What could I learn from another hunter safety course?

[Beaver]

I had been hunting for 25 years or more, when my friends decided we would go to Colorado to hunt. But in Colorado even if you have hunted for years you must have a hunter safety course cetificate before you can purchase a hunting license. I am sure the mistakes you make, and the people that you know make, are lessons that teach the loudest. I signed up with my two oldest sons and I was going to get as many hunter safety course certifcates as I could for my time spent. The course was enlighting to me in areas that I had not considered. It taught how to survive in the wilderness. Not completely, but enough basics so that you would not die from hypothermia, or eat poison mushrooms. Somethings people hunting in Virginia may never have to consider, but in the west could be an everyday experience. We took the test and each of us learned something we did not know, and now I was complete as a hunter, or so I thought.

Twelve years later; I need to once again attend another hunter safety course. My two youngest sons needed to receive their certificates to hunt legally in Virginia. They have hunted with me for several years and they just do not believe that this will help them in any way. After all they had been taught by someone that has not only hunted for 30 plus years, but I had my certificate. I assured them they would learn something, and it was the law if they chose to be hunters. In my mind I was thinking, I have to attend another hunter safety course what would I learn from it.

I drove them to the class and instead of leaving and returning, I chose to wait it out, you never know what you might learn if you follow God’s lead. The class was full, about 150 or so eager students some wanting to be able to hunt without their fathers. Fathers wanting to be able to hunt legally, and grandfathers that had never hunted, but just wanted to be with their grandchildren, in their walk through life. All the instuctors were volunteer. They had loved the sport of hunting and being outdoors, and believe in it so much they would take time out of their busy day, and for free tell you of their passion, in a class room setting. One instructor had accidently been shot in the leg and was an amputee from the knee down, so the stress of safety for him could have not been stressed enough, as far as he was concerned. As if this was not lesson enough for me, of how men should teach what they believe, and how people of all ages would come together and listen because of something they choose. Then the real lesson walked in. This man was just your average Joe. He had two sons with him and an old man, who I found out later was the grandfather. One son was about 6 foot 4inches tall and the other was just a little over 4 feet. The father was not there to attend the course, he was as myself, waiting for his children. The short son was clearly mentally challenged as well as physically. This man over the next several days was going to inspire me more than he may ever know. His child that was challenged was for whatever resaon, maybe alcohol syndrome. Was his purpose in life. This man was determine to see to it his son was going to be treated as normal in every area of life that life had to offer. And he was doing it without the boys knowledge of it. The boy was clearly ADD and his attention span was limited. He sat him down with his brother and grandfather and wispered something to him as to let the boy know he would be sitting and watching his every move. The man sat down next to me and with a nod acknowledge my presents. He would watch every one in the room to be sure his son was never treated unjustly. If he saw an injustice such as, the instructors not addressing him when he raised his had, because of his appearance, this man would step in to help. If the boy got out of line his father would step in immediately often it would only take a stare to bring him to his senses. This man stood in the shadows and let his son endure, only stepping in at a time when he knew it was the right time. You could see he was determined to have his son win in the world standards that where out of his reach. And yet he did it in a way, as to never let the boy know he had his back. I could see this man had a mission. I had tried to engage him in casual conversation. He was a man of few idle words and he could not let idle talk take him from his task at had, seeing to it his son held high without his son knowing it was him. In the nights leading up to the final test I never saw him react in a negitive way to people around the boy, even though there were times he could have. It was as if he knew that some of the hard knocks in life would be his best lesson. And he chose to stand back for some of them, and it was clear he and his son where the victors because of his leading.

This man with very few words never spoken to me, had me realize that God has worked that way in my life, a lot of times He has allowed me to endure, to allow me to be the victor in life, and all the time has my back even if I do not realize it. Was this man a christian? I could not tell you, but what I can say is depending on what you looking for, is what you will learn at hunter safety cousrse.

Now hunting is as a serious matter that you can under take there is, because what you do can harm some one as well as something and even yourself. There are people that frown on hunting and the act of partaking of meat and they spend a life time eating vegetables to prove their point, as if killing a plant, was any less of a miracle from God, than flesh He provided for us. Death of something is a must, for us to be able to partake, whatever it may be, if our flesh is to survive. This is a point that can not be ignored. And I have done my best to instill in my children the responsibility of it. I have not forced them to hunt, or to kill that which they consume, but have let them know they can be no less a part of the death because they do not participate. If we are to partake in anything plant or animal, we become directly related to the harvest of it. Whether we choose to accept that fact is another story.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for us over 2000 years ago, so the ransom would be paid for what the devil stole from God. If you do not choose to believe and partake in that death you will need to lie, steal, kill, and destroy on this earth to get by. The problem with that is, Jesus was raised from the dead and He sits at the right hand of God and He became our Salvation. With His death, He gave us the only way to be righteous before God. So you can choose to keep yourself from God’s will and deny the death of Christ, but when you ever choose to accept the Truth you will become apart of His death, without exception.

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