Tweet
Financially we will not starve if I fail to harvest and honestly the bottom line would fare better if I gave up hunting and spent the summer raising a pig or two and a bunch of chickens. We certainly prefer wild game and cherish the meat we bring home but it is far from necessary for survival. Because of this I never felt it was appropriate to ask god for more than safety in the field.
I have had some success over the years though I am certainly not an acclaimed hunter. This last fall was my third dedicated sheep hunt and it wasn't looking like finding me a sheep was likely. For the first time I laid down to bed and actually prayed that my hard work be rewarded in a very specific manner. I asked god that should he will me to have success that there would be a ram in the little canyon a few hundred yards from camp the following day. I had mentioned to Kotton several times what a blessing it would be should we find one there but felt rather guilty for asking that of The Lord.
The next morning I got up and went to a gravel bed to use the restroom and as I hung a cheek of a rock I looked up at that canyon and saw a white spot where non had been before.
I rousted Kotton and after a short stalk I put a 160 grain nosler partition through that ram's heart as he lay there in his bed only about 500 yards from our spike camp. We hiked down and grabbed our packs then went back up to retrieve him from the canyon floor. As I lay hands on him for the first time, cradling his horns in my hand and stroking his back I thanked god for the blessing but in the back of my mind it felt self serving to have asked god for something so specific that wasn't truly a need.
I have prayed many times after doing everything in my power to get a needed result. Laying on the ground as mortars landed near by, facing financial ruin if a house didn't sell when the market crumbled, taking incoming fire in the back of a helicopter are generally the level things reach before I have prayed for myself.on the other hand I ask at least daily for loved ones and those around me to be taken care of and looked after. As I reflect I realize that I usually pray for things not to happen which leaves plenty of room to question whether it was gods hand or just luck of the draw. For all the frivolity of asking that a sheep be in a particular place at a particular time it sure was surreal to have it granted.
Perhaps he did it simply to show me that he was there listening all along.
I have had some success over the years though I am certainly not an acclaimed hunter. This last fall was my third dedicated sheep hunt and it wasn't looking like finding me a sheep was likely. For the first time I laid down to bed and actually prayed that my hard work be rewarded in a very specific manner. I asked god that should he will me to have success that there would be a ram in the little canyon a few hundred yards from camp the following day. I had mentioned to Kotton several times what a blessing it would be should we find one there but felt rather guilty for asking that of The Lord.
The next morning I got up and went to a gravel bed to use the restroom and as I hung a cheek of a rock I looked up at that canyon and saw a white spot where non had been before.
I rousted Kotton and after a short stalk I put a 160 grain nosler partition through that ram's heart as he lay there in his bed only about 500 yards from our spike camp. We hiked down and grabbed our packs then went back up to retrieve him from the canyon floor. As I lay hands on him for the first time, cradling his horns in my hand and stroking his back I thanked god for the blessing but in the back of my mind it felt self serving to have asked god for something so specific that wasn't truly a need.
I have prayed many times after doing everything in my power to get a needed result. Laying on the ground as mortars landed near by, facing financial ruin if a house didn't sell when the market crumbled, taking incoming fire in the back of a helicopter are generally the level things reach before I have prayed for myself.on the other hand I ask at least daily for loved ones and those around me to be taken care of and looked after. As I reflect I realize that I usually pray for things not to happen which leaves plenty of room to question whether it was gods hand or just luck of the draw. For all the frivolity of asking that a sheep be in a particular place at a particular time it sure was surreal to have it granted.
Perhaps he did it simply to show me that he was there listening all along.
Comment