Today is the last day of our central deer season. Somehow I always look forward to this day with excitement and disappointment. I am saddened that the end of a season has come but grateful for the good hunts we have had. I also look forward to being able to secure my better half to do more than check stands and skin deer. It is so hard to pull him away from his first love. He took me on my first hunting trip about five years ago, and I have been hooked ever since. This year I bagged my biggest buck yet, a nice eight pointer. As soon as that beautiful creature hit the ground, I shook worse than I did on my wedding day four years ago.

This morning I have made my way out behind our home to my little honey hole. I climb in my stand just before light. The woods are so dim and bare in Chatham this time of year. I wish it would either snow and act like winter or turn to spring. It is a nice 38 degrees out and a cold front is moving in from the mountains later today bringing chilly winds. I say a prayer that God will watch over me and maybe bless someone in my family with deer meat today. My husband is several acres away, as well as his brother and other hunting buddies. I can’t find my radio this morning so that I can talk to them, so I sit in complete silence.

Enough light has come around that I can see well enough to read. I almost always take a small inspirational book with me on my outings. I love reading about the Lord while I am sitting in nature. My busy life is so noisy at the house and in the car that I have found that I always hear God better in my stand. I am a mother of a ten-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. I work full time and minister part time at my church, and so far, hunting has become my refuge away from busyness and into His stillness.

I have brought a journal with me today. My Sunday school class is starting a new bible study this week about loving others better. I begin to read through the pages and answer some questions. Occasionally I glance up and check my perimeters to see if anything interesting is going on. As I get to page five, I read a perplexing question. It asked me, "How have you experienced God’s love in your life? How would you like to experience His love today?"

My first thoughts are about all the junk He has saved me from. Ten years ago I was a sad sight for poor eyes. I was trying to recover from a bad relationship, overcoming substance abuse, poverty, and extreme loneliness. I gave my life to God and begged Him to take control, and He did. It was not what I had imagined though. The roads were tough. I had just become a single parent, and I thought, "No one will ever want me. God can never really use me. I have done too much wrong and I have wasted too much of my life." As tears come to my eyes and bad memories to my mind, I reflected on the fullness of my life now. God has done such an incredible work in my life.

I look around and see that the sun has just topped the trees and beams of warm yellow light begin to hit different objects around me. The pines look so much greener now, and the new grass in the food plot below me is standing tall and straight as if it is at attention just waiting for orders. It sparkles like diamonds in the early morning dew. The animals are suddenly louder than have been all morning. The birds are chirping, and the squirrels are playing beneath me. We had several storms yesterday that brought us a couple of inches of rain. I see two squirrels drinking from the mud puddle to my left. The sun’s rays hit the right side of my face almost blinding me from the brightness, but the warmth infiltrates the hair hanging beneath my hat and I can smell the sweetness of my shampoo over the acorn scent of my boots. I guess a "real hunter" would be worried about that, but I just felt peace and comfort. I was overwhelmed with emotion and knowing that I was in his presence. It was one of those ah-ha moments with God.

The Holy Spirit suddenly began to speak to me. "Just look at what a difference the sun’s light makes. Everything around you looks and sounds and feels better just because the sun has made his entrance here. God has done the same thing in your life. The moment you let Him in, your surroundings began to improve. What a difference the Son’s light has made. Even the puddles left over from yesterday’s storms are being used to help others." My heart raced with anticipation. I hear foot steps in the distance although I cannot see anything. The Holy Spirit again reminds me of what all God still has in store for me that I cannot even see yet.

A burst of insuppressible joy filled my gut and flooded out my lips. I heard it before I even spoke it. "Praise God! You are so good to me!" And as quickly as I heard those words cross the morning air, I immediately heard a food stomp and several quick snorts and wheezes. I froze. Only one thing makes that sound. My arms were covered in chill bumps, and the hair on the back of my neck stood as straight as that new grass below me.

As I eased my eyes to my right, there she was. The biggest doe I have seen all season, with five of her sisters. I am awestruck. All five have seen my glorious praise and hallelujah outburst and wondering what in the world am I doing. Five begin to step back, but the biggest stands her ground stomping and snorting, ready to fight.

I am caught. Deer to me right, gun loaded to my left, and my hands holding a book and a pen. I slowly slid my journal behind my back with my left hand. Then I carefully secure the pen behind my left ear while the herd cautiously eats in shifts to my right. I take my gun and begin a stealthy turn to the right. Just as I make my way around, I feel the pen slip from behind my ear and tumble down, crashing into the metal frame beneath me. Every deer in ear shot runs away in fear. I look up at the heavens and said, "you have a wild sense of humor!"

My girlfriends can’t believe that I even try to take a shot. What can I say? I am still a hunter and these ladies would have looked great in my freezer. My hunting buddies can’t believe I even took a book with me. My sweet husband just held his tongue and his precious brother suggested I at least get me a pen with a short cord attached to it for moments like these. Best of all, my ten year old brought the punch line home. He said, "Mom maybe God just wanted you to remember to harvest the experience today." I believe he may be right, because it is one hunt I will never forget.