The Wilkes Team

I am 4-8 inches tall and between 2 and 5 inches in diameter. I have been known to live hundreds of years. Firm leaves, acting as exterior walls, create a hollow interior known as a spathe which hides my small flower (called a spadix). I prepare my leaves in the fall and will burst into life at the earliest possible moment, even melting snow above me. Through a simple respiration process where oxygen combines with food, I produce temperatures of up to 72 degrees. Should outside temperatures reach about 45 degrees, I will send out green shoots and if temperatures stay at or above 45 degrees for approximately 3 days, my spadix will form. Honey bees enjoy my presence and are able to move about freely amidst cool temperatures when I’m around. My unusual name, as you will see, does not come from the honey bee. Hungry bears, elks, and more, will search around the forest floor. Little food is sure to be found, but remember in cool temperatures, I abound. When they find me and take a bite, I leave a sting and awful stench. Many an Indian have used my leaves for flour in bread and to test a new chief. Break off a piece and place it on your tongue, the spicy, bitter taste won’t keep me there long. Any idea as to what I am?

The other day, Tim Hynes and Daniel went for a hike through the woods and wetlands behind our house. They came back with an array of beautiful photos ranging from pine cones, to fungus, trees, and more. As would be expected during this time of year, the forest was quite destitute of living flora with the exception of moss and ferns. After tramping around for close to an hour, they came back with around 200 photos. We gathered around the computer to review the shots. The photos were well taken and showed the results of creativity and forethought.

One scene stuck out more than any others however. A small 6-8 inch plant containing, of all things, a pollen laden flower! Remarkable! Unfortunately, I was unable to identify the species. Within the hour however, keen eye Kenan came upon the exact same plant in a nature book – wow!

Sunday rolled around a couple days later. Early that morning, I was contemplating the lesson for Children’s Choir later on and thought this plant would be a great object lesson. A light rain and brisk wind had descended upon our area as I threw on a coat, some grubby pants, and my muck boots. After hiking around the woods and wetlands for sometime, I finally came upon the small, unique plant. Two or three were dug up and placed in my bucket where they would stay until the afternoon.

This plant, known as the ‘Skunk Cabbage,’ provided a perfect lesson for us that day. The skunk cabbage, as described in the Character Sketches, is a bitter tasting plant that produces an awful stench when its leaves are broken off. The honey bee, however, shows how the Christian ought to respond to both the sweet and bitter events of life. The bee takes the distasteful plant and turns it into food that nourishes many. When we look for the hand of God in every circumstance of life and seek to understand His principles, we will be able to say with joy that all things do work together for good (Rom. 8:28). No situation happens by accident but was preordained by God to conform us into the image of His dear Son, create a testimony, and thereby disciple many! Keep your eye out for the skunk cabbages of life.

6 Comments » | posted in Outdoor Adventures, Photography

 Transforming your home to a place of warmth, beauty, and loveliness without spending tons of money in this day and age is near to impossible! But it can be done! I thought I would share a couple of things that we have found to work in our large family. Living in a large family is one of the best things that could ever happen to a person! The challenges, joys, excitements, and struggles are all key in developing our character in Christ!
 There is actually one thing that we can change right now without spending a dime! I promise you that it will actually fix 90% of your problems! God has placed in each one of our families’ strengths and weakness. The first thing we need to do in order to change a home from just any ordinary home to a home of beauty is our character! How do we interact with one another? Is Christ the center of our home? When others enter our home what do they notice about us?
 We can’t change the circumstances that God places us in but we can change our responses to them. If we are viewing things from the view point that Christ worketh all things together for good and that he uses all situations to mature us and bring us into a closer relationship with himself, our lives will begin to take on an inward beauty that shines brighter and will have a bigger impact on others than any immaculate home, or the most organized and well planned out schedule. 
  Yet that other 10% can’t be forgotten! For we serve a God of order, and beauty! Just look around you! His creation shouts out the glory of His name! What a blessing to be created by Him! Details matter to God! Quality is His highest aim. And because He blends His attributes with His creation it brings indescribable glory and honor to His name.
God has placed in each one of us a desire for beauty. Yet so often the definition of beauty is distorted because we view it through the eyes of self. May we see this God ordained quality from the eyes of faith. For it is He who will give us the correct view point on how to go about beautifying and organizing our lives according to His plan.
   I hope that these next few posts will encourage you and help spark your creativity in wisely using the resources that God has so graciously given to us.
  “Let all things be done decently and in order” 1Cor.14:40
  “And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty…” 2Chron.3:6

6 Comments » | posted in Family News

“…God is our only refuge and our strength. Let us humble ourselves before Him. Let us confess our many sins, and beseech Him to give us a higher courage, a purer patriotism, and more determined will; that He will hasten the time when war, with its sorrows and sufferings, shall cease, and that He will give us a name and place among the nations of the earth.”

“While this glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks to the only giver of victory for the signal deliverance He has wrought. It is, therefore, earnestly recommended that the troops unite on Sunday next in ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the glory due unto His name. Let us not forget in our rejoicing the brave soldiers who have fallen in defense of their country; and while we mourn their loss let us resolve to emulate their noble example. The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of one to whose bravery, energy, and skill they are so much indebted for success.”

