Tag: Banff

The Highlight of the Month

Posted on by lindaskelton

The highlight of the month (so far) has been the whirlwind visit of our youngest daughter en route back home to Powell River after almost two adventurous years in the boonies of small-highway-town-Alaska!   Two years ago we sold our Powell River home out from under her and as we moved east eventually landing in Alberta, she flew North to the wilds of Alaska to be near her grandma.  Well she’s moving back home to Powell River now to live near her sisters.  And once again she’s trusting the Lord to open doors for housing and employment as He did so incredibly these past two years as she got to work at her dream desk job at the Crossroad Medical Clinic.

So this post is dedicated to Rachel and her effervescent confidence in God, and posted with a prayer for her guidance and success!

taking the requisite tourist pictures

 

 

The rising steam from Banff’s natural hot springs creating hoarfrost.

 

 

The discovery of hot springs here would be the grounds for establishing Banff Nat’l Park in 1885

 

 

 

Rachel’s travelling companion…
She arrived in time for bracing cold but we still enjoyed a tromp around our neighborhood…

 

 

 

And now she’s arrived safely ‘home’ to Powell River out of reach of hugs but not prayers.

 

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands…
Ps.90:1,2,16,17

–LS

Our Wintry World

Posted on by lindaskelton
When in snow country do as the locals do…
Our favorite pastime this month has been cross-country skiing. We are having a lovely respite of above-freezing days which makes it a whole lot less stressful to pause for picture-taking without feeling you will freeze to death and without having your glasses fog up leaving you in a blinding cloud…
This is the local terrain we frequent…

 

 

 

 

For a change of scene we sometimes head down the road to Banff to have a look around. How different it all looks in winter…

 

 

 

 

Snow-sculpting and ice-sculpting are popular pastimes here…

Back at home the warmer weather lured me out for a walk, which has become rare for me these days. It was delightful ( :

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. Lev.26:12

 –LS

Leafing through September…

Posted on by lindaskelton

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I’ve been collecting a leaf a day all month, to capture the essence of September on paper. Though most of the fall color here is shades of gold, there is plenty of variation when you stoop to see closely!

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We had ourselves an easy hike in Banff this week, skirting Tunnel Mountain…

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It was just the kind of hike that makes me feel so alive!!

So let me pass a glimmer of what I saw on to you ( :

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Our destination was this little group of hoodoos…

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which seemed rather lack luster to us, having seen Bryce Canyon in Arizona…P1220445

But that’s ok—the process of getting there was a treat (mostly).

A burning bush along the way:

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I attended a watercolor workshop earlier that day in Banff.  This mountain was our subject.
A guest First Nations man told tales while we tried to capture the picture on paper…

Drawn Banff

He said there’s power in the mountains and some Indians, including himself,  aren’t strong enough to stand living here.  (He lives on the prairies.)  He alluded to a creator that noone really knows much about, except that he’s given us all this and there’s no way we can repay him/her.  So they revere the creation and have ceremonies acknowledging their indebtedness.  Meanwhile myths and superstitions have filled the void of not-knowing and many are the stories that are told, attributing god-like power to creatures and denying the Creator…

And I thought, how sad—to recognize the grandeur but miss the identity of the Creator  ‘for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.’ 

And my thought is that if there’s perceptible power in these mountains it is just this—they speak of God’s power and majesty!  They are a constant reminder of  His nearness to His people.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people
from this time forth and forever. Ps.125:2 NKJV

Meanwhile back home the skies and the meadows and the golden splashes of autumn continue to inspire praise!

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And it occurs to me that perceiving beauty is all  about the way the light shines…

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The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.Jn.1:9,10 NLT

But thanks be to God—

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. II Cor.4:6

–LS

I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Ps.142:5