Hunting is more than killing a deer
James with his first deer harvest

My husband is an avid deer hunter. He absolutely loves spending time in God’s country (Texas), enjoying nature, whether he kills a deer or not. For the past few weeks either Johnny, James, or Lauren (or a combination of each of us) has gone hunting. We haven’t gotten anything, but the time will come when we do. But for us, hunting is more than killing a deer.

Tonight we split up. James and I went up the hill and Johnny and Lauren sat down by the creek. It was chilly and became misty, then windy, then downright cold. James and I had a great time. We did some whispering, some laughing, and a lot of reminiscing. It was a lot of fun. We would radio Johnny and Lauren and see how they were doing. They were doing about the same as us … laughing and having a great time. Lauren’s cat was in the deer blind with them, playing, snuggling, purring, and generally making Lauren giggle.

Hunting is not just about killing deer. It’s about spending time with loved ones, enjoying time as a family, as a parent and a child, as loved ones. So what if we didn’t see anything. We laughed together and discussed serious topics…things a 16-year-old feels comfortable talking about with his mom. Those are moments I will always treasure.

Who would have thought that one day I would be hunting with my son … and he would actually ENJOY it (you know, hanging out with mom). My tooshy was numb. My feet were cold. My glasses were fogging up from breathing the warm air through my scarf … but loving every minute of it.

Yeah…tonight I am one blessed mama.