happy 4th!
Author: rutakintome
I married Ruth, my high school sweetheart, in 1983 and we have four children and 6 grandchildren. I have been the worship pastor at Mission Bible Church since 2004. We are located in Minooka, a southwest suburb of Chicago. I love singing, bicycling, music, Mahler, boxing, coffee, movies, The Beatles, sunsets, coffee, Mahler, the seashore, sunsets at the seashore, coffee, and… the seashore. Originally from New York, I grew up 15 minutes from the beautiful beaches of southern Long Island. I have a Fujifilm X-T5 that I use to capture the world I see. I also enjoy writing about the images that surface in my mind and heart as I work with the images from my camera. Thanks for stopping by!
bike house man
To the tune of “Nowhere Man”, by The Beatles
spykidz
Just had to post an image of the amazing day camp that we do each year at our church. This is SpyKidz 2015: Crux Grotto! Our sanctuary was transformed into an amazing environment of music, dance, video, skits, fun and, the hope of God’s love for over 500 kids!
river sunset 2
A second shot taken in the same location as the previous post. I just love sunsets 🙂
river sunset
Taken in Marseilles, IL on the same day as this post. The clouds, colors, light and shade just danced into the night…. beautiful…
happy father’s day
My mom and dad…. two precious treasures in my life…. today I want to honor my dad…this is a bit long, so bear with me.
As far as I know, my dad has never won an award. In my heart, the trophy case of awards for my dad would have to be ten stories tall – there are so many! I’ll share a few with you:
Here is the award for his hard work and sacrifice. For most of his life he worked three or more jobs, waking up in the dark, coming home after dark… providing with all his might for our family. In more ways than one, he is the strongest man I know. Thank you dad…for your sacrifice and all it taught me.
Here’s another one: the laughter award. Life was not easy for my dad, but he knew how to smile and laugh so hard…. tears of laughter were common. I may never know how deep that well of laughter is…he is still drawing from it. Thanks for the smiles dad and for teaching me to enjoy family and friends until tears from laughing flow.
Oh look! Here’s the commitment award. My dad’s love for my mom is towering, immovable and exemplary. I find it difficult to explain his love for my mom, only because it is so rare and precious. Vows to love in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow… sometimes I think my parents were the original authors of those vows…their love is so enduring. It’s by no means perfect….well… like the time they had an argument that resulted in my dad locking himself in the bathroom, which, turned a frightening tear filled moment for all us young boys into – yup – laughter. You have no idea how grateful I am for your committed love for mom. I love you so much for that.
He was not the perfect dad, but God brought to my life the perfect dad to teach me, mold me and guide me. The Lord was kind to send me a flawed, loving, giving man whose heart of kindness and love is still speaking into my life. I love you dad. I hope I can live, love and sacrifice – with all my flaws – just like you did.
the locks at marseilles
You can read about the Illinois Waterway here. This is the lock and dam in Marseilles, IL. The recent rains that resulted in flood conditions made the river a loud, violent presence at this location.
get to higher ground
Another shot showing the Illinois River flooding at William G. Stratton State Park. Morris, IL. The rain has finally stopped, so hopefully the river will recede.
rain, rain go away
A week ago we had a terrific rainstorm that featured record sized hail for our area. That was the beginning of a few days of torrential rain that resulted in swollen creeks and rivers and flooded roads all over this region. This is the Illinois River, at William G. Stratton State Park, in Morris, IL, a favorite destination that is featured in many posts on this blog. The image below was taken with my phone and gives you a sense of the flooding at this park.
reflections of the bean
While going through Chicago photos for my last couple of posts I ran across this one and thought I would share. The Bean is a fascinating piece of modern, urban art that is an inexhaustible photographic subject. It’s fun too!
rutakintome pictures 
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