Category: personal

FIRST, this blog is the only means I have of communicating to the mystery gifter who leaves random gifts every now and then for Pam and me. Thanks for the gift for Pam this past weekend and don’t worry there aren’t any “rules” concerning the offering box (other than “don’t steal anything from the box” but I figure you won’t do that anyhow). In my previous blog post I was just expressing my own awkwardness. Anyhow thanks for the gift for my wife. It means a lot to me when people recognize how amazing she is.

SECOND, today was the beginning of the supplemental antler-less gun deer season here in Central Wisconsin. Since I didn’t shoot a deer during the regular season I will be spending a little time (when I have it available) in the woods over the next four days. Of course, this naturally means that I will be reading, since that is what I do when I deer hunt. Today’s adventure in bad deer hunting was sponsored by Judith Couchman’s “The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life“

Thanks to Andy Lickel I started duck hunting about 6 seasons ago. This season was my worst duck hunting season. I went out 5 times, shot my shotgun 5 times, and killed & found 1 duck. Most of it is my fault, some of it wasn’t. For example the photo above show the ducks I saw this morning. I took a bad shot at two of them as they flew over and then tracked them down to the other side of the island a little while later only to watch and not be able to shoot them, and two others, because they stayed in between me and our vehicles. The bad shot was my fault. The constant positioning between me and our vehicles wasn’t my fault.

Anyhow here are a few thoughts from my worst season of duck hunting thus far in my life.

1. You can’t shoot ducks if you aren’t out on the water. Yes the times that I went out weren’t the best duck hunting days, but I at least stood a chance of getting a duck when I was out with my gun and decoys. Pam can tell you that there were many nights that I said I was going to leave early in the morning to go duck hunting, only for her to discover me still in the bed in the morning. It is hard to shoot ducks when you don’t go duck hunting.
2. It is important to prepare. I should have shot skeet before the season began. It would have helped my shooting because while, as I have mentioned earlier, I only shot 5 times all but 1 of those shots stunk. I wasn’t swinging  my shot or leading the birds and I knew I wasn’t doing either thing. The only shot where I knew I did it right was the shot where I killed my only bird of the season.
3. Once you have prepared you need to trust your preparation. Two of the ducks in the photo above flew tree height above my initial position. They were going to turn around and come back to the decoys. I knew it and the others with me knew it but instead of trusting that I had set my decoys out properly and enticingly, I took a shot at them. It wasn’t an easy shot and I missed the bird I was going for. If only I had waited they would have come back around and I would have had a much better shot. I should have trusted my preparation.
4. Duck hunting isn’t usually about shooting ducks. Duck hunting, unlike deer hunting, is usually a social experience for me. I do go duck hunting by myself every now and then, but most of the time I go with people who I enjoy being around. This means that even when I don’t see any ducks it is still a win.

I am pretty sure that elements of the above 4 points are true in most things in life, but due to waking up very early the yesterday and today I am pretty tired now. So you will have to figure them out for yourself.

The cost of the ammo I will be using for deer hunting doubled this year. Why? Well because of bald eagles.

I love bald eagles. I find them fascinating. It is one of the many things I love about living in Wisconsin. I see bald eagles everywhere. In fact my favorite fishing spot and duck hunting spot is real close to a bald eagle nest and therefore I regularly see eagles and eaglets flying around while I fish and hunt. This is why Pam’s Christmas gift to me last year was a trip to the Raptor Education Group, Inc‘s (REGI for short) eagle release this past year.

REGI is a great group that rehabilitates eagles, other raptors, and various other birds with the hope of releasing them back to the wild. Many of the eagles that REGI rehabilitates are suffering from lead poisoning. How are the eagles poisoned by the lead? Well it isn’t because eagles often mistake lead for food. Nope it is because they scavenge the gut piles left from field dressing deer that have been shot with lead bullets. One of the things I like about eagles is that aren’t all that noble. Nope they are opportunist. Free deer guts are a tasty meal for them, so they clean up what we deer hunters leave behind. Unfortunately because most hunters use lead ammo this often gives eagles lead poisoning. The second I learned this I realized that if I loved eagles then I was going to have to start hunting with more expensive non-lead ammo. If I love eagles then I need to do everything I can to change my behavior not to hurt them, even when it costs more than I would like to pay. So this year my ammo for deer hunting cost me double what it normally would.

This is how we come to dealing with refugees. If we believe Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) then we don’t have an option of not helping the refugees just because we might think (wrongly in my opinion, but that is a discussion for another time) it could be dangerous. The cost to us doesn’t matter. Danger isn’t a valid excuse for a Christian to not obey Christ and Jesus tells us to help those who are hungry, thirsty, and in need of places to stay (Matthew 25:31-46 calls us “sheep” if we do and “goats” if we don’t). Now I don’t think the Syrian refugees poise any danger BUT even if they do if you are believer in Jesus Christ then you are called to help them. We can debate about how best to help them but we can’t say “We have to worry about our safety so we can’t help them.” If you believe in Jesus as Savior then that belief should change your behavior. If it doesn’t then we need to consider whether we really believe in Jesus or not. Truly loving Jesus leads us to value the “things” He does and the “things” He values are people, very often people in need.

One of the best known stories of the New Testament fits here. The story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is a story that is known and loved concerning helping others. What is often forgotten is that the Samaritan put himself at risk by his actions. He has a member of a class that was biased against within 1st Century Judaism. He actions not only cost him the money he paid to the inn keeper but they also put him into the situation where he could have suffered violence as a result of his assistance.  It was the equivalent of a black man stopping and helping a white woman in a racially divided area during the Jim Crow era. It might be the right thing to do but that right thing might put you in harm’s way. Jesus told this story as an example and no part of that example includes the message “if it is dangerous don’t do this”.

Why? Because if you love someone, that loves changes your actions and you.

I have a few thoughts running around my head concerning things I want to write posts (Paris, refugees – basically if you are going to say you a Christian, then you should act like one in such situations) but right now I simply want to share a wonderful tradition my mom does.

A few years ago she decided that spending money on nicer, more expensive birthday cards, was stupid (I assume my dad’s cheapness gene eventually wore her down). Thus she began buying cheap cards. Cheap cards look, well, cheap. Yet my mom thought it was best not to pay more for birthday cards (something my whole family agrees with her concerning). Of course, once she saved the money the more expensive card would have cost she decided that who ever the birthday person was should have it and a tradition was born. When my mom sends a birthday card to a family member it has that person’s birthday present in it, or attached to it, and additionally a crisp $5 bill to pass the savings on to the birthday person. It makes me smile every time I open up a birthday card. Actually, it makes my whole family smile when they open up cards from my mom. Pam was standing beside me when I opened my card yesterday and smilingly said “and there it is” when I open the card and a $5 bill fell out.

We are a family of traditions and I am so thankful for this tradition. Thanks mom.