Less Than 24 Hours

A beautiful little wildflower bravely standing amidst a field of rocks

Kregg wanted me to go with him when he and the four youngest kids went to the deer lease on Thursday. Normally, that's not someplace I want to be. It's not an area I think of as "pretty," and I really don't want anything to do with the "hunting" part of the deer lease, so I usually stay home when they go hunting. But, when your husband expresses a desire for your presence, it is always best to honor that, even if you would rather not go. 



We left here on Thursday at about 1:00 after lots of preparation during the week. The new deer lease is just outside the town of Sonora, about 150 miles south of here. It always requires a great deal of work to set up a new deer lease. The plan was to take the three new blinds Kregg and the kids finished building and get them set up near the feeders they had already put out. We loaded them on the flat bed trailer and piled all the tools and luggage in the bed of the truck. 

Part of me thought about saying I just wanted to just stay home and meet them in Abilene for ACU's Homecoming that we had already made plans to attend. But the Lord reminded me that I should honor his desire and go even if it was "inconvenient."

It was quite a job to wrangle all the blinds onto the trailer, and then wrangle them off again.

This one had to be wrestled into the bed of the truck because there was no way to back the trailer up this hill with these rocks and cacti. 

Kregg adding windows

It's so nice to have so many helpers.

Filling the feeder

Raccoons have torn things up

It's a good thing Kregg has a strong back because it sure comes in handy sliding this blind up the ladder.

Josh and Ben worked to clear the shooting lanes.

Elizabeth atop the tripod blind

Hard to believe that's a deer blind in that box

As always, He was right! I was blessed by my time there, even if it was less than 24 hours. We arrived around 4 on Thursday and left by 1 on Friday on our way to Abilene. There was much laughter, much teamwork, much fun, and He showed me Wonder in His Creation that I would have missed had I not gone.

Only God can paint masterpieces using lichens.

Tiny little cacti

This cactus is no bigger than Rebekah's finger. 

How does He do it? It is as if He painted each of these limestone rocks using the lichens, in all kinds of shapes and patterns. Incredible! 


Wonder elicits Worship. 


Lord, may I always have eyes to see the wonder in everything You have made. Thank you for showing me Your Masterpieces! Thank you for always being so patient with me. I'm so glad I listened to Your prompting to go. 


This time that I "spent," which I had thought shouldn't be "spent" was such a blessing to my heart. My presence, which I thought didn't really matter, mattered a great deal to my husband and children. I am so thankful He reminded me how simply being together builds so much into each other's hearts. Yes, there are things that needed to be done at home, especially after being gone so much during the past two weeks. But none of that was as important as just "being." Once again, He shows me Truth and I am blessed. Blessed by being with my husband, my children, and by being in His Creation to cultivate Wonder.

And then there was this. 


Rebekah used the string from the deer corn bags along with an emptied bag to fashion a kite. May we always seek to keep our child-like wonder and imagination alive and well.