Who's Really In Charge???

Happy Sunday! OR whatever day it may be when your reading this! I wanted to share another lesson that God taught me yesterday.

So let me let you in on a little secret about me, I love hunting (which you probably already know). I have been hunting since I was 15. My passion for it has only grown with every year especially as I am constantly learning and growing. It's like I have this burning desire down deep in my soul for the outdoors and mostly hunting. So are you ready for my secret...so here it is..I can get a little bit, let me see, POSSESSIVE of deer. Like, If I see one on my camera and I fall in love with it...well WORLD...that right there is MY deer. I don't care what anyone else says..it's MY Deer. MINE. MINE. MINE. Point blank..MINE. Mind you, I don't own my own piece of hunting property, therefore we are on hunting leases and other's property that allows us to hunt there. But by jeamny, that's MY DEER.

As hunters, especially bow hunters, you have probably been this way as well at one point or another. Let's face it, archery hunters put in a LOT of time each year to chase these deer. Really if you think about it, our work never ends. We are always scouting, putting in food plots, mineral sites, bait sites, cameras up, moving cameras, checking cameras, plotting on maps, tracking the wind, shooting our bows over and over, adjusting, checking out the latest and greatest gear that can give us an edge on the famous old whitetail nose hole, that can some how smell you from forever away. We put up stands, move stands, just to put them up again, look for deer sign, move stands again. Then one day, we check our cameras and FINALLY, there is the deer that we have been looking for at midnight every few days, we are fortunate enough to get a glance at this majestic creature we long to see, chase, shoot, eat, and stare at on our walls to brag about, be thankful for, and pass down for generations so they can see what WE killed. A big buck can give a sense of superiority..like "yeah that's MY buck that I took in 2011. Then we get to share the story to all who say "wow that's a nice buck, where did YOU get him?"

We've all been there. We LOVE To hunt, we LOVE these animals, and we PURSUE them..some move passionately then others...apparently...since I can get a little obsessive. I can get so into a particular deer that no other deer matters, all I Want is MY deer. Chasing him even makes me grouchy and emotional. I don't know why I get this way, but I can. That's just me. Chasing big bucks is in my DNA and it's what I love. God made me this way. 

But what I need to remember is that no deer is MY deer. It's all HIS. Every beautiful big whitetail is all HIS. I've been really grouchy this week putting all my time and effort into a certain deer. Ive been after this deer since I obsessively said he was MINE. ALL MINE. Sorry Teddy. Sorry WORLD. He's MINE. MINE. MINE. My luck hasn't went so well in archery season and with Rifle Season starting tomorrow, well that added extra "stress" to my situation. Well God, like he always does when I need it, he ol so gently humbled me yesterday. I was being  and talking selfishly about MY Deer when he reminded me, Who was really in charge here. He allows me to hunt and be passionate about these animals, but ultimately they are HIS. He reminded me that I need to be thankful just for the opportunity that so many don't get, and that is to pursue these wild majestic animals in HIS great outdoors. He is the one that allows us to do these things that we so easily take advantage of and don't always give thanks for. HE reminded me that these are HIS deer, not mine. It's not ALL about ME..even as bad as I want it to be sometimes..it's Not. IT's about HIM. They are HIS, as we are HIS. In the long run, it's not my obsessive passion for certain Bucks that I like to think are MINE, it's all about HIM. In the end, It's not about how many BIG Bucks are on our wall, or how obsessive I am about chasing them, it's about how I am living this Life to serve him. I pray all the time that God will use me, as I know that my life is not my own, my life is ultimately his. He is why I am here. It's not to act selfish and make this life about me. It's to make my life about HIM. 

God always has a way of knocking me down when I need it most. He humbles me when my selfish human ways start to try to take over. So I always ask that God will use me to fulfill his WILL for my LIFE while I am here..even if that is to teach me lessons and use my short coming, selfish, big buck obsessive lessons that he teaches me to share with someone else. Remember..it's not all about US. It's ultimately ALL about HIM. 

God Bless. Happy Hunting. Stay out of my hunting area. JK. Not Really ;)
-Amber Nestor