Waking up at three in the morning, walking six miles in the dark, and sitting on a ledge for hours on end, in the cold, may not sound like the ideal start to the day for most people, but for the average hunter, we’re not among those.
A lot of young kids make paper chains to count down the days to Christmas. Personally, I always had a countdown to the opening day of deer season. Every year I looked forward to that special time I would spend with my father.
I can still see myself with feet dangling over a canyon, glassing the widespread valleys below. It was just my father and I, along with the occasional deer passing hundreds of feet below us. My father was then, and still is today, my leader and my hero.
My father taught me, at a young age, the art of being still. This was something which, for a young boy, wasn’t easy to do. He taught me the value of being quick to listen and slow to speak. “If you are talking, you may miss your opportunity to hear what’s moving around you in the silence.” he would say.
Most importantly, my father taught me the importance of knowing who I was following. My dad knew that I would follow him anywhere, without fear, knowing he would protect me. But, what he most wanted was for me to know that I could trust and follow Jesus.
At a young age, I easily developed a passion and love for the outdoors, especially the sport of hunting. This zeal has never left me. Fast forward two decades. I am now a father of three beautiful children, Zachariah, Alaina, and Jaxon. My wife, Rachel, and I have spent these young years providing our children many outdoor adventures and opportunities to help them grow to love and appreciate nature and the great outdoors.
Finally, Zachariah turned eight and was ready to go on his first ram hunt. When he was just a toddler, I would take Zachariah hunting with me, carrying him in a backpack. Now he was ready to go on his first hunt and carry his own backpack. We were both elated about the upcoming adventure for which we had long prepared with lessons in gun safety, target practice, and discussions about hunting responsibly.
When we arrived at our hunting camp I asked my son if he was ready for this hunt. With a huge grin stretched from ear to ear, he said, “Yes!” Because of the preparation and practice we had done, as well as his contagious grin, I knew he was ready. Before the sun rose the following morning, while the air was still crisp and fresh and there was silence all around, we got up and started out on our search for a Texas Dall.
Our hunt took place in an area of treacherous terrain and I wanted to make sure my son was safe and paying attention. I turned and asked him if he was being careful of where he stepped. Slightly out of breath, but still flashing that irresistible smile, he looked up at me and stated with enthusiasm, “Yes, I am stepping exactly where you are stepping dad.”
I contemplated Zachariah’s response as we continued our trek down the mountain. How often do we take our eyes off our Heavenly Father when we’re going through perilous times in our life? Isn’t it easy for us to get caught up in ourselves and focused on what we’re doing, that we never even look up to see if we’re still following in the secure footsteps of our Father in Heaven?
In John 5:19 Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” You see, my son had it right. If we follow in our Heavenly Father’s footsteps we will always be protected and secure. When we take our eyes off our Father we get diverted from the safe path that He is leading us down and find ourselves falling. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
The greatest desire I have is that like myself, and my father before me, my children will learn early in life the importance of walking in the footsteps that God, their Father, has set before them and that they would follow Him all the days of their lives.
