Well, Hello to you all.

Tonight I am sad writing this.

Today I lost a dear friend and companion of 28 years. My Lil' Buddy, "Treasure" has passed away. I don't know what to say really except that I am so very thankful to God for the time He allowed me to have him in my life. I am also thankful for my wife who loved him dearly and took him in like her own.
Treasure was a spark of joy all the time. He was always so happy to see me and Jen  come in the door from work or a trip, bobbing his head up and down, chirping, and dancing side to side on his perch. He was just the best for therapy, always making me laugh with his getting into everything and wanting to climb all over me. It was so good to have him during many tough times in my life.
I got Treasure from a little pet store in Virginia Beach, VA when I was 16 years old. I'm 44 now. It will be a big adjustment not having him around and hearing him whistle and cracking seeds open with his beak. I know and trust that God will ease the pain of this loss using time as His tool.
A short while ago tonight my nearly 2 year old son was looking at Treasures cage and then looking back at me as if he were asking me where Treasure was. That was tough. Well, I just wanted to share some thoughts and pictures of him from over the years.
God is good all the time and we should be thankful always with Him sharing His creations with us. Treasure was certainly a part of His creation I won't forget.

We had us a good run.

Good night and God bless.

Kevin-

Remember when you were a kid and you had all those dreams of things you wanted to become and later on things you thought you’d become. Then as you got older and God directed your path, you started noticing that there were things you thought that you’d never become because it might not be Gods plan and will for you. I grew up admiring my dad. I used to watch him in the garage fix and build things. Sometimes when I’m lucky, I still get to do just that when we visit my mom and dad in Eastern North Carolina.
I love watching my dad create things with wood. I love watching him figure things out and come up with solutions, answers, and fixes for things that seem to be unfixable.

Dad was not only good at fixing and building things, but he was and still is a comforter with his words. In my entire life there has never been a time that I couldn’t talk to him and not feel better, calmed down, and/or reassured. From the time I was very little, Dad always had answers to my questions about God and the Bible. If he didn’t immediately know then he would say “let’s find out” and he would get his Bible and his Strong’s Concordance, and we would sit down together until we found what we needed to know.

Dad always made time to take me fishing. He taught me boathandling and how to navigate from the earliest time that I believe I could understand it. He showed me how to read the waves, tides, and currents. He gave me a love for the outdoors and instilled in me that it is all created by God. He taught me how to dive and spear fish. He taught me about my southern heritage and to always be kind to folks. “The Lord created everyone” he would say, “and you don’t know who will be touched by you for Him”. He used to say “A big mouth never made a big man” and he would explain that our speech needs to give glory to God.

So going back to the beginning, one thing that I began to think a few years ago was that I would never become a dad myself. Nearly two years ago God changed that. Actually, at the moment I'm a Da-da. I will never be the man that my dad is. I will never come close. But I will continually strive to be like him because he continually shows me Christ through himself and his love for family.
Dad is "Granddad" now. He loves all of his grandchildren (my son and my sister's children) in a way that I can't describe. My hope is that I'll be able to pass on much of what Dad taught and teaches me to my own son. I hope that I will always have time to take my son fishing like Dad did for me. He is a blessing that I will always be thankful to my Father in Heaven for.

Love you Dad!

Hello all!

One day back a couple of months ago, I was hiking a small section of the Appalachian Trail along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I remember it being a cold and very windy day.  Somewhere along the way I came across a local resident of the four footed kind. A smelly little fellow aka... a skunk! I could smell him long before I got to him so I know someone or something before me didn't fair to good. When I saw him I snapped a few pictures (at a very safe distance) using my 100-400mm wildlife lens. Then I walked WAY around him giving him the path and plenty of room. Skunks are a beautiful animal on the outside, but boy do they stink on the inside!
Here recently I've thought about how sometimes my attitude can really stink about certain things. Every day (especially after waking up in the morning) I examine myself to see if I'm pleasing the Lord with my life and attitude. Many times I honestly have to tell myself no and work on  getting back on track. I know that selfishness is the culprit more times than not, and I ask God to help me battle it daily.
The devil whispers in our ears constantly that we deserve this or that, and that we need to get ours. And if we don't keep a check on our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to protect us, we can find our attitude beginning to stink real quick. When our attitude stinks, we find people walking WAY around us just like I did with that skunk.  I want people to see Christ in me and not feel like they have to keep their distance from me.

Be a blessing, not a stinker.

Isn't it neat to see all the lessons that we can learn about life just by observing and enjoying God's creation. The weather finally seems to be warming up so go outside and enjoy the things that the Lord has made, even if it's just in your own backyard!

In Christ,

Kevin-

Hello All!

