Sealed With Color

Sharing Ken Kniskern's photography and beautiful reminder that God teaches us through His creation.

(c) www.K2ProStudio.com

     "Sitting home on a warm fall day, contemplating the events of the past few months, and remembering some of the incredible things that God has done in and through the lives of our family this past year. We have been so busy with life, and as the fall and holiday season approaches, I am ready to slow down... to catch the beauty in the colorful display of God's artistry across the sky.

     Did you ever learn why the leaves change colors in the fall... well, technically they don't. I know, I know, the pictures I have posted the past few days prove me wrong, but lets look at what actually happens. During the spring and summer while the tree is busy producing food, the Chlorophyl in the leaves creates a bright green color that masks the colors already there. Once the days grow short, the tree begins to store food, and production stops and the chlorophyl is absorbed into the leaf revealing the beautiful colors that were already there. The glucose and waste left behind in the leaf provides additional vibrance and color to the display.

     Why the science lesson? In Genesis 9, God gives Noah a promise sealed with the colors of the rainbow after the flood had destroyed the earth. Interestingly enough the fall leaves mirror this promise... Life is not over, all is not lost... Spring will come once more, as it always has... If you are in a season of despair, this is God's promise that though the season is changing, He is still the artist behind each brush stroke of our lives.

     A closer look reveals something more - Something for ALL of us. Remember that while the tree is busy producing food, the colors cannot be seen... It is once the production stops that they are revealed. Perhaps this fall as we approach the holiday season, you are in a season of business... Production is in full swing, and your beauty is being masked by your business. 

     I pray that you will take some time to slow down, and allow others to see Christ in You - the beauty that has been there all along, simply masked by the business of life. Oh, and that left over food that adds to the beauty of the leaf... Perhaps you can share that Beauty (Christ) with someone around you, and help spread the color of God's promise across the forest of your existence!" 

     Happy Fall! KK

(c) www.K2ProStudio.com 

"And the bow shall be in the cloud; 

and I will look upon it, that I may 

remember the everlasting covenant 

between God and every living creature 

of all flesh that is upon the earth."

Genesis 9:16

(You can see more of Ken's work at www.K2ProStudio.com )

Dead Sea Rising Review

       Dead Sea Rising is an invitation to experience two worlds: The first, the Bermans', a modern-day Messianic Jewish family. The second, Terah's family in biblical Mesopotamia.

        Jerry Jenkins has his feet firmly planted in both worlds, and he intertwines the two with intrigue and danger that will make you willing, eager even, to travel with him through Dead Sea Rising.  If you enjoy serials, hang on. This one is going to be big!

       Hurry now to Barnes & Nobel or Amazon to get your copy before they're gone!

Launch Team Update on Dead Sea Rising by Jerry Jenkins

Reposting to bump this reminder to the top for anyone near Brentwood, TN this evening at 7PM.

Moving right along in the launch event for Dead Sea Rising. If you're in the Brentwood, TN area on November 9, 2018 this announcement is just for you:

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  Friday, November 9, 2018 at 7 PM – 8 PM

• pin	Barnes & Noble Cool Springs 1701 Mallory Lane, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027

Change

It was time to say “Goodbye.” The dream of building our own home in the country and sharing that experience with our two daughters had been realized. Our little girls had made the transition from life in the city to country living and survived the culture shock of trading next door neighbors for a patch of land far removed from everything familiar – far removed from just about everything, actually. 

They were now young women and had left their rural nest in pursuit of their own dreams. It was time for my husband and myself to vacate that same nest and return to the city to begin a new chapter in our own lives.

What an adventure that 20 years had been. We would officially move into our almost-finished rock and rough cedar ranch house in 1980 during the hottest summer on record in our state. Anything that stayed in place for more than 20 seconds either dried up or was devoured by grasshoppers numbered by Biblical standards. By mid-July we were walking on crispy grass that would remain brown until the following spring.

After the initial excitement of building and moving into our new home had worn off, I was left with the reality that I was literally living in the middle of nowhere with all manner of creepy crawlies that were certainly much smaller and less lethal than the ones that existed in my imagination. A reality that meant many hours of alone time and facing many small emergencies that inevitably came when my knight/cowboy could not be there to resolve them.

My husband would travel the 60 miles to the city to work, adding a two-hour round-trip commute to an already long work day. This city girl would survive by staying active in our new church and investing in the girls’ world of basketball and cheer leading in their rural school and even more church activities.

We would experience sudden downpours of rain that would wash out the low-water crossing on the only trail from the county road to our front door. The expression, “Lord willin’ and the creeks don’t rise” was a statement of fact for us on more than one occasion. One of the heaviest snow and ice storms on record would mean four days of intermittent power outages and lots of family togetherness until the snow stopped long enough for my husband to clear a path with our tractor. I was actually a little disappointed when the school buses were able to reclaim miles and miles of dirt and gravel roads and my husband would reclaim his lane on the highway to his two jobs.

I miss the simpler pleasures of that time: A roaring fire in the over-sized fireplace and the wonderful smell that only charred firewood can offer. Along that same vein, I miss the beginning of fall and spending long afternoons raking leaves and twigs from around the pond into huge piles that would also fill the air with aromatic cinders and smoke. Our front door faced the west, and the sunsets seemed to be an inscribed love letter from God to our small family. Rainbows would come and go as they hovered just above the tree line that encircled our remote piece of the rock.

Most importantly, that time in the country was marked by a dependency on God that would not have happened at any other time or under any other circumstance I’ve experienced. The isolation within the walls of that remote haven meant my spending many more hours with Him than a busier lifestyle could have accommodated. Our stay there meant my faith became more of a commitment than a convenience.

When the time came for the new owners to begin living their dream on our farm, my final walk over the cleared front half of the 80 acres was as serene as any place on earth. A new-fallen snow blanketed the thirty-five acres of pasture surrounding our home and glistened peacefully among tree branches heavy with the moist powder. I was careful to photograph and video ahead of each step to keep from spoiling the untouched serenity. It was a still and quiet “Goodbye” that I never wanted to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NASB) says, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” Whatever our future may bring, living in rural America was that defining season that will forever remain deeply etched into my heart and mind. 

Dead Sea Rising by Jerry Jenkins

Dead Sea Rising by Jerry Jenkins is the first book in what will become another successful series by this acclaimed author. I had the privilege of being allowed to read an Advanced Released Copy.

You won't want to miss this one! Click on Dead Sea Rising in the menu bar at the top of the page for a free download of the first ten chapters. www.deadsearising.com