2019 Edition of "Warning: Contains Images of the Hunted Looking...Hunted"

The past month has been loaded with activities, including our church's high school camp and young adult retreat, but the focus of this entry is our family's annual archery hunting trip. This year was perhaps our most successful year, and showing pictures of all of the "fruits of our labor" might be a tad distasteful for a random blog-surfer. Out of the nine hunters, eight of us bagged animals -- which means we may actually have enough venison in the freezer to last until next year!

Every year, the highlight of the hunting season is spending time with family and in God's beautiful creation. Sunrises and sunsets in the mountains never get old. Creation truly sings the praises of its Creator!

As my dad says, hunting is called "hunting" and not "getting" for a reason; the enjoyment is in the entire experience, from when we start practicing shooting in early summer to butchering the deer on our dining room table.

Here are some pictures to document the time (not in chronological order, unfortunately). One thing that really stood out as I was going through our (hundreds) of hunting pictures, is that my dad is always there, always helping and encouraging us, even when it's pouring rain and he's exhausted. Ready to teach (you'll see one where he is instructing me in the ways of field dressing; even though I've done it before, I'm still not confident). 

 Pollywog's deer.

Mozzarella's deer. 

 Baby Ems came along with her mommy and daddy several of the days. She's a champ.

 Group picture of all the hunters!

 Mini-man (13) and his deer.

 Sweet Pea and her deer.

 Our daddy, so patient to teach us everything he knows.

 Mozzarella (20) and Gubby (15) being fabulous.

 Gubby and Sweet Pea (18)

Ephesians 5 - the Inner Happenings of a True Believer!

The following will be reminiscent of recent posts.

Lately, God has really been challenging me to be transformed, from the inside out (transformation isn't entirely passive). I have been struggling with feelings of anxiety and self-pity (that's a horrible word, self-pity). The day-to-day struggles of life, imperfect relationships, pain and suffering in the world, and life decisions with no apparent answers are dragging me down. 

Ephesians 5 kind of slapped me in the face (or heart) last night: "...but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:18b-21 (English Standard).

"Singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart..." I have not been singing and making melody to the Lord in my heart. I've been dragged down with anxious thoughts and haywire emotions that cause me to feel numb, wanting to be joy-filled and at the same time wanting to succumb to selfish sullenness. As a Christian, we should have inner JOY that will not be shaken, despite life circumstances.  I can literally feel the conflict within myself, and it's frustrating and encouraging at the same time. Christ is working! 

This entry is very scattered, I think, like my brain at the moment, but my prayer is that Christ will permeate my heart completely, helping me to deny ungodliness and selfish desire. One final, incomplete departing thought: The above passage points to "one another"; Christians aren't sanctified in a vacuum.