Not very long ago my wife brought up the subject of sun dogs. "What are they, what causes them, and what do they mean?" she asked. I answered her questions as best as I knew how,  that they were light reflecting from the sun off of ice crystals in the sky, and that they are often early indicators of bad weather to come. Then she asked me another question, "why does it seem like we are seeing them all the time?" I chuckled and told her that there was a lot of bad weather coming.
Unfortunately I was right. Where we live has experienced snow, freezing rain, and back and forth warm and cold temperatures causing (it would seem) the animals and plants to be quite confused ( I saw a Black Bear and cub in mid February up near the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of weeks ago). The Outer Banks of North Carolina have been pummeled with high winds and flooding the last few days.

After my wife and I had that discussion, it got me thinking a bit deeper about sundogs. When you look at one (or two depending on the conditions in the sky) it can appear to be two suns, and sometimes three because of the light reflecting on the ice crystals on one or both sides of the sun. So, obviously things are not always what they seem, and that got me thinking about our old adversary the devil. How many times does he look like something he's not?

2 Corinthians 11:14 says that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. We know however that he is the father of lies John 8:44.

This is how he deceives people by tempting us with things that are dishonoring to God but making the temptations look like pleasure and truth. We should always be on our guard and examine things that are presented to us in life with discernment whether they are from God who loves us or from the devil who hates God and wants to trick us into turning away from the Father our Creator in order to follow the evil one to our destruction. We as Christians experience this constantly as we are continually under attack by the devil who wants to trip us up and destroy our witness and testimony.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
-John 10:10

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
-James 4:7

I hope you are all well, and as spring is quickly approaching that you'll get outside and explore the things that God has made!

In Christ,

Kevin-

A few days ago I was driving home from work in the late afternoon and decided to stop at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. I was only there about a half an hour and I was able to get some waterfowl pictures. It was a fairly breezy day out of the northeast. The sun was low and off to the side so the lighting wasn’t great, but I was happy overall with the pictures I got in the amount of time that I had.
I couldn't help but think about the fifth day of creation when God made all the winged birds after their kinds. This particular day I got a good dose of the duck kind!

I wanted to share some photos from this half hour that God blessed me with. If you’re a duck hunter or you just love ducks in general then I hope you will enjoy these.

Even though the weather is getting cold, there is still plenty to see and enjoy in God's creation outside, so go outdoors and explore even if it's just in your own backyard.

In Christ,

Kevin

Hello to you all.

A couple of days ago I made a trip out to Flat Top Mountain for an afternoon hike for some alone time with God. I took my camera because my wife asked me to get some good pictures. No pressure, right? When I arrived at the trail I was excited because no one else was there. But as I began my hike, I was quickly disappointed because the plants were really droopy and suffering from the lack of rain we have had here this summer.
I normally hike to the summit of Flat Top, but yesterday my plan was to go about halfway up to a small area where I thought some yellow wild flowers might be in bloom with lots of Butterflies. But as I feared from what I observed at the base of the mountain, the flowers were all gone and there was not one Butterfly to be seen. I saw some small lavender flowers along the trail, but even they were suffering a bit from the mountain being so dry.  

After seeing the shape that the flowers were in and no butterflies, I thought that I would love to get a photo of a deer on this hike. I see them occasionally but it's usually a surprise when I do. By the time I see one, they are usually already on the move in a direction running away from me, and it's too late for a picture. But I had  high hopes this day in particular because I wanted to get a really good picture for my wife.
While walking and praying I saw movement to my right, and there was a nice doe bedded down by a tree about 20 yards from me. I got a couple of shots off with my camera and then I got a great surprise. A spike buck poked his head out from behind the tree where the doe was bedded down! Talk about an answer to a hopeful prayer.

To my surprise they didn't seem to upset by my presence and I was able to get a few more pictures. I hiked a little further up the mountain and had a snack and something to drink before turning around to head home.
On the way back down the trail it started getting pretty dark and I saw one more big deer running up the side of the mountain a good distance from where I was on the trail. It stopped and all I could see at that point was the white of its tail. I drew up my EOS 50D and extended my lens to 400 mm and took a picture. I don't know why I didn't delete it at the time because it was very dark on the camera screen, but I'm glad that I didn't. When I got home and started editing the pictures, I got a huge surprise. It was one of those "I had no idea that was in the frame" surprises! That very dark picture that I was close to deleting contained a 9 point buck looking back at me on the side of the mountain.

I believe God always answers prayer. Sometimes He says no. Sometimes He says not right now because He's teaching us something during certain times in our lives (many times I think it's patience for me). But sometimes He says yes and when we least expect it He does a little more just because He can. All I asked for was to see a deer that day. God said "Sure, I'll let you see a few...and here's a 9 pointer just because..." No matter what His answers are, I believe we should always be thankful for them.

Never doubt the power of prayer. Jesus is always listening!

