Heather and I moved to Olathe, KS during the summer of 1999. We were poor seminary students who were adjusting to married life.

We had little to watch on television and I stumbled across the show, Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations on Kansas City Public Television. This silly show about two men traveling the US looking for folk artists struck a cord with me. I truly fell in love with folk art.

The quirky, homemade, 'art-out-of-necessity' nature of folk art captured my imagination. From the well known Howard Finster to the obscure Palmyra, TN artist E.T. Wickham, their art flows from a deep desire to reflect the beauty around them and to create.

Enter Ross Ward. Here is a quick bio from the Tinkertown website:

Ross Ward was born to paint, carve and tinker. As a boy growing up in the Midwest, he was captivated by the tiny villages, farms and circuses created by “spare time carvers.” His own miniature world began with circus figures carved while in junior high school – now on display at the museum. He began carving the first figures for the turn-of-the-century general store in 1962.Ross carved and built his folk art environment as a hobby for most of his adult life but he was even more prolific in his artistic endeavors of painting, etching, drawing and sculpture. A self-taught artist, he was a show painter for carnivals for over 30 years, traveling the country painting on all the major carnival shows and in winter quarters from Texas to Florida.

A couple challenges I took from Tinkertown (both of these were hand painted by Ross in Tinkertown):

• "Ever since the creation of the world, God's invisible nature has been clearly perceived in things that have been made" –Romans 1:20
• "I did all this while you were watching TV." –Ross Ward

I think I will combine these challenges into a few questions. How am I reflecting God's in my life? Am I spending the time I have here on earth wisely? Am I investing my life in things that have eternal value?

I hope we take the time to ask ourselves these questions and reflect on the beauty of our Creator.

Are you investing in eternity or the temporary?

Here are some of our pictures from Tinkertown USA.