DID YOU HEAR THAT?

Typically, the best time to hunt is in the morning, which works great for me because I’m a morning person. I like to be in the exact spot I plan to hunt well before sunrise. I love being in the woods at sunrise!

When it comes to turkey hunting, I’m usually sitting on the ground with my back leaning against a tree. For the first half hour or so, it’s usually pitch black. I can’t see anything, but I can hear everything. While directly on the ground right amongst the critters, sounds can be heard all around and from above. The sounds around me range from the light scurrying of field mice, a heavier waddling of a raccoon or opossum, to the slow methodic foot placement of a whitetail deer or coyote. The sounds come from above and can be from an owl hooting or the rustling feathers of a turkey waking from long slumber. When it’s completely dark, none of these things can be seen but I know they’re there. It’s important to pay attention to what I hear to know if I’m in the right place or not.

Sometimes, one of my sons or my brother have been with me, and that’s helpful to get a different perspective on the exact sound. My hearing has worsened over the years and things may sound a bit different to me. The question, “did you hear that?” is asked a lot. This is helpful to confirm whether nothing was heard, something was heard, or it was exactly what we both thought. The owl’s “who, who a-whoo.” can sound like “who cooks for you.” And where do you think a Chickadee got its name from? Just listen to their song, “chick-a-dee-dee-dee.” A honking goose can sound like a clucking turkey and a squirrel rustling in the leaves always sounds like an approaching deer.

It’s the same as listening for and hearing what God is trying to say; maybe it’s a light scurrying in your soul, perhaps a casual waddling nudge, and most of the time it’s exactly what you thought you heard.

The most beautiful sunrise I've ever witnessed. God didn't have to say anything

Hebrews 2:1 We must pay most careful attention, therefore, to what we heard, so that we do not drift away.

BE IN THE MOMENT, BE AWARE OF THE MOMENT

 The northern lights, or aurora borealis as they’re technically called, have been put on my bucket list recently. Let’s simply call them aurora for the rest of the blog. An Aurora is a natural light display in the earths sky, predominately seen in higher altitudes.

I’ve been thinking a lot about them lately and since my smart phone seems to know what I think about before I do, I’ve been seeing a ton of pictures and ads for viewing them. My specific bucket list item is to literally be directly under them and have them dancing all around me. I’ve seen videos of this and it’s like a flowing stream overhead of green yellow and red gaseous lights. To get this type of experience one would need to be in Alaska, Canada, or the Sweden/Norway/Finland areas in winter months. Until that happens, I’ve been following aurora forecast sites for my area of North America, and the opportunities are usually pretty slim. The forecast ratings are in a 1-10 scale, with 1 being you are not going to see anything, and 10 being you are in the thick of it. A few days ago, we had a forecast of 5, which means you may see something…or you may not. So, my wife and I grabbed some extra cloths and headed north a few hours. We ended up on the edge of lake with our son who lives in that area.

 

We arrived right at sunset and were able to enjoy the sun saying goodnight over the frozen lake.

For the next two hours the focus was on the northern horizon and wait for what could be. I set my camera phone up on a tripod. Just so you know, a camera phone is not the best device for night pictures, but I did have the “nightcap app” to help. As we stared to the north, a few other star gazers slowly joined us. While they walked up behind us, I looked to the south and saw some early stars popping out in the sky.

Once again, the focus was back to the northern horizon. We squinted our eyes and stared intently. Every so often we’d asked each other, “do you see anything?” The answer was typically, “maybe that’s something over there.” Still, we focused to the northern horizon. At one point I stretched my neck upward and saw how full the sky above was with stars.

And then back to the northern horizon we focused our eyes. We slowly started to see something; a slight glow just beyond the trees, and then another faint one to the right, and then a very faint streak above them. Could this be it, is this the beginning of the spectacular light show we had been waiting for? We stared for another 45 minutes and nothing more happened; in fact, it started to fade. The other star gazers had already left and my wife’s feet had been frozen for too long, so we packed it up and left.

Thankfully, there were moments when we stopped to look around and look up. Had we focused on the one thing we thought we should see the entire time, we would have missed the other things that were actually right on top of us.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

DOING WHAT'S RIGHT, EVEN WHEN IT'S HARD

 

Recently, the entire United States went through an extreme artic blast, with record- breaking low temperatures and snowfall in places that haven’t seen in decades, if ever.

 

When it’s extremely cold, -20F to be exact, it’s tough to get motivated and get out of a cozy bed, let alone leave the comfort of a warm home and go to work. On many occasions my job has me working outside, and that can make it even less motivating. I really have to get myself pumped up for the occasion, telling myself, “it won’t be that bad,” “you’ve done it before, you can do it again,” and “at least I’m getting paid to do this.” These pep talks usually help enough to overcome the miserable idea of what my day may entail, and so I go about the day fighting to stay focused and on task to get the work done and not freeze a finger off. By the end of the day my body is chilled to the bone and thoroughly exhausted. By the time I arrive home from work, my wife will usually ask, “how’d it go?” to which I reply in a grumpy voice, “fine!” I fight to stay awake through dinner and take a scalding hot shower to try and warm up my bones.

 

On the other hand, if it’s a day to be filled with hunting or any other outdoor adventure, things would play out dramatically different. I would be awake before the alarm goes off, jump out of bed hurrying to get out the door, thinking to myself, “I can’t wait to get outside!” With many layers on and one eye frozen shut I would say, “it ain’t that bad!” Dreading the day’s end, I talk excitedly with anyone, sharing how the day was and how much I’m looking forward to the next time.

 

Working in the cold.          Playing in the cold

Isn’t it interesting how easily we do the things we want to do, but struggle to do the things we need to do?

 

Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.