Thank you for stopping by and staying a while. The weather is cooling down and there's still lots to see and explore, so get outside and enjoy the things the Lord has made...even if it's just in your own back yard.

In Christ,
Kevin-

Hello Everyone!

Today is a very special day for my wife and I. It's a day that marks one of the fastest years of our lives. Today is our son's first birthday. It is hard to imagine how quickly he has grown. I know every parent goes through this and that so many folks can tell us what to expect, or tell us to enjoy it while it lasts, but there isn't anything like experiencing this feeling yourself.

It seems like just no time ago that I could hold him with one hand. He was a mere 5lbs and 15oz. when he was born. I was scared to death holding him for fear of breaking him. My wife and I had never seen anything that God had created more perfect than the little life that He gave us this day a year ago.
I'm remembering when the nurse in the hospital asked me if I wanted to look up and see my son being born, seeing him arrive for the first time, and hearing him cry for the first time. I remember the feelings that ran through me as I tried to hold things together in front of my wife at the time of her delivery. But there was no way to contain what I was feeling and the tears flowed.

I'm remembering back to when we were worrying about his weight gain because he was so thin. But even more I can remember the first time he smiled at me one day when I came home from work. But nothing compares to the way he smiles at his mother. He will grab you with his grin, there's no doubt. Everywhere we go, he captures people with his smile and his giggles.
God has given him a big family of proud grandmothers, granddaddy's, uncles, aunts, and cousins who love him very much. And for that my wife and I are incredibly thankful to God.

In his fist year our boy has traveled to several states including North Carolina, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida and Kansas just to name a few. He has seen his first Christmas, Easter, strolled through parks, explored space museums, children museums, been onboard his granddad's sailboat, eaten his way through a good portion of the U.S.A, found out that he likes molasses (like his dad) and hiked on the Blue Ridge Parkway with his Mom and Dad.

Well, to say that my wife and I are proud of our little guy is an understatement. Over the course of the last year he has brought us nothing but joy and has made us the happiest parents in the world. Before my wife and I got married we knew that we wanted a child. We had no idea of the blessing that God had planned to give us an eternity ago. Jesus is mighty to answer our prayers when we ask for His will to be done in our lives
​(1 John 5:14)! I pray everyday that He will give me the wisdom to raise our son to grow up and be a man after His own heart.
Of all God's creation, my wife and son are the greatest gifts that He has given me.

Happy 1st Birthday to my son in whom I am well pleased!

I believe that God created every person for the purpose of serving Him and giving Him glory. Unfortunately not everyone will. When Jesus went to the cross, He went and died for all. Not just a select few. I also believe that out of all the people on the earth, God has planned for particular people to cross the paths of others. Non- believers will cross paths with believers so that they might hear the good news of the gospel. And believers will cross paths with other believers to strengthen each other -Proverbs 27:17. We can think "well that's unavoidable isn't it?" but think about it, why do we live where we live? Why do we work where we do? And so on. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't believe in accidents or that we just float through life without purpose.
One example for instance would be my dad working together with a man from Hatteras, NC for a tugboat company in Norfolk, VA many years ago (probably early 80's). I would have been little at the time (maybe in the 2nd or 3rd grade). Who would have thought that so many years later, after everywhere I've worked and places I've been and seen that I would be working with that man's grandson in NC and together on the same boat?

I will come back to this in a minute.

When we give our lives to God, I believe that things get a whole lot harder after that. I don't want to get to far off track here, but bear with me. I'm not a believer in what's called the "prosperity movement" that is so very popular today. This movement teaches that if you love the Lord enough that you'll have your every dream of whatever you yourself desire come true. This might include becoming wealthy, or never being sick again just to name a couple. But did Jesus teach this? No, He didn't. Jesus said that the road with Him would be difficult -Matthew 7:13-14.
I believe that part of the difficult road is being despised by the world. Here are some quotes from Jesus Himself...
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
-John 15:18-19

And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
-Matthew 10:22

​Now back to my original point.
As we live in a world that hates God and those who have given their lives to Him, God pre-planned for us to come across other believers on the difficult road. One such person that comes to mind on my road is my mate at work. The maritime industry is a rough/tough environment. I have worked on fishing boats, dinner cruise boats, passenger ferries, research boats, and tugboats nearly my entire life. I believe that there are many more non believers than there are followers of Jesus Christ in this line of work. So one who loves Christ can feel pretty alone in this field.
My mate on the boat (who for privacy reasons) I will just call Mike has been a bright spot where I work now for quite a few years. He is a man of high moral character and truly loves the Lord. He speaks often of his love for his wife and children. I see him involved with his church. Each day we work together we talk about the things of God (creation, marriage, and loving others) and we listen to Christian music and sermons by well known pastors (who we believe teach correct theology) from around the country. Mike is an encouragement to me and many others in our workplace. He helps to strengthen me by example, and always has my permission to hold me accountable as a brother in Christ. I can only hope that I do the same for him. I am very happy to call him my brother in Christ!
With my work schedule, I can only attend church once every other week at home, so it's a bit difficult to get connected with other Christian men on my time off. Is it an accident that in such a harsh world we are blessed with like minded believers when AND where they are needed. I think not! As a matter of fact, isn't that the reason for the church, to come together and uplift and encourage each other in Jesus' name?
And isn't it encouraging that in a cursed world where we are hated by that world for His name's sake while enduring difficulties in life that Jesus promises us this...
"For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them." -Matthew 18:20

God's plan is always perfect and there are no accidents. Obey Him and be someone's bright spot right where you are... and know that he is always in your midst!

