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!

Custer National Forest

This was taken during a hike in the Woodbine Campground Area of the Custer Naitonal Forest. We hikle a little over a mike to a spectacular view of a waterfall in the mountians. You can read about this area here.

We have finished our work with campers who are in the foster care system of the state of Montana. We had a wonderful experience loving on these children and enjoying the activities with them. The state of Montana partners with Beartooth Mountain Christian Ranch to provide a camping experience for kids in their foster care system. It was also a bittersweet time, knowing that many of these campers are in hard circumstances in their young lives. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve and hope to return next year. This year we took an extra day in our schedule to enjoy this part of the world. This was taken during a hike in the Woodbine Campground Area of the Custer National Forest. We hiked a little over a mile to a spectacular view of a waterfall in the mountains.

marina sky

We recently had the opportunity to spend some time in New Buffalo, MI. This is a small, beautiful lakeside town on the east side of Lake Michigan.

We recently had the opportunity to spend some time in New Buffalo, MI. This is a small, beautiful lakeside town.

a little morning glory

Taken at a favorite spot alongside the Illinois River on one of my early bicycle rides. In other news, I may not post for a while as I am heading out to Montana with a team to minister at a camp for kids in the foster care system in grades 3 through 12. This is the second summer we are dong this and we are looking forward to loving on the campers.
Taken at a favorite spot alongside the Illinois River on one of my early morning bicycle rides. In other news, I may not post for a while as I am heading out to Montana with a team to minister at a camp for kids in the foster care system in grades 3 through 12. This is the second summer we are doing this and we are looking forward to loving on all those kids! Hopefully I will be able to sneak in a post or two. Take care everyone!

Ent-ish

Ent-ish

Middle Earth is one of my imagination’s favorite destinations. Every now and then I see something that reminds me of a world filled with Hobbits, Balrogs, and, where Gandalf the Grey is setting off fireworks.

Happy Birthday Tony!

This post is to honor my oldest son on his 25th birthday. This was taken back in April when we went exploring and hiking in Wisconsin. I am the very proud father of this fine young man.
This post is to honor my oldest son on his 25th birthday. This was taken back in April when we went exploring and hiking in Wisconsin. I am the very proud father of this fine young man. I am looking forward to more adventures with him!

spy viewing machine

I see you!
I see you!

together

together

These two are usually sitting on top of the refrigerator in the apartment where me oldest son, his wife, and, their son live. I am grateful for the love they share as a family.

gotta love the midwest part 2

This was taken just a few moments after my previous post. There is a little story behind this image. The sky was stunning that day, so I began to think, "How could I be creative?" Then, it came to me! I' take a picture upside down. I know!! BRILLIANT! So-- I laid down on the road (yes... the brilliance is just oozing out!) and took this shot with the camera upside down. It was many hours later when I remembered that Lightroom, Photoshop, Pixelmator, etc., can easily flip and image. So much for artistic brilliance!
This was taken just a few moments after my previous post. There is a little story behind this image. The sky was stunning that day, so I began to think, “How could I be creative?” Then, it came to me! I’ll take a picture upside down. I know!! BRILLIANT! So– I laid down on the road (yes… the brilliance is just oozing out!) and took this shot with the camera upside down. It was many hours later when I remembered that Lightroom, Photoshop, Pixelmator, and just about every other image editing program known to mankind can easily flip an image. So much for artistic brilliance!

gotta love the Midwest

This is a short walk from my home. I am originally from New York, so, it took me along time to get over not living near an ocean (actually, I am still not over that!), not being able to bum around Manhattan, and, no mountains. It is VERY flat around here, however, over time, I have come top appreciate the 360 degree horizon, beautiful skies. This is the first of two shots taken moments apart that are examples of beautiful skies.
This is a short walk from my home. I am originally from New York, so, it took me a long time to get over not living near an ocean (actually, I am still not over that!), not being able to bum around Manhattan, and, no mountains. It is VERY flat around here. However, over time, I have come to appreciate the 360 degree horizon and the beautiful skies. This is the first of two shots taken moments apart that are examples of beautiful skies.

young lady of the plaza

Before we leave the historic Plaza Colon, we will take some time to enjoy this young lade having fun with some other guests of the plaza.
Before we leave the historic Plaza Colon, we will take some time to enjoy this young lady having fun with some other guests of the plaza. Don’t worry, we’ll be paying some more visits to Puerto Rico!