Truth Treasures

Truth Treasures – September 2025

Stephanie O'Donnell

It’s Back-To-School time! I’m excited, aren’t you? I have enjoyed my summer break, but I am ready to return to a schedule again.

Welcome to Truth Treasures, a new monthly post for the first Friday of each month. Here I will feature some goodness from around the web which I hope will be helpful to you, as well as some personal tidbits, resources for the creatives amongst us, book recommendations and other treasures. I pray you will be blessed and God will be glorified.

Reading Nook:

  • Hudson Taylor: The Growth of a Soul, Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor – “Wow” is all I can say. This isn’t in the regular purchasing channels, but I would highly recommend this two volume set.
  • Witness, Jonathan K. Dodson, Ed Stetzer – This is a short read on the topic of evangelizing. I found the practical suggestions helpful and realistic to apply to our everyday relationships. Suddenly, being a witness for the gospel doesn’t seem so scary!

Teacher Resources:

  • This summer, I hung my first hummingbird feeder right in front of our living room window. I’ve been in awe watching these teeny hummers zip, hover and sometimes rest. Students in my Grade 4 Science class are eager learners when we get to our unit on birds. Here’s one video we will be watching this year on the tiny hummingbird.

Around the Web:

Creative Corner:

  • Ansel Adams, AI, and the Essence of Creation – O.A. Noble – The title grabbed my attention because Ansel Adams is my all time favorite photographer, but it also put into words what I’ve been thinking about lately as a creative person: what happens to the hard, worthy work of creativity with the fast-paced growth of AI? “What will we have left when we do nothing ourselves?” is a question we all ought to ask ourselves. “Whether you are using {AI} to create video or an image or write a story or a paper or a sermon, in the end, the goal becomes output and product, or in other words utility, not creation. And the embodied experience of being in the world and engaging with it with intentionality to create something meaningful is exchanged for the need to produce.”
  • Canadian Geographic 2025 Wildlife Photography Competition– Check out these beautiful images made by Canadian photographers!

Life Through My {Camera} Lens:

“Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.” (Proverbs 25:14) I understand Solomon’s proverb a bit more these days. We’ve been without rain for almost two months as wildfires take their toll on a typically humid province. The forecast holds no hope for relief, but these clouds looked very promising as they passed overhead one late August afternoon. Just like the proverb, they promised, but did not deliver.
Late summer mornings on the river hold a feast of activity for anyone who pauses to observe. Fog lingers low until the rising sun burns it off the sleek, still river. Gaggles of geese are in flight school training which results in lots of splashing, flapping and honking. An immature eagle, uncertain of its new freedom and responsibilities, screeches incessantly to mama perched aloof further down stream, A racoon, belly deep in the water and digging in the mud for breakfast, frustrates the fishing efforts of a nearby great blue heron. There is never a dull moment on the river.
Late August/early September is a busy time with birthday celebrations in our house. Our children were born two weeks shy of two years apart; and even though they are adults now—and even though four seats at the table is now ten—we still celebrate with a special supper for each. The most blessed part of being a grandmother is watching my children grow as parents.

A Favorite Quote:

Thank you for spending time here! Feel free to say ‘Hi’ in the comments and let me know you were here! Blessings,

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

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Published by Stephanie O'Donnell

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