Author: Jon Gauger

Sixty years.  That's how long my parents have now been married.  From nearly any standpoint, that's just plain remarkable. Number 60 is called the Diamond Anniversary—that's how rare it is. According to a U.S. Census Bureau report, only about 5% of married couples ever make it their 50th anniversary.  So a celebration of 60 years together is no small achievement. In so doing (saying I do and then sticking together) David and Virginia have definitely defied the odds—on many levels.  Yet their six decades together, I know for a fact, are not the product of sheer will power or a…

Holiness has fallen on hard times. An ad campaign for a Las Vegas hotel promises, “Just the right amount of wrong.”  Yet holiness—or more specifically, its lack—is not just a problem out in the big bad world, but also in the hearts of those who claim to follow Christ.  In church, we sing worship choruses with gusto, but are nearly mute on the habits of holiness. We dish up sermons by the pound on God's love.  We talk a ton about “felt needs.”  But mere ounces are devoted to holiness. Holiness lacks flash and fun.  It has no drummer, no…

Once, there was a little boy named Tim who loved to fish.  At a favorite campground, Tim had plenty of opportunity in a small lake that yielded lots of action.  What the water lacked in trophy-sized fish, it made up for in volume.  A worm on a hook meant a fish on the line. Yet often, Tim's dad forgot bait.  Or hooks.  Or bobbers. Enter a quiet couple in the trailer next door—George and Julie.  It was uncanny the way George always seemed to be ready with an extra hook or bobber.  And well stocked with bait—night crawlers he shared…

He’s the first grown man I ever saw cry.  To me, he is a living legend. Art Rorheim is 98 and has traveled to more than 50 countries, met several Presidents and continues to memorize large quantities of Scripture as he approaches the century mark.    As a boy of nine at Camp Awana, I remember Art telling about his older brother, Roy, who was 13 and dangerously ill.  Spinal meningitis was a rare and new disease in 1928, and young Roy understood the odds.  A new Christian, he pleaded with his parents from his hospital bed on behalf of…

What do you enjoy reading?  Mysteries….devotionals…Christian biographies?   When people ask me, I tell them, “Just about everything.” People fascinated with food are known as foodies.  They'll try just about anything and like most everything.   Well, I'm a bookie—not with bets—but with books.  I'll read just about anything and like almost everything. I love Dickens and Tolstoy, Arthur Conan Doyle, Louis L'Amour, John Grisham, Clive Cussler and Dorothy Sayers.  In the Christian world, I'm a fan of William Gurnall, J.C. Ryle, Calvin Miller, Tim Keller, Lee Strobel, and—of course—C.S. Lewis.  These days, I find myself drawn to the Puritans. They are…

They needed a place to hide.  And fast. Hearts heaving, horses foaming with sweat, Jesse and his friends dove deep into the cave—along with their loot from the a heist.  For three days a posse hunted these hidden fugitives throughout the cave's many tunnels… unsuccessfully.  Having just visited Meremac Cavern, in Stanton, Missouri, I now understand how Jesse James and his gang eluded the law.  The place they hid is huge—taller than a 7-story building inside!  The grand finale (if cave tours have such a thing) is a seating in a vaulted room that features what they call, “The Stage…

Now that summer is upon us, it's best we made peace with the insects around us.   Why, you ask?  Because….well…resistance is futile.  I was reminded of this when reading Anne Rooney’s book, You Wouldn’t Want to Live without Insects.  In it, she offers insect insight.  Across our globe, there are six to ten million species of insects, although scientists have only named about 900,000 of those species. Insects are found everywhere in the world—even in frozen Antarctica! And boy, are we outnumbered. There are 200 million insects for every person on earth.  About 90% of all life-forms on earth (not…

It’s the largest home in America. Can you name it?  It’s Asheville’s Biltmore estate. When railroad and shipping magnate George Vanderbilt first visited Asheville in 1888, he fell in love with the place and promptly amassed land to construct his sprawling residence.  Forget acres.  The Biltmore sits on nearly 11 square miles!                     Any sense of scale was out-scaled in the construction of this home.  To ship in the raw materials and labor, a special railroad spur was created.  Every day for nearly seven years, hundreds of workers plopped themselves on…

The animals are leaving! A favorite small town nature museum is about to get a make-over.  But maybe not for the best.   Currently on display are more than 50 mounted and stuffed wild animals ranging from a beaver to a bison. They represent life on America's plains and frankly, they are magnificent. I never tire of crouching down and locking eyes with a trio of coyotes.  Processing the span of a wolf's paw is enough to bring a shudder.  And peering at a mountain lion up close jerks one into a fresh reality of the killing machine these creatures can…

Spring has finally reached Illinois.  And trust me, this year we had our doubts. If you are fortunate enough to live outside the Midwest, kindly indulge my excessive jubilation over the sight of leaves on trees.  While you may have been enjoying them for weeks or months now, where we go camping, many of the trees are still only budding. As I pondered their green grandeur, I was struck by the potential of just one tree. Consider this.   One single tree provides shade that means comfort for picnics…and lower air conditioning bills at home. A tree provides food.  Caterpillars and…