Feature Columnists

You need to fight for joy. Wage war against malaise and malcontent by choosing to rejoice in the Lord, who transcends the headlines of the 24-hour news cycle. That is what the prophet Habakkuk learned. The brief pages of Habakkuk, while absent tales of little towns, shepherds and heavenly hosts,...

Late November into December can be a difficult time to take nature photos as the autumn season transitions to winter. This is a photo I took a few years ago during October while visiting Duck Creek State Conservation Area near Puxico, Missouri. Pictured is a great white egret holding a frog in its...

As this column reaches readers, it is the start of the church's season of Advent and less than a month until Christmas. Of course, no photograph was taken of Jesus during his lifetime because the technology didn't exist. As far as we know, no one even attempted a sketch of him -- and if one was...

Do we believe that someday we will have completely arrived, or do we realize that we are always in process? As I pondered all the meanings attached to that thought, I was overwhelmed. I wanted to, eventually, be finished with what I worked toward and take a break...

Here is an idea that might interest you or a young one in your life. I dug sweet potatoes from my garden a few weeks ago. I saved part of the last plant and stuck it in a clear glass jar with water to see what would happen. This is very easy to do. It's educational for children to watch how the...

The week of Thanksgiving can often be a flurry and frenzy of activities. Traveling near and far to visit family. Trips to the market to get supplies. Another trip when you forgot that one ingredient. Thanksgiving can be a blur causing hosts to promise, "Someone else is hosting next year!" Until...

An early snow fell during the nighttime hours on Nov. 12. By noon the next day, temperatures had risen above freezing and the half-inch snowfall had mostly melted away. Opportunities to capture a photo like the one you see here are often fleeting. I got out early that morning and was delighted to...

Most everybody reading this column will understand the sentence, "Stick in a toe to test the water." For those who take baths rather than showers to get clean, the phrase speaks to practicality. Gauging the heat of water before lowering yourself into a bathtub is a necessary step, and sticking in a...

Life is filled with storms. No one or nothing escapes their bitter sting, and it's how we deal with the storms we face, that makes the difference. As I sat in a local restaurant, about to lift the forkful of Chinese food to my lips, I heard an awesome statement coming from a neighboring table. ...

We've had a dry summer this year. Some streams have run dry because of it. Small ponds have also been affected by the drought. On Oct. 26, I took this photo of a crawdad chimney. Crawdads at ponds will often dig a hole on land near the water and push out balls of mud, one ball at a time, building...

On the scale of cuteness this little guy has to rate at or near the top of the list. This is a relatively common wild animal in the woodlands of Missouri. It is called the eastern chipmunk. You may have seen one sitting on a rock or log eating an acorn. You may have heard its persistent loud...

Paul, writing to distressed people in the city of Thessalonica, instructs them, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:18, NLT.) Thankfulness is not conditional. Being grateful is more than a state of mind or heart. Being thankful...

One of our most beautiful butterflies is one that flies during summer into autumn. It is the small orange sulphur. This small butterfly is hard to photograph as it darts here and there, never sitting long in any one place. It is also very aware of your approach. And if you are lucky enough that one...

Joab was surrounded. The army before him was overwhelming. Behind him was one of a similar scale (1 Chronicles 19:10 -- 15.) His response offers some actions to emulate when we, like him, do not see any solutions to our problems. First, he tells his brother and those with them to "be strong." When...

Beautiful fall leaves went floating through the air, the wind hurling them, up, up, up into the sky. They danced with the graceful cadence of the refreshing breeze as it daringly tossed their bodies into the atmosphere. Afternoon had arrived and the sun flaunted its glow and warmth, before it...

At the outset, I'd like it understood that my wife is smarter, more insightful and more visionary than her spouse. I, on the other hand, make coffee and do battle with cobwebs, so perhaps she'll keep me around. My better half made a statement last week worthy of close examination because in my...

There are thousands of species of wasp across the world. In North America and subsequently Missouri, there are a great number of small wasps that are generally ignored by people. Those small wasps are, for the most part, too tiny to make a sting that can break your skin, and they are no threat to...

A man who attended a funeral that I officiated wrote me a letter. He could have sent an email or a text message. Yet by sending a handwritten letter, he communicated more value than just the words on the page. Paul, who by the Holy Spirit wrote most of the New Testament, shared, "I, Paul, write...

There are many kinds of goldenrods. Some are tall, reaching a height of 6 feet or more. Some are short, growing no more than 2 feet tall. Several are native to North America and Missouri. Many more have origins from across the world. To complicate things concerning the goldenrod plant, because of...

Life is a series of swinging doors--opening and closing doors. The doors we open and close are of equal importance because we must close our previous one before we can open another. If we leave the open door, ajar, we can't walk through the closed one -- the one we're fearfully wanting to attempt....

My research on kudzu revealed that this plant, which is native to Asia, was brought to the United States in the late 1800s to address soil erosion problems. Use of the plant was limited for several years, but after the Dust Bowl Days of the 1930s, the newly formed U.S. Soil Conservation Service...

"There's the church. There's the steeple. Open it up, and look at all the people!" The time-tested playful teaching tool, necessitating the use of both hands, is still used by people with small children. Building upon the metaphor, the truth is there are fewer people to see nowadays...

It is rare to capture a photo like this in any circumstance. It is descriptive, tells a story and is an image that I am sure many people would just as soon not see. But it is true to nature, and nature is what my feature is all about. The smaller fish is a channel catfish. ...

We have become one of those "running" families. My daughters, niece and nephew run cross country. I am currently training for an event later this year. When Thanksgiving rolls around, most in my family will run a Turkey Day 5K. Yes, we are one of "those" families...

I heard a conversation, recently, that caused me to conduct some in-depth, soul searching. "I am just trying to give back to others, as I have been given," said the man. Jack was a middle-aged person who had constantly helped, Jeff, a young person always needing help. ...

Queen Elizabeth II, officially "Defender of the Faith" in the United Kingdom, will be buried after a state funeral in London. In all of the exhaustive coverage of her passing since she died Sept. 8 in Scotland, there is one detail this columnist finds fascinating...

This thing surprised me when I zoomed in on it with my camera. It looked like a strange prehistoric animal walking down an ice covered hillside with an iceberg in the distance. In reality this is a tiny insect that I believe is a kind of weevil. I searched for an image like it and discovered that...

The halo of yellow in this photo is a circle of very small flowers on top of a plant called a zinnia. When this common garden flower grows, it shoots up a stem that produces a beautiful flower at the highest point. A field of multicolored zinnias is a wonderful sight...

Like most, I remember exactly where I was the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. I was with my family and some friends while my father-in-law was undergoing surgery. He went under anesthesia, knowing the world in one way, waking to something completely different...