Friday, May 28, 2021

Just A Closer Walk 5/28/2021

 Good Morning,

Friday arrived as promised and in our part of the world, you would think it is late November. A small fire in the hearth is warming the house and a LARGE cup of Door County Country Morning Blend Coffee is taking the chill out of my bones. 

Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for You, O God


I started hunting for wild game when I was nine years old. At that age I wasn't allowed to carry a rifle, but I went along with my dad just to observe. At that age I wasn't real crazy about getting out of a warm bed and walking out in the woods to a deer stand in the dark. My nine year old mind hadn't put all the pieces together yet. My imagination always got the best of me. I knew that in late November most bears in our part of the woods were hibernating. Yet I was convinced that there was one or two hiding behind trees waiting to have me for breakfast. Wolves weren't much of an issue back then, but the woods of my mind had plenty of them. I was glad Dad had a rifle and the Marine knew how to use it. I quizzed him the night before as to if he was proficient enough with that Winchester. 

As we walked in the dark, Dad always walked slow enough for me to keep up. His warning to me "You don't want to get lost out here" rang in my head all the way to the deer stand. By the way that quarter of a mile seemed like ten miles going uphill in the dark to me. Daylight would eventually arrive and we would share some coffee. I sat pretty close to my Dad while we were in the dark. Nothing was going to get between us, my safety, and that Winchester if I was being attacked by snow snakes. (Thank you Uncle Connie for that Bull Dinky story.) The day would end when we shot a deer or at the end of the day. When we were unsuccessful we walked back out of the woods in the dark. Lions, tigers and bears oh my!

Here is the point. Even though my fears were all in my imagination, they were real to me. Overcoming those fears was easier because I walked very close to Dad. 

I have this quote where I can see it now and then. 

"Walk so close to God, that nothing can come between you.

Anonymous.

Friends, here's the point of the day. Do you walk so close to God that nothing can come between you? Or do you leave space that allows for the world to creep in and cause a separation between the two of you? Whenever I slowed down in my walk to the deer stand and Dad was out of my sight the snow snakes seemed more real and all the bears woke up from hibernation just to devour me. We need to keep in step with God and draw as close to Him as possible at all times. He is the one who can navigate the dark woods we pass through and always lead us home. 

Have a great day. Watch out for snow snakes!

Marty

No comments:

Post a Comment