AN UNEXPECTED REWARD

It was 4:30 a.m. on a mid-April morning and my headlamp illuminated a narrow tunnel through the darkness as I was following the trail to my turkey hunting spot.  There was a periodic sparkle from drops of dew clinging to grass and branches and eventually the point came to veer off the main trail and head deeper into the woods.

The first portion of these particular woods are thick with brush and hard to walk through, eventually opening up to an area of large pine trees where the walking is much easier. The ground is covered in long pine needles, which make a slightly crunchy sound when walked upon. After several steps beneath the pine trees, several large birds flushed from their roost overhead. My heart sank; they were turkeys…turkeys that normally roost on the opposite ridge. After taking a few deep breaths, I decided to keep walking cautiously to my pre-determined spot.

After arriving at my spot, I hunkered down on the ground against the base of a pine tree. After making sure the leafy camouflage clothing completely covered me, I shut off my headlamp. The sun started to rise about 30 minutes later and the black sky gave way to a midnight blue that kept getting lighter as the sun rose.

As the woods came to life with light and song birds, a thunderous turkey gobble cut through the air…then another, and then several more. My heart started to pound. Thankfully, the turkeys were still nearby, unfortunately they were out of my sight. However, a jake (which is a one year old male) and a couple hens flew down from their roost near me and held my attention for about 20 minutes, but they eventually left the area as well. The rest of the day remained quiet.

I set up in a different spot for my evening hunt. After sitting completely still for a couple hours, a hen started yelping nearby. She was slowly working her way towards me and  once she got into sight, I could see a large fully strutting tom (adult male) was with her. He was beautiful - his tail feathers fanned out, his head glowing white from excitement, and the rest of his feathers were puffed out. They started to veer around me. The tom was 43 yards away and gave me only one opportunity. I squeezed the trigger…BANG! The many small branches between the tom and I folded over and he flew away unscathed. That concluded the first day’s hunt;  my heart sank for the second time that day.

The next morning I entered the woods in the usual fashion and found a different tree to hunker down next to. The storm from the night before made the woods very quiet for several hours that morning. Suddenly, I could hear something coming through the brush in front of me; it was a whitetail deer. The deer knew something wasn’t right because it kept stomping its hooves and snorting at me. After several minutes, the deer laid down, right there, about 20 feet from me. I started the hunt hoping to get a turkey and  although a deer bedding down almost right next to me wasn’t the reward I was expecting, it sure was worth it!

Proverbs 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

PALM TREES AND PALM SUNDAY

Recently, I took a trip to south Texas to visit my parents; they retired and moved there about 12 years ago. One reason was because the climate was better suited for my mom’s health (they used to live in the Midwest). Growing up in the Midwest myself, it was hard to imagine a better place to live, but my parents really enjoy it there and live in a really nice retirement community.

Now, back to the trip - it was 35 degrees in the Midwest when I boarded the plane that was loaded with college-aged spring breakers. The young man sitting next to me was more interested in “snap chatting” than having a conversion. No worries, I thought to myself, I’ll just read my bible and enjoy the flight. After a couple of hours, the plane started its decent. As the warmth of the southern sun glared through my window, my jean covered legs and long sleeved covered arms got pretty hot. I was slightly envious of the snap chatting college kid with his shorts and t-shirt, but only slightly. The plane landed, I grabbed my bag, met my dad, and shed a few layers of cloths as we jumped in his car.

My parents tolerated my desire for tourist traps

As we drove back to my parents place, the palm trees fascinated me. Palm trees were everywhere, as were retired people, and spring breakers. It was nice to hug my mom. We spent the weekend doing some sightseeing and a lot of talking.

Of course, the palm trees kept catching my eye. The unique thing about palm trees is they have one very tall main trunk with no branches, and at the top is a brilliant green plume of long narrow leaves. Two Sundays ago was Palm Sunday. Our Pastor's sermon started out by explaining how Palm Sunday got its name (I was thankful because I never knew). In Greco-Roman times, palm branches signified victory,  so when all of Jesus’ followers waved palm branches and laid them on the path ahead of him into Jerusalem, it showed their celebration of His victory.  Little did I know, I was witnessing different forms of victory in south Texas that weekend - for the palm trees, all the growth was at the top; for the retirees, they were at the pinnacle point of their lives, and for the spring breakers, they felt at the top of their game. 

A victorious end to the day.

Matthew 21:8-9 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"