The Wilkes Team

Psalm 16:11 says,

" Thou  (God) wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

Why do we fear the future? Why do we worry about the unknown? We must remember that the thoughts that the Lord has towards us are not evil but peace, to bring us to an expected end. (Jer 29:11)

We can boldly step forward and do what God has called us to do. Not because we feel like we have it all figured out but because we know the one who does! Be willing to do the not so popular thing. Be  men and women of your word. Stand for truth sell it not!

The world is looking for answers. We as followers of Jesus Christ must be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Why? So we may shine as lights in the world! (Php 2:15)  This will only be possible once we allow the truth of God’s word dwell in us richly, then apply it to our every day living!

Isaiah 30:21 says, "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."  Praise the Lord that we have the promises and the truths of God’s word!

These thoughts were spurred by this picture below. We are all on this faith walk together! We must continue to lift each other up in prayer before the throne of grace.

Earlier this month we took a hike with some dear friends through a section of the Shenandoah Mountains known as White Oak Canyon. It was absolutely stunning, and breath taking!

As we were pulling out Dad said " Here we are overwhelmed and delighted by the beauty of God’s Creation, can you even imagine how beautiful this world must have been before the fall?"

One day we will see Him in all of His beauty! What a glorious day that will be!!

9 Comments » | posted in Outdoor Adventures, Photography

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And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while… (Mr 6:31).

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed (Rom. 13:11).

While putting together the schedule for this year’s Family Camp Out and Revival, the Lord brought to mind these two verses as a focus for the weekend. We have a need, as the  Body of Christ, for revival. Living in an age, as described by John of the Laodicean church, where many are satisfied with lukewarm Christianity not knowing that they are actually poor, lame, blind, and naked, it is time to buy the Gold that has been tried in the fire (Rev. 3:15-19).

And so in the spirit of the old camp meetings of yesteryear, we gathered in a field around a glowing campfire under the starry skies of Culpeper for three evenings of Revival Meetings.

Thursday centered on the call God has given to each and every Christian. Friday centered around exhorting the Christian to unabashedly confront our culture with the life changing love of Jesus – this is worship. Saturday’s focus was twofold: First on being a doer, not just a hearer of the Word. Second: understanding the importance of convictions and standards in our lives and how imperative it is that we never live our lives in such a way so as to offend the weaker brother. These were timely messages, laid on the hearts of Dad, Joshua, and Mr. Bolster (dear friends of the Butler family).

…Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, & rest a while…

The weekend was restful. Free from many of the world’s distractions, we found ourselves rejuvenated through this time apart in a deserted place. Refreshing mornings around the campfire centered  around the Word, scrumptious family style meals from our first class team of camp chefs, relaxing walks with one another, afternoon naps, team building projects, melodious singing, and uplifting conversation.

Salt was savored, lights refueled, and the Body of Christ revived and drawn closer one to another. Living as Christians in our present world, we have a call to live in the world, but this call must never drive us to isolating ourselves from the Body of Christ. It is becoming increasingly imperative that we exhort one another daily lest an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Word of God develop in anyone of us.

3 Comments » | posted in Family News, Outdoor Adventures

“And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp…”(Numbers 1:52)

So also did the Wilkes family pitch their own tents in the fields of Culpeper. Other families also joined in this task concluding with numerous tents pitched under the shade of trees.  The proceeds from this initial task were quite bountiful to say the least.

Roofs were built

Doors were hanged

The Bush hog and lawnmowers were put to work

Waves of hay were transformed into bales of Hay

Satisfaction developed from good wholesome meals

Old fashion discourses on the word of God were given with creation being the auditorium, campfire and flashlights bringing light, and hay bales situated to provided optimum pews.

Young men endured thrilling hunts

Soccer and volley balls were employed

Fellowship heavily sprinkled with discipleship and joy helped round out all the rough edges creating a memorable event centered around reviving the spirit of Christ within us.

Sunday was definitely the climax with a timely exhortation from one of the fathers and later from one of the young men. The former on the life of Joseph and his family on how God kept them set apart while still allowing them to keep in the world and be involved with it. The latter communicated on the importance of Flexibility.  

The Creator God is definitely magnificent and awe inspiring. He works in such amazing ways that forever magnify his presence and name. Witnessing His beautiful creation in the fields of Culpeper impressed this deeply on many minds.  Whether looking at the stars, a setting sun, spider webs, freshly raked hay, or singing around the campfire, we were provided with overwhelming evidence of the one powerful God working His will in His creation.

Pitching tents is a grand task. Sleeping in them and
living around them is even better. Best of all is being overwhelmed with God’s work and will in his abundant Creation.

7 Comments » | posted in Family News, Outdoor Adventures

Last year, our family had the joy of beginning the wonderful responsibility of bee keeping. Over the last 16 months, we have begun to appreciate the remarkable process in which bees convert nectar from a variety of sources into honey. There is an abundance of remarkable lessons to be learned from this insect: their sensitivity to the needs of the hive, the instinctive disposition (swarming) of the bees to ‘go into all the world,’ their wholehearted work ethic (some bees only live 6 weeks), and their desire to follow only one leader (one queen).

There have been plenty of learning experiences, mistakes & mishaps, a few stings , but much excitement and anticipation.

A couple weeks ago, we had the blessing of having a few Staddons join us for a work day at the property. Many memories were made working in the garden together, target practicing, exploring, and enjoying wholesome fellowship.

A highlight of the day was having Michael inspect the hives. His expertise and advice from years of beekeeping were much appreciated. And as a result of the hive inspection, an unexpected 8 medium & 2 deep frames of honey were collected – Thank you Michael!

