good reminder — WE aren’t the ones that will get us out of situations. No, for that we have a heavenly Father watching out for us. Not only is He our protector, but He also wants us to be joyful, and He provides things that allow us to smile. Here’s a great example.

About 3 months ago, we lost a dear friend to cancer. At her service, her husband had packages of seeds for people to take home. Each package didn’t describe what type of seeds it contained, and when we asked the husband, he laughed and said, “No clue, but she wanted them for people to take.” So, we took them, and we planted them. The first image you can see some shoots sprouting up with green foliage (for reference, the stalks were 8 inches in height). In the second image, the height changed a bit – more like two feet high now, but no flowers or signs of what these seeds were from (maybe some of you know already).

As you can see in the third image, we spot the start of a bud in the middle and the height is now in the 3 foor range (and growing). No need for a drumroll, as you can clearly see in the last image – it’s a sunflower starting to open. Some of the individual flowers are well over six feet tall! From tiny little mystery seeds to 75-inch gorgeous flowers. Talk about a surprise!

This example not only reminded me of God’s love for us, but also its about His plan. Clearly we didn’t want to lose our friend to a horrible disease, but we know life on this Earth is not the ultimate plan. Just like the little plants, we didn’t have any clue what they were, God knew exactly what they were. I’m certainly not saying every challenge or surprise we come into will be something we want, but I am telling you that God will help us get through it and He will provide the joy we need, at the right time.

Our friend that passed away, any guesses on what her favorite flower was? Correct – sunflowers. As they started to bloom, it certainly brought a smile to our faces. Thank you God!