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Garrett and I recently spent a weekend of a lifetime together, hunting turkey in Kansas. It was a weekend to remember and I came home with my best trophy ever!
By way of a very good friend, Marv Clynke, Garrett and I were guests of the Southwick family at their ranch in north-central Kansas. The place is a wildlife mecca! Turkey, quail, pheasant, dove, deer, coyotes, owls, crows, snapping turtles, wood ducks, squirrels........more than we could count.
I say this was the weekend of a lifetime, and it is so. Garrett has hunted with daddy many times before. But this time was different. This time I was hunting with my friend and he was carrying his own tag, for the first time ever. Right in the middle of day two, we had worked our way down through a creek bottom so littered with deer tracks that it looked like someone was running cattle in there. As we clamored up to the top of the far bank, we found a good place to set up and ambush. Marv, who was guiding for us, was "bird dogging" about a half mile up from our location. We knew the birds were there, but it was so windy that they were tucked in pretty tight. So I set my back against a tree and pulled Garrett and his little shotgun (borrowed from Marv of course) up into my lap so we blended into the woods as literally just another "bump on a log". Within a few minutes, I got my trophy of a lifetime.
By the time Marv came to our location, I was holding my trophy as proudly as ever. Garrett had fallen asleep on daddy's lap. In the quiet time I had, just he and I before Marv arrived, I marveled at the goodness of God once again. Here in this beautiful place, surrounded by majesty of epic proportions, listening to a distant hen turkey calling, a crow scolding the hen and a woodpecker working on his own masterpiece, I held in my arms artwork unmatched. Through the "miles, trials, bumps, bruises and broken bones", we had reached a new pinnacle. Here, two hunting partners shared the beauty of God's hand, far from tubes, wires, needles, pagers, phones, doctors.....you get the idea. In the way only He could design, he gave me another gift I'll treasure all my days. He gave me the unconditional love of a little warrior cowboy, healthy and happy, in the only place he and I wanted to be right at that moment. And he let that little fighter relax enough to fall into a gentle sleep in daddy's arms. I've never brought home a better trophy. This one's mounted on the wall of my heart and will always hold a place of honor.
I'm continually astonished by the kindness of folks who reach out to us and do something special for my family. This hunt, this gift, will remain one of the most precious gifts I've ever received. It's hard to convey the sights, sounds, chill in the air, breeze........but believe me, all the stars aligned at that moment to impress a hallmark in my soul forever. Hearing his soft breaths, feeling his powerful heart, with him in my arms suddenly I could protect him again, if for only a few minutes. My love has never been stronger. Moments such as this one come along rarely, but thankfully, they do come along.
God bless you all. Take the time to find those moments with your little ones. They are fleeting at best, and to capture but one will give you the trophy of a lifetime.
JD
By way of a very good friend, Marv Clynke, Garrett and I were guests of the Southwick family at their ranch in north-central Kansas. The place is a wildlife mecca! Turkey, quail, pheasant, dove, deer, coyotes, owls, crows, snapping turtles, wood ducks, squirrels........more than we could count.
I say this was the weekend of a lifetime, and it is so. Garrett has hunted with daddy many times before. But this time was different. This time I was hunting with my friend and he was carrying his own tag, for the first time ever. Right in the middle of day two, we had worked our way down through a creek bottom so littered with deer tracks that it looked like someone was running cattle in there. As we clamored up to the top of the far bank, we found a good place to set up and ambush. Marv, who was guiding for us, was "bird dogging" about a half mile up from our location. We knew the birds were there, but it was so windy that they were tucked in pretty tight. So I set my back against a tree and pulled Garrett and his little shotgun (borrowed from Marv of course) up into my lap so we blended into the woods as literally just another "bump on a log". Within a few minutes, I got my trophy of a lifetime.
By the time Marv came to our location, I was holding my trophy as proudly as ever. Garrett had fallen asleep on daddy's lap. In the quiet time I had, just he and I before Marv arrived, I marveled at the goodness of God once again. Here in this beautiful place, surrounded by majesty of epic proportions, listening to a distant hen turkey calling, a crow scolding the hen and a woodpecker working on his own masterpiece, I held in my arms artwork unmatched. Through the "miles, trials, bumps, bruises and broken bones", we had reached a new pinnacle. Here, two hunting partners shared the beauty of God's hand, far from tubes, wires, needles, pagers, phones, doctors.....you get the idea. In the way only He could design, he gave me another gift I'll treasure all my days. He gave me the unconditional love of a little warrior cowboy, healthy and happy, in the only place he and I wanted to be right at that moment. And he let that little fighter relax enough to fall into a gentle sleep in daddy's arms. I've never brought home a better trophy. This one's mounted on the wall of my heart and will always hold a place of honor.
I'm continually astonished by the kindness of folks who reach out to us and do something special for my family. This hunt, this gift, will remain one of the most precious gifts I've ever received. It's hard to convey the sights, sounds, chill in the air, breeze........but believe me, all the stars aligned at that moment to impress a hallmark in my soul forever. Hearing his soft breaths, feeling his powerful heart, with him in my arms suddenly I could protect him again, if for only a few minutes. My love has never been stronger. Moments such as this one come along rarely, but thankfully, they do come along.
God bless you all. Take the time to find those moments with your little ones. They are fleeting at best, and to capture but one will give you the trophy of a lifetime.
JD