The process of extracting the honey was a memorable family event:

We are thrilled over the harvest the Lord provided and look forward to the many more lessons that will come. And yet, as sweet as honey is to our taste, what does God say is even sweeter than honey? His Word.

"More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb (Ps. 19:10)."

"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart (Jer. 15:16a)."

God created this world in such a way that it is constantly pointing us back to Him, the Creator. May we take the time to learn the lessons God has for us in the beautiful world of nature (Job 12:7-8)!

Deuteronomy 26:15  Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

11 Comments » | posted in Farming 101, Outdoor Adventures

Listen to the waves of the ocean,

Crashing with the rhythms of praise;

Listen to their song of devotion,

Dancing with the sun’s golden rays.

Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out. For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly (Job 36:26-28).

Have you ever considered the intricacies, significance, and power of water? Consider…….

• There are about 326 million cubic miles of water on the earth (approx. 1 trillion gallons per cubic mile).
• About 3% of the earth’s water is fresh.
• If the power from just one drop of water could be fully used, it could lift 200 million tons 1 mile above the earth – wow!
• On average, a person takes in about 16,000 gallons of water during his lifetime.
• On the average, each person in the U.S. uses about 70 gallons of water per day.
• Every glass of water you drink contains molecules of water used countless times before.
• It takes approx. 115 gallons of water to grow enough wheat to bake a loaf of bread. 
• An abundance of microscopic organisms can be found in just one drop of water.

This evening we experienced some of the power water can exert. A torrential rain storm descended upon our area complete with flashing lightning, cracks of thunder, and heavy rain fall. A quick peek through the front window revealed that the front gutter over the porch had reached max capacity. Water was billowing over the long stretch of the gutter, splattering on the porch below, washing away mulch and dirt.

‘Ready to serve Daniel’ saw the need and within moments was dressed in rain gear. Four more eager assistants quickly loaded up on coats, rain pants, rubber boots, & other helpful paraphernalia. Within minutes five soon to be wet gutter repair men were scrambling all around the front porch – tapping here, pulling there, and getting wet almost everywhere . There was a clog – a mighty big clog in the gutter and water was spraying out in at least 5 different ways.

Through much deliberation, concentration, and subsequent determination, a reassuring ‘whoosh’ was heard from within the confines of the gutter. Only seconds later, the spraying water ceased as a large clog of maple seeds, decomposed roofing composite, and misc dirt & grime emitted from down below – the problem was solved. Water began rushing through the gutters as intended. Upon conducting a quick reconnaissance mission around the house in search of further potential and actual problems, five wet but jolly young men headed inside. Therein awaited a thrilling story from Dad regarding an opportunity he had to share the Living Water with a thirsty soul earlier today.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14).

5 Comments » | posted in Family News, Outdoor Adventures

The effort, the time, the energy, Hmm… is cleaning garden beds really a profitable undertaking? Getting the hands dirty, pulling nasty weeds, transplanting, planting, mulching, working with the shovel and rake – why do it all?

This may be the thought crossing the worker’s mind when the garden beds look more like the green lawn, the weary mind is carrying too heavy of a load, and the tired hands seem to be covered with plump tiny cherries. The gardener considers: Why not let God’s creation take its natural course  – isn’t there such a concept as wild and natural beauty?

Yes there is beauty in God’s creation, but unfortunately the world we live on is controlled by a law from which deviations cannot occur. It’s titled the law of entropy: best defined as all things are moving from a state of order to disorder.

We, as a family, had an eye witness account of this law being enforced a couple days ago when observing the landscape of our home dwelling. For the flower of yesteryear was now a brown stalk, the once pretty green leaves now a welted gray heap, and the freshly laid mulch a sun bleached disappearing woody mass. This is why natural beauty is not enough. God’s creation needs the Godly stewardship of human brawn and thought. The eye witness account proves this and therefore resulted in good wholesome labor.

Now the question, “Spring cleaning – why?” is answered, but only in part. The rest of the answer lies in a particular period of the lives of Rev. James Bruce and his wife,  Eliza Bruce. Scottish folks from the 1600s were they: He, a faithful and powerful minister of the gospel: she, a mainstay and helpmeet.  Once, upon moving to a new pastorate, Mr. Bruce and his wife, as usual, took up the dwelling of the former pastor. It was an old run down place, broken glass was patched with boards and the landscape horrible; *”To the walls too, clambered the dock and the nettle…the little plot… was so overgrown with brushwood and weeds of every description… the inside of the house was in no better a state…spiders and other vermin had long taken up their abode…. (Yet,) under Mrs. Bruce’s care every thing about the manse soon assumed a livelier and more handsome appearance”

Here we see, while the husband was faithfully ministering to those of his church, his wife was faithfully preparing her home For what purpose? Why was she cleaning up her garden beds and beautifying the landscape? *”So…That the traveler would not have passed it, without wishing to see it’s inhabitants: and the weary wanderer would have approached the door, in confidence of a kind welcome to nourishment and repose. ” Here is the other part to the answer – hospitality.

So, next time the garden needs spring cleaning remember why it’s being done; to develop an hospitable atmosphere from which strangers would deem it a delight to be entertained by.  “For some entertain angels unawares” (Heb 13:2)

*Excerpts taken from The Persecute Family, a narrative of the sufferings of the covenanters in the reign of Charles II By Robert Pollock, A.M. (First published in 1859, last published by Sprinkle publications)

8 Comments » | posted in Family News, Farming 101, Outdoor Adventures