My handsome husband loves to hunt. He would rather skip Thanksgiving or Christmas than the opening day of deer hunting season. One of his greatest joys, as a dad, is that many of our kids have "inherited" his love of hunting. Because Jamison was not drawn for a deer tag, this year it was a daddy-daughter hunting party, and daddy could not have been more proud.
You see sometimes a deer hunt is SO MUCH more than just a deer hunt.
For Chad it is about bonding, time, crazy stories, licorice, laughter, tradition.
For Brenna it is about the food - Wishek bologna on bread - and the learning of traditions.
This year, for Sierra, hunting was all about recovery.
Her shoulder injury has been life-changing. There are some things she will never be able to do again. Some she is not yet strong enough to do. And some things she will be able to do again if she modifies her technique.
Hunting was on that list.
Sierra LOVES to hunt. It honestly amazes me how much my blonde beauty loves it, but she does. However in order to continue hunting she knew she would have to learn to shoot left handed. It is not easy to do. Her Great-Grandpa (the origin of the family hunting gene) was not convinced she would be able to learn.
As you can see, on Saturday, she proved her Great Grandpa wrong.
She did it!
She crawled on her belly for 300 loooooong yards, as her daddy helped her stalk a small group of deer. By the time they were in range to shoot, she was exhausted. Her upper body remains very weak. Crawling on her belly and carefully dragging her gun along left her tired muscles limp and shaky. But our determined girl took a deep breath and got her doe.
What may look like a dead deer to most, looks like a miraculous come back to me.
Sierra's surgery was awful. Remembering all the pain she was in after it makes my stomach hurt even now. She has spent so much time in PT. She has been disappointed at the number of things that remain impossible for her to do. She has raged and the unfairness. Cried tears of grief. Trusted that even though it stinks, God has a plan. He did not create her in a faulty manner. He made her perfectly. Whether it seems like it or not, He created her so that she is perfectly suited for the purpose He has for her life. This rage, grief, acceptance, trust cycle is ongoing. More and more she is in trust mode - but it has been a process. It has been painful. Very painful.
SO..... when God allowed her THIS harvest it was a gift.
A gift that signifies that although He takes away, He also gives.
And gives in a measure we can not even comprehend.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
(Her Great Grandfather was so very happy she proved him wrong. He shared with his family during this hunt that he is so happy that his love of hunting has been passed down to so many. He is so very proud of all his kids and grandkids and great grandkids as they hunt under his 89 year old guidance. It is very, very special.)