These two quotes were given by General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. The first was in response to a defeat and the latter in response to victory. Two evenings ago, our family sat in awe as we watched a video (Warriors of Honor) that documented the strength and character of two generals (Robert E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson) that are viewed as some of history’s finest. Regardless of which side of the Civil War you find yourself, we would highly recommend this inspiring testimony of two men who ought to be role models of us all. Two men who valued the importance of prayer, the souls of men (Lee once oversaw a revival in his camp that brought about 15,000 decisions to follow Christ), and the families of the enemy. They sought not the praise of men, but truly desired to be lead by the Lord in each and every situation.

I would highly recommend the short documentary, Warriors of Honor. But prepared to be inspired to American patriotism, discipline, and to take your Christian walk more seriously. May we take the time to contemplate the past for it will affect our future. Afterall, what legacy will each of us leave behind?

“A nation ignorant of its past is a nation ripe for deception and manipulation.”

8 Comments » | posted in HIS-story

 The Neely Team arrived at our house on a late Friday evening. It was such a blessing to have them here. Every time we’re with the Neely Team, I ‘m encouraged by their joyful servant spirits. They know how to make hard tasks a lot of fun! We took them to one of the famous hymn sings put on by the Hynes Family. It was a joyful time of singing and playing music to the Lord.

Whenever we get together with the Neelys, there is always music. One of our favorite things to do is gather around the piano and sing all together. We also had the joy of hearing a wonderful report on their recent family trip to Lithuania for mission work.

The Bible says that where two or three (or twenty-two) are gathered together in the Lord’s name, He is there (Matthew 18:20). The Lord was there and richly blessed our time.

8 Comments » | posted in Family News

Anyone who has spent any length of time around a fire station or fire safety precautions will recognize those 3 commands as basic steps of action in the event of a fire. The hope is that a person who encounters fire will respond accordingly with little thought. Our intelligently designed body has the ability to be trained to react automatically when stimulated.

The Lord recently used the automatic responses of the human body to save a loved one from almost certain injury. Many years ago, our Grandfather served in the U.S. army as a helicopter pilot. Through application of intense training, Grandpa rose in rank, respect, and honors. He retired from years of military service with, among others, 3 purple hearts, the rank of Lt. Col, and the satisfaction of having admirably served his country. Military training involves teaching the body to wisely respond in the face of danger. Encounters with enemy fire, a damaged helicopter, panic stricken troops, and various other circumstances require decisiveness that goes beyond human tendencies.

Only a week or two ago, Grandpa was up on the roof above his carport cleaning the gutters out. I sure hope I will be in that good of shape when I am 77 years old one day! Grandma was cleaning up a thing or two in the yard and waiting for Grandpa to finish up. The ladder was up against the garage, waiting to bring Grandpa back down. Before long, he finished and proceeded back down. Suddenly, the ladder went out from under him and crashed below. He had but milliseconds to respond to the eminent fall. At this moment, his trained body took over and responded in a way that saved Grandpa from any broken bones and resulted in a bruise or two and some soreness. Years ago when being trained to fly helicopters, Grandpa was taught, in the event of a fall from a helicopter, to form into a ball, hit the ground, and roll. He later told us that his response to the recent fall was the same way he would have responded if falling from a helicopter.

We praise the Lord for sending guardian angels to protect Grandpa on the potentially disastrous day and are grateful for the reminder to discipline ourselves. Even more important than the small profit (1Tim.4:8) of physical discipline is the training of our spiritual body. How will we respond when the temptation to fear, lust, worry, react in anger, take offense, etc? More often than not, it will be according to the pattern we have set from prior defeat or victory!

5 Comments » | posted in Family News

Before the winter season, we undertook for the first time the cleaning of our chimney. It’s actually quite a fulfilling undertaking; believe it – or not. Some of the supplies we had to get to perform this operation were: screwdrivers, a steel tine hand brush, an 8in diameter circular chimney brush, with pole extensions, and lastly a tarp. The chimney brush we picked up at the Home Depot. All the other supplies, thankfully, were on hand. In order for us to actually begin we took out our wood stove, the stove pipe, chimney guard and insulation. When this was completed we covered the fire place opening with a tarp to keep all the ash from blowing into our family room. Then it was up on the roof. 
 Daniel undertook this task and did it with great zeal. First the chimney cover had to be taken off. Then the brush came up and Daniel began pushing it down the chimney. He started at the very top and slowly moved downward, adding pole extensions as the brush moved further and further to the bottom. According to his relating of this experience, it became harder to move the brush in a nice smooth fashion the further down he went. With all the extensions, Daniel lost dexterity in his handlings. Nevertheless, by just letting the brush move up and down whatever way it wanted, he finally completed the tiresome job. Next, we put the chimney cover back on and Dad and I caulked cracks on the chimney’s cement top. Finally we put the ladder away, went and put the wood stove and all its appendages back in place, double checked every thing, and then went and found some wood.
A little later a nice roaring fire burst into life. When looking at the chimney we observed a steady channel of smoke pouring out of it. Since everything appeared as normal as normal can be and there was no oddities manifesting themselves we reasoned together that we must have properly performed our task and undertakings. Of course, time could manifest those oddities, but I honestly can say that since that memorable day with now a history of numerous contained fires—the oddities never presented themselves.

It was sure fun working on this project. Looking down the chimney before and after encouraged us in the correctness of our endeavors. We now hope this will be an annual procedure and that the future cleanings will produce the same results as our first of a lifetime (at least for myself) chimney cleaning.

9 Comments » | posted in Family News