Ellie's First Deer

My three eldest children were off at a youth retreat this weekend & we had the three youngest at home. Elizabeth mentioned that it would be a good time to take Ellie hunting & spend some time with her. I had just convinced myself of not going hunting on Saturday when my wife mentioned that to me.
Ellie & I got a late start & stopped in the shooting range at the Beaverdam WMA at 3:30 pm. I had to sight in the new 243 youth model rifle that I picked up for a steal last month. It only took 3 shots to zero it in at 40 yards. I gave Ellie some instructions & then she loaded the rifle, aimed, & fired. About an inch to the left of the bull's eye. Next shot, an inch high. Third shot, an inch to the left...good enough.
We drove around & found what looked like a food plot on an aerial map I found of the place on the Internet. Sure enough, just a few hundred yards down a closed logging road was a beautiful food plot just full of deer tracks & sign. It was Walmart for deer. We set up our ground blind with some tangled bushes for a backdrop. Several hours of hushed conversation & reading went by. About 6:15 pm I saw a brown spot at the end of the field. My eyesight is failing (for real) so I asked Ellie to look. "Its a deer daddy!" she whispered with great excitement. She wasn't in the right spot for a shot so she slowly stood up & I moved her stool to give her a shot at the deer. It took her about 5 minutes to find the deer in the scope. By this time the deer had moved to about 75 yards & politely turned broadside for a clean shot. "I see it now" she whispered with an amazing calm. I told her to just squeeze the trigger - "Crack!" - before I finished my instruction.
The deer seemed to drop it's rear end by a couple of inches but it didn't move. I pulled up to take a shot. Just as I squeezed off my shot the deer disappeared from my scope & my shot went off into the woods. "Where did it go?" I asked Ellie. I thought it ran away. "I think it fell over" was her reply. Well, we went to see. Sure enough, there was the young buck (6 points) lying in the tall grass. Ellie is reserved & not really all that excitable but she was shaking with the thrill of all that just took place. We folded up the blind, chairs & hunting bag & together drug the deer to the truck. She assisted in cleaning the deer & our good friends, the Metcalfes, agreed to help skining & quarter the deer at 10 pm on a Saturday. My big boys were at camp & not available.
It was a picture perfect moment that I look forward to having with all my children. I was with Paul Jr. & Zack when they took their first deer. Now Anna is on fire to get her first deer. I hope that happens soon for her so we can all get some rest around here.
(I'll post pics as soon as I get them from Don)

Macy's Baptism

A Happy Momma
A Delighted Dad

In obedience to the command of our Lord & Savior...

Baptism...the frosting on the cake of ministry

Standing up & Stepping out for Jesus

Buried in the Likeness of His Death

I believe the Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God

Greatful Dad & Grace filled Daughter

A Faithful Mother

Its not ALL pretty!

Macy is a sweet young lady with a beautiful testimony. She has grown up in a wonderful Christian home & her parent's have kept her before the cross. Macy recently turned 16 & God had begun to awaken her to her need for Christ through some illness. Sweetly & graciously, God made Macy His own & she was able to trust Christ & His finished work on the cross of Calvary to rescue & remake her into a daughter of God.

What a joy to be able to do life with such families. I just realized that Hayward & I have baptized all three of his children together over the past several years.
We are real family - for eternity. The DNA of the risen Christ unites us to our Father in Heaven.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Doe with a Bow

The fruit of my labor & God's provision

Bella meets Bambi

Patience - an elusive virtue that is only needed when not wanted by him in greatest need of it. I shot a nice doe in the same location last year. I gave it an hour & started tracking it. I jumped it, it ran, tracked it over a mile, never recovered it.
Last evening I got to the stand way too late - 6pm. I decided to set up as quietly as possible & sit until dark. I jumped 3 does on the way in - a good & bad sign. About 7 pm I looked to my left & much to my surprise, there was a nice doe not 15 yards from me. I put the pin just behind the shoulder & released. She was quartering away from me so everything was perfect. I listened to her run & heard her crash. Unlike last year, I eased out of the woods, went home to get supper, gear, & help. I gave the deer nearly 3 hours to expire. I figured it would be easy to find her knowing that she was within 30 to 40 yards of the stand. Not so. She made circles all over that swamp. The blood trail all but dried up. I left my girls standing at last blood & started 'making circles'. You walk in 10 yard over lapping circles. It was so thick that 'circles' were impossible. As I made my way back to the girls, I followed a small overgrown creek. On my hands & knees in the mud I came to a tight bend in the creek not 12 feet from the girls & there was the deer, laying partially submerged in the creek. Getting her out of there was a chore as was the next 2 hours or so of getting it quartered & in the cooler.
I was able to take my girls & nephew with me plus my friend Randy & his boys (it was on his land). My son, Paul Jr. came over & was a huge help in processing the deer. I love that he never shys away from hard work. It was a memorable & tiring night. I went to bed at 2 a.m. tired but grateful.

Wake Up Call

Great Start - Poor Finish. I taught 2 classes today at the first CWW Co-Op. Both were Bible classes (for some reason they didn't want me teaching math...go figure). My first class was with the little children ages 3 to 6 or 7.
First of all, they are so easy to please. We sang & did the motions & they just ate it up. Then I began the lesson on David. I asked several questions that I wasn't sure this little kiddos would know. One was, "Who wrote most of the Psalms". Little Elizabeth knew that one. I asked what instrument David played & my son Sam knew that. They knew the name of Goliath's country - Philistia! Color me impressed.
Next class: 11 older children from 9 - 16. That class is Bible 101. The basic structure, layout, history, & basic geography of the Word of God. It was an exercise in contrast to the younger children. Nobody knew what the word "Testament" meant. To my shame, my daughters were in this class! No one knew what the oldest book of the O.T. was (the earliest written - do you know?) No one knew who authored the majority of the N.T. (do you know that one?) I know my girls have heard me teach this stuff before. When I asked the questions...Crickets.
This class represents CWW's brightest & best. I really challenged them to get engaged & get to know their Bibles. Next week's class opens with a fill in of the break down of the Old & New Testaments - the 3 kinds of books in each & then writing out in order the books of the Bible spelled correctly. My wife said that might have been a little much. I disagree...it's not enough.
Somehow I've broken my arm patting myself on the back because my pre schooler knows that David played a harp while allowing my Junior High age girls to be ignorant of what a 'Testament' is.
Today was a wake up call for me as a Parent & a Pastor.

Ben's Turn

I guess Ben decided it was his turn for a late night run to the doctor. He really should have been in bed but we were all enjoying his antics so we let him stay up. About 9:15 pm, I heard a scream in the big boy's room. Then I heard Zack say, "Ben's cut pretty bad". He comes out carrying Ben & blood is dripping all over the floor.
I'm hoping for a superficial cut but to no avail. The a/c vent cover in the big guy's room cracked when they rolled an office chair over it so they took it off. Well Ben fell in it with one leg & apparently it had some sharp edges. His heel has a long curved cut that bled the most but wasn't very deep. The small inch long cut on the back of his calf was the one that would need stitches.
After waiting nearly 2 hours, the Doc came in & said the calf cut would need stitches. I asked if he could use the dermabond glue instead & after looking at it again, he agreed.
They had to put him in a papoose to keep him still. He did NOT like that. I've never heard him scream that loud or long. His little face was cherry red & he was soaked in sweat. Then came the tetanus shot.
Suffice it to say, he got out of there a lot better off than his brother's trip. The Doc felt bad & gave him a 'sucker' which he enjoyed all the way home.
Then end (I hope)