I hope you are encouraged by this.

We're right in the middle of summer so don't forget to go outside and explore the things God has made even if it's just in your own backyard!

In Christ,
​
Kevin-

Day before yesterday I went to do a little work to my boat lift with my Dad and Uncle. I arrived at the house in NC where I used to live very early in the morning. Once there, I decided to do a quick walk around the property. I walked down to where my Granddad's fig farm and garden once was.
When I got down there I saw an old friend in the woods. A very wise old friend that I have spent several years trying to catch on camera. I have heard him many times in the early mornings and in the evenings at dusk telling the news to his friends down in the swamp. The friend I am referring to is an old Barred Owl that lives in the woods down there by the fig trees. I saw him fly silently from one tree up into another and turn around looking at me.
I walked back slowly to my truck in order to get my camera. While making my way back to the truck all I could think was "He won't be there when I get back...He's never been there when I get back." I got to the truck and put my 100-400mm telephoto lens on my EOS 50D. I walked back to the fig trees and I couldn't believe it...there he was still sitting there as if he were waiting on me to come back.
I stopped as soon as I saw him because I didn't want to scare him off before getting a shot. I took a few pictures and then he shouted a hoot at me. I hooted back and he blinked and moved his head in a circular motion. It was quite comical.
I enjoyed watching him for the few minutes that I had. He hooted at me once more and then I decided to leave him alone. After that I went up to the house for a short nap before going over to the beach to work on the boat lift. When I got to look at the pictures of this beautiful bird (that I have waited patiently for years to get)  I thought about Proverbs 19:20 that says "Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days." Oh how true that is in so many areas of life! I am thankful to God that I could  see this amazing animal that He created. I am thankful to Him for allowing me to finally get pictures of it. Mostly and always, I am thankful for the Truth and Wisdom of God's Word and for Him reminding me of His Word through creation.

Spring is quickly approaching! Don't forget to go outside and enjoy the things that the Lord has made. Even if it's just in your own backyard.

In Christ,

Kevin- 

A lot has been going on in the last year and 4 months. I've gotten married, moved away from my home in NC, and am living near the mountains of VA. My wife and I have a little boy now. With the baby comes diapers, baby formula, diapers, doctor visits, diapers, toys, diapers, lots of love and attention...and diapers. My wife and I think we're finally settled on a good church. Trying to make new friends and get into a good support group hasn't been easy with my work schedule. Oh, did I mention my work schedule. I'm gone a week at a time, so that makes things hard on my wife for the time I'm away from home. As you can tell by reading this, there's been a LOT of transition in my life in a short amount of time. My wife has been patient with me through it all. She is amazing and I love her for it!
Before I go any further know this, I am not complaining here.
The point I'm making is that in all of the transition, I have had to be very careful that I don't loose sight of the Lord in all of it. I can totally relate to what Paul meant when he said "But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife." -1 Corinthians 7:32-33
​

When I was single I gave so much of my energy to God. Now being married I want my wife to be happy and I want to be a good husband and father. There are so many distractions now, and I have to really make time for prayer, reading God's word, and keeping my mind and focus on Him.

A couple of things I do each day are...

1- I have a Bible study plan for reading a little each day using an application in my phone and tablet. This will take me through the Word in a year.
2- I read an article or watch a video on marriage by Christian organizations I follow on Facebook everyday to keep myself accountable and to get ideas for fun things to do with and for my wife.
3- I read articles about Biblical Creation and the creation/evolution debate often to keep my mind sharp on these topics.
Another thing I believe we all should do is take time to examine our thoughts, speech, and daily conduct to make sure we're really walking the walk. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

I don't do these things just at home. It's hard with the many distractions at work for 7 days as well. So whenever I have a little down time I try to read and pray with the moments God gives me. He is always faithful to give us the time. We just need to grab that time and make it happen.

Thank you for stopping by and staying a while. I hope that if you've been pulled in different directions by life's transitions and distractions that this will help you to come up with ideas for staying close to God.

Dont forget to go outside and enjoy all the things that the Lord has made. Even if it's just in your own back yard.

In Christ,

​Kevin-