The alarm whaled at 3:45 am and with
a heavy, half-asleep arm, I quickly slapped the alarm into snooze mode. As soon
as I lay my head back on the pillow, my heavy eyelids were starting to win the
battle of falling back to sleep. Sure enough, 10 minutes later the alarm whaled
and was once again smacked into silence. Lying there in the sleeping bag I was
reminded how every part of my body was feeling - my feet, legs and butt were
sore, not to mention my back ached and my shoulders were tight.
The previous three days were
spent with my oldest son turkey hunting. Every day, the plan was to hike deep
into the woods to avoid other hunters and find turkeys that hadn’t already been
chased away by the other hunters…we failed at both. No matter how far we hiked,
there were other hunters. No matter how sneaky we tried to be, the turkeys were
on to us. Either way, we were there hunt and hunt we did. Each morning we would
don our camouflaged clothing and hunting vests full of gear and snacks. We’d throw a shotgun over a shoulder, and with
a spring in our step, start the hike in. We’d spend the day hiking up and down
hills, plopping down on the ground at the base of trees, trying to work a turkey
into our set-up, and moving to a new location to try again. At the end of each
day we’d hike back out with our boots dragging, everything feeling a lot heavier
than it did when we started.
Back to that annoying alarm - knowing
this was the final day of hunting, I slowly rolled out of my sleeping bag and
started getting ready for the day. We grabbed everything we needed for the day
and jumped in the truck. Arriving at the woods, we didn’t see any sign of other
hunters and were relieved. We once again donned our gear and started the hike
in. The spring in my step was definitely less springy than the previous days.
The cool morning air was refreshing and gave us the energy during the hike in. We
arrived in the area we decided to hunt for the morning and split up.
By the light of my headlamp I found
a good-looking tree and plopped on the ground. The tree and ground were at just
the right angle to each other to make for a very comfy morning sit. Within 15
minutes of getting comfortable by the tree, the sky and woods started to
lighten up…perfect timing I thought. The song birds started to sing and squirrels
started to chatter. The wind started to blow causing the tree tops to sway. The
sounds and sights were memorizing; being in the woods and outdoors is where I
feel most connected with God, but the disappointment of the hunt so far was
keeping me from connecting with Him. Even
though I tried to focus on the task at hand, my mind kept wandering from the
previous days hunt, the state of the current world situation, and wondering if
another hunter would bust my morning hunt yet again. Eventually, everything was
quiet and I felt very calm and relaxed…I had fallen asleep. I slowly opened my
eyes to confirm I didn’t miss anything, then let my heavy eyelids black out my
vision again. This went on several more times until I finally felt peacefulness
set in.
Even this beautiful view couldn't keep me awake
We never did get a turkey, but I left
feeling refreshed because of the time spent in the woods with my son and the
memory of the final morning’s peaceful hunt.
Matthew 8:26 “Jesus responded, “Why
are you afraid. You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind
and the waves and suddenly there was great calm.”
