Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, March 31, 2025

I saw this little marsh wren singing its heart out as I walked by. After it finished singing, it grabbed some of the fluff from the cattail that it was perched on and flew across the path to where it was building a nest.

As I walked by I saw three nests and two of them looked like they were already completed. Apparently, the male builds multiple nests and the female will then decide which one she likes best to lay her eggs in. It is thought that the empty nests then become sort of decoys.

Now, the wren may not be singing for the same reason that we sing but I like this Bible verse about singing praises to God.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, March 30, 2025

Forecasters had been warning us for a couple of days of a strong storm moving in, with the potential for 58 mph winds and golf-ball (or larger) sized hail. We were counseled to move vehicles into their garages or, if our garages were full, to find a parking garage that would give protection.

We prayed that the Lord would weaken the storm, and I’m sure many others were asking Him for the same mercy. How thankful we were that the storm damage turned out to be minimal, although loud thunderclaps let us know the predicted storm had arrived on time and was passing through our area.

My photo was taken the next morning as we headed out on our post-breakfast walk, under a beautiful blue sky. This neighbors’ car, and several others, were the only reminders of the ominous forecast, of what could have been.

The other vehicles we saw were covered with large pieces of cardboard; this car won the prize for the neatest security blanket. It looked like the owners had taken great care preparing for the storm. Looking at the photo I thought, “Gotcha covered!”

The long line of English teachers in my past might not approve of the word “gotcha,” or even stoop to call it a word. But I happen to like it, at least when it’s used in a positive sense. It makes me feel like this car would feel if it had a sensitive soul – protected, cared for.

Perhaps it would ease those teachers’ minds if I eased up a bit and said, with a little less slang, “I’ve got you!” I see you, I understand, I’ll take care of this.

Several years ago I bought both mugs and T-shirts proclaiming, “God’s got this.” I gave some away as gifts to people I hoped would “get” the “got this” message.

I kept two mugs and two T-shirts for home use. I wore one of the shirts this past week, on a day when I was needing the reassurance that God was listening to my fervent prayers, was paying kind attention to me, was caring about the situation I was fretting about, and was up to something good. It helped.

But “gotcha” can also have a negative meaning: Caught you! You’re trapped! Now you’re doomed and done for!”

I think the devil plays this game of “gotcha” with all of us, hoping to brainwash us into thinking there’s no hope for us sinners who have in no way earned the right to live forever in heaven with Jesus.

He’s right about us not having earned that right, but he’s wrong, dead wrong, about how we get to heaven.

Hear the word of the Lord:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8 NKJV)

. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6a)

As we head out into this brand-new week, remember and rejoice: God’s got you!

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, March 29, 2025

Like my yesterday’s blog about the God-centered sign on the back of the work truck, this scene, which I saw earlier this week, was hugely heartwarming. I mean, consider this: Easter isn’t until Sunday, April 20, but this household had decided to advertise the  holiday’s main message an entire month in advance.

Want to get a preview of what the Bible says about this glorious truth? Click the link just below.
https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/resurrection

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, March 28, 2025

This past Monday at a traffic light I pulled up behind the truck you see in the photo. I’ve cropped out the company name below, as well as contact information, but it’s a truck that carries supplies to construction projects.

Whoever owns this business, or whoever gave permission to letter the back of this truck, obviously believes in God. And not only that, he or she insists that any work which is worth doing – including what this truck will assist in – is worth turning over to the Lord for His blessing.

This means that any construction site to which this truck backs up to unload its supplies, plus any nearby construction workers, plus anyone following it on the highway as I was, is able to read this message, posted by someone who lives in the real world, but who also claims to answer to the world beyond.

Makes you think, right? Me too. And what it also makes me is homesick for the God whose Son was a carpenter, and who has given many promises of assistance to those who make Him and His mission top priority.

Want to review, renew or enhance your connection to the Creator? A good place to start is to look at some of what the Bible itself says about Him. You can do this at the link just below:

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

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, March 27, 2025

In this image of an educational Snap Circuits kit, a small electronic circuit performs the simple function of shining a light bulb.

I think everyone knows that a light bulb can only light up when a complete circuit is formed from the battery, through a switch to the bulb, and finally back to the battery.

Electronics provide us with another interesting property related to current. If you pick any point on a wire on an electric circuit, the sum of currents going into the point and going out of the point all add up to zero. This even works when there are many wires going to the same point.

Oddly in real life, God doesn’t measure all the good things and the bad things a person does to make sure it comes out to zero, or hopefully positive. God looks at the heart. When a person repents and asks for forgiveness, God makes it so a person is totally forgiven.

Our lives can be so complicated we don’t know what is coming or going. But God makes it easy when we truly repent and walk humbly with him.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Over the past few weeks, we’ve experienced a variety of weather – snow, rain, sunshine, temperatures well below freezing – quite the diversity. Over the past 24 hours, it’s been just as interesting, with bouts of hail, lighting, and thunder, as well as torrential downpouring. In fact, the result of that small storm was downed trees and power losses in our local area.

If you have studied the accompanying image, you will see that this is not a pond or a small lake, but instead it is a spot in our backyard. The specific spot may be a tiny bit lower than any other of our yard, but not by much. For reference, this “water oasis” is about 4 feet by 3 feet, and at its lowest point, about 3 inches deep. I would call that an abundance of water. Keep in mind, this accumulated in less than 24 hours.

I certainly know this small puddle in my backyard is not a concern, especially compared to other parts of the world, with real weather concerns. In fact, I can look at this accumulation as a positive, a collection of water for the grass to grow better, or a spot for little birds to take a much-needed bath – it’s all about perspective. To take it one step further, I can reflect on how God gives us, exactly what we need, and in some cases – in abundance. The following verse mentions abundance was promised figuratively (and literally) to the chosen people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 28:12 (NIV):

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

What can we learn from this? For starters, we know God is all-powerful. Check. We know He is abundant in His giving – with all we need, including rain. Check. And, most importantly, we serve a loving God. Check. So, the next time I see a collection of water, I won’t be focusing on the water molecules, but instead focusing and reflecting on how good our God is. Amen.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Charles Dickens, writing in Great Expectations, perfectly described a day that fits this season. “It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” It’s an annual tug of war between winter and spring with each season doing their best to lengthen their domain. It’s also the month that pussy willows grace our area with the promise of warmer days to come. Late winter and early spring find a variety of willow species showing off their male catkins long before any sign of leaves appear on their bare branches.

Other times of the year these trees are generally known by their ordinary names, but most of us can’t withstand the temptation and call them pussy willows since the soft, gray texture of those catkins is reminiscent of tiny cats or kittens. Soon that gray will be replaced by a golden color of the millions of grains of pollen that will fertilize the small flowers on the female catkins. It’s so predictable you can set your clock by it.

As happened so often, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and demanded a sign, to which He replied: “You are good at reading the weather signs of the skies—red sky tonight means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day—but you can’t read the obvious signs of the times!” (Matthew 16:2-3 Living Bible) Hopefully we’re not so blind as they were, able to tell when spring is ready to arrive by the willows, but without a clue as to the spiritual indicators He offers us.