BREATHE

If you’ve never shot Long Range, and I just bet most of you are like me, NOT. My Honey, that’s Dogie, thinks shooting long-range is right up there with cowboy shooting when it comes to fun and enjoyment. Now being a girl, I just couldn’t imagine what could be fun that took that much concentration and a steady hand, oh, and in doing it, you had to remember to breathe, Right. Too many things to remember. Hey, I’m just getting the hang of this cowboy action shooting; don’t complicate my life with more things to remember and do it as if it is natural. Huh???

Okay, I’m watching, I’m paying attention, so maybe I’ll try it? Just once couldn’t hurt. At our local home club they have a nice 200 yard range, great for practice; so being the curious spirit I am, I decided, why not? Dogie is an excellent instructor when it comes to shooting just about any kind of gun, whether it be pistols or rifles. I sit down, feet and legs forward, shooting sticks adjusted for my eye level, and then place that big old single shot Sharps rifle carefully on the leather saddle between the sticks. That wasn’t too hard, and then I hear this little voice inside saying, “You can do this” and “You can hit that target Way…..down there”! Girls, that’s got to be one of the major keys, believe in yourself and you can. So I’m ready, just line up the front and rear sites, snuggle up real close to that stock, hold it, hold it, stay on target, slowly squeeze that trigger, oh yeah, BREATHE, let it out half way, slowly, slowly and BOOM! Wow I hit it! That wasn’t bad, actually, it was fun! Let’s do it again, I told him.

Here we are in Tennessee. Side matches are held the 1st day of the match and here I sit on the long-range course. A bleak cloudy sky hangs overhead and I’m thinking how much I will not let such a dreary day steal my joy, or the cigar smoking cowboys that kind of laugh to themselves that a woman has shown up at the long-range. I’m polite as I watch cowboy after cowboy miss most of their shots. 5 sighters are given and then you get to shoot for score. Finally, its my turn and those same cowboys with all their misses are acutely aware that I’m about to try my hand at a game that has been mostly just for the fellows.

These cowboys don’t know me and may be unaware that I believe in Divine Intervention. It is my way of improving the aim. I’ve been talking to God about my effort and I’ve asked for His help. Simply stated, God, You know my reasons for giving this a try and You know that first and foremost, I want to glorify you in all that I do, even in shooting this big rifle. You and You alone can use any and all that I do to speak to those that don’t even think they need You. You know, that I know, that without You directing and showing me the way, I am nothing.

Okay, I’m ready – one last word to my Lord and my mind goes through all that Dogie has told me. Deep down inside I feel the trembling, but I draw from a deeper strength and settle a bit. Thank you Lord for the WIN !!! Oh Yeah! And reminding me to BREATHE.
Prissy

After the Storm

I can feel the warmth of the sun through the windshield of the truck. There is blue sky as far as one can see. I feel the rocking of the road beneath my feet as we roll East on I-40. Only a few days before, we were being beaten by an unrelenting wind; a wind that would not stop for hours, a wind that would destroy any and everything in its path if it were not tied down or strong enough to endure such a lashing. The rain was stinging and sometimes moving sideways. Yet, now all is changed and I find myself in a new place; a new sky, a calm that cannot be described in words, only felt.

There are so many that have attributed being spared through this storm of all storms as being lucky. I just want to grab hold of them and tell them, luck had nothing to do with it. What you experienced is God’s grace, whether deserved or not, that’s what you were given. Just like the sunshine and the rain that falls gently in better days, it’s His grace that you so proudly attribute to being “lucky”. There, of course, were many (believers in the Lord) that didn’t fair as well, but that doesn’t mean that they were not under God’s grace. They too were benefactors of His grace; only it was served in a different package. Perhaps, they kept their home, yet lost a barn, or the other way around. Maybe they will be without power for days because God has lessons for them to learn about themselves or others. He is a merciful God and truly wants our faith and trust in Him to increase. Even though we sometimes beat our chests and ask, “why God, why am I facing such hardships”? Those are the exact times He is trying to get our attention and make us focus on Him, and Him alone.

So I say to God, thanks for the trials, thanks for the hardships, thanks for the tough times before me. Because of these things, You make me open my eyes wide and see You. You and You alone are first and foremost. You are what matters, and all things that are good and not so good are dispatched by Your hands so that my faith increases in You.

Waiting Upon the Storm (Ike)

As I sit here this windy Friday afternoon awaiting the arrival of a storm named Ike, many things are rushing through my mind. I can’t help but think of the only other storm this size that came ashore when I was only 14. That storm was named Carla. She was vicious and took her toll on our Gulf Coast (Houston area). As I reflect over those few days our family and extended family came together and wondered what would happen to our home and friends as the winds increased that fitful night. Through such turmoil outside as that storm raged, how wonderful it is, so many years later, to remember the good times our family experienced being together through that ordeal. My favorite cousin, aunt and uncle were there with us. Even her grandmother had come with them. My older cousin was there with her 2 yr. old son, another aunt and uncle from E. Texas had just come down for a visit, were there as well. The total number of folks in our little 3 bedroom house was 14. What could be better than my most favorite people in the world had come to weather the storm at our house?

The power was one of the first things to go away, a sudden and sharp reminder of how much our lives and communications, even then, depended on that constant flow of electricity. I think of the source of all power, my God, my Heavenly Father, my Savior, and my Jesus. How empty and void my life would truly be without His power. Isn’t it comforting to know that through His power and mercy, we will endure this storm through this night as it approaches. It is through His power that we will trust and cling to Him for our strength. I will think on the words in the book of James. When our Lord God tells us about these trials, v.2 consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. My friends, this is a blessing from our Lord as His child.

When all else in life pales in the face of a pending storm of this magnitude, isn’t it a blessing to stop and be still and just talk to Him? How He speaks to us with His still small voice. How He encourages us to phone those we love the most and tell them of our love and just to let them know we are thinking of them. They too, express their love for you. A day like today is a good reminder of just how busy our days become and schedules get so crowded. We set far too many things of this importance on a back burner for another day. Today is that day that God has given us to make all right with Him, and with our loved ones. What will you do? Will you glorify Him today, will you make a difference in someone else’s life? Will you reach out to your family and friends. Will you be still and listen for that still small voice? God gives us these opportunities, we need only to recognize them.

So, as the trees begin to sway with God’s breath upon them, I rest in the peace that all of this show of the nature that He created is being directed by Him. How much I’ve enjoyed this afternoon, with all the preparations that we know to make are completed. Now we wait upon the Great Director and trust in Him.