Thank goodness that I had a day off today. I have been in the Christian retail business for almost eight years now and it never gets easier. I started out on the lowest rung of the proverbial ladder and over the years have worked my way up to Assistant Store Manager. To say that I dislike working in Christian retail would be putting it lightly. It is always the same and it seems that you never make any progress. In fact it seems these days that our store has been moving backward not forward. Our area has been hit hard this year by the economy and road construction. We are on a main shopping street which sees thousands of cars each day. They have cut it down to one lane only going one way for the last 5 - 6 months. Many of the local business owners are not none to happy. So I say all this to say, it sure was nice to have a day off.
Shockingly this post is not about my job, but rather about preparing for the opening of firearm deer season here in Michigan. Earlier today I went out to set up my brand new tree stand ( I had to buy a new one because someone made off with my old one). I left my place around 1 pm and drove for 30 minutes or so to get to my hunting location. When I left the house the sky was overcast, but it wasn't raining it the weather has been like this for several days so I figured "oh, it isn't going to rain", but boy was I wrong. When I arrived at my desired destination I unloaded all the gear I would need to put up my new stand only I forgot one of the most important parts.
I lugged the ladder stand out to the woods and picked out a fairly nice tree to hook it to. The sky once again started to drip its sweet life giving water only this time it was dripping at more of a trickle. I thought "no big deal I can get this thing up in a few minutes". Two hours later and a return trip to the car later I realized I was not quite the skilled woodsman I thought myself to be. By this time the trickle had turned to a full on hose spray of life drowning water. I was soaked from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I was cold and wishing I would have chosen a different day to put up my stand.
However, God has a way of making lemons out of lemonade. On my way out of the one acre wood I saw in the fare corner of the field a mighty four point buck. Now mind you it has been at least six years since I had seen a buck of any kind in this woods. God showed me that my work was not in vein and that something good would come from the soaking wet two hours I had just put into my deer season.
He also showed me that my eight years of hard work in Christian retail will not be in vein either.
Shockingly this post is not about my job, but rather about preparing for the opening of firearm deer season here in Michigan. Earlier today I went out to set up my brand new tree stand ( I had to buy a new one because someone made off with my old one). I left my place around 1 pm and drove for 30 minutes or so to get to my hunting location. When I left the house the sky was overcast, but it wasn't raining it the weather has been like this for several days so I figured "oh, it isn't going to rain", but boy was I wrong. When I arrived at my desired destination I unloaded all the gear I would need to put up my new stand only I forgot one of the most important parts.
I lugged the ladder stand out to the woods and picked out a fairly nice tree to hook it to. The sky once again started to drip its sweet life giving water only this time it was dripping at more of a trickle. I thought "no big deal I can get this thing up in a few minutes". Two hours later and a return trip to the car later I realized I was not quite the skilled woodsman I thought myself to be. By this time the trickle had turned to a full on hose spray of life drowning water. I was soaked from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I was cold and wishing I would have chosen a different day to put up my stand.
However, God has a way of making lemons out of lemonade. On my way out of the one acre wood I saw in the fare corner of the field a mighty four point buck. Now mind you it has been at least six years since I had seen a buck of any kind in this woods. God showed me that my work was not in vein and that something good would come from the soaking wet two hours I had just put into my deer season.
2 comments:
I helped James put his tree stand up. It was an adventure, I hadn't actually ever seen him in the tree stand so now I agree with him...he needs a new one. They do not look safe! If I worried before, I definitely will worry now! Lol
Hopefully you will get that buck! And God will provide even more assurance that your waiting out in Christian retail will be more than worth it.
Jessica I was able to get my tree stand at Dunhams for $50 over the weekend. If I would have known he needed one I would have let you guys know.
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