IN THE BEGINING

Being an outdoorsman has been in my blood as long as I can remember, from fishing as a toddler, to witnessing my sons enjoy their firsts of many facets in the outdoors. Being a Christian has been a part of my life since my infant baptism, being raised in a Christian home, shying away in my young adult life to following God’s purpose for my current season.  It’s kind of goofy I’ve never put the two of them together until my adult life. You may be thinking, duh! God created man, the heavens and earth; well, I can be a slow learner.

The first memory of combining the two is when I was about three. We lived on a farm in the Upper Midwest. By we, I mean Mom, Dad and us four boys; four boys within five years.  That probably explains why we were outdoors a lot. Having us four boys in a house meant something was probably going to get busted. So, outside we went and while we were outdoors we needed God to watch over us, and he always did. That first memory was us boys walking a field edge and it was muddy, extremely muddy, so muddy that as we trenched through it there was a feeling like it was trying to eat us. When one finally pulled a leg out it resembled the sound of a person trying to get that last drop of beverage from the bottom of a glass through a straw. One of us ended up losing a shoe somewhere in the knee deep muck that day. Another thing that stood out to me that day was a big oak tree towering over the area providing a sense of calm and security. 

Photo credit: shakyphotography.com

Little did I know how God was going to use the outdoors and the impression of trees in my life. Being outdoors can be exciting and yet peaceful for me, whether in the woods, on the water, or just walking the through the neighborhood.