Let me begin by explaining this picture. This is just your common woodpecker. I’ve heard about woodpeckers my whole life. Up until a couple of weeks ago I knew probably what most everyone knows about them. They use their beaks to peck at wood. Hence the name woodpecker. I have never been around one long term though. Until this deer season. I have watched this fella whale away violently on the same tree for 16 days now while deer hunting. I have sat there thinking he can’t have enough beak left to do anything productive with it. I was afraid if he ever finally broke through that tree I would come out to find the tree laying on the deer feeder. I guess I just had no idea the persistency, consistency, and the aggression these things pecked with, regardless of what was going on around them. After being intrigued to do some research I have found out more about woodpeckers and their beaks and so forth. But, wow, I have been amazed to watch this guy at his craft the last couple of weeks!
That led me to think about other things I have learned during quarantine. Some of you may already know, but Channing was diagnosed with Covid a couple of weeks ago. So we have spent the last couple of weeks all here at the house. She has been in isolation in her room. The rest of us have been out in the rest of the house, but haven’t left our ranch (all of our hunting is right here at our house). Kristin has been the one taking care of Channing. She has to have dreams of Channing yelling, “mom, come here.” It has been about as consistent as that woodpecker banging on that tree.
The first thing I learned, and quickly, was that I would not make a good elementary teacher. God bless the ones that do this for a living every day. They are special people. They have a heart of gold and the patience of Job. Me on the other hand, not so much. Those that have had kids in quarantine and had to make sure their kids had all their work done can probably relate to this. Trying to keep up with 3 of them has been hectic to say the least. Maybe even overwhelming at times. But we have made it. We have waded through the waters of distance learning.
I also learned that these masks we have been wearing for months have multiple purposes. One of those being warmth. Since it has been deer season, there have been some cold days in the woods. They have came in handy for that. It really helps with not breathing in near as much cold air. I remember when I got my first masks. I thought one was all that I needed. I thought we would wear them for just a little bit and it would be over. Little did I know that we would have a whole area of the laundry room designated for masks. I also did not foresee looking through them to find mine like I am looking for matching socks. But, that happens daily.
Technological devices can be a good thing at times when used in the right way. They can be a tool for some amazing things. I was able to work on school things all day each day from home. Although I missed being at school and around the kids and my coworkers, because of this technology I was still able to get all my school work done. That was a huge blessing. They can also be a detriment to children (adults too for that matter) when it comes to socializing and communication. It is easy during a quarantine to use them as a baby sitter. I bet we have all said during these times, “I just need a break. You can get on the ipad or the computer or whatever else you want to.” I know we did at times. Especially in the beginning. I then realized that this was becoming a problem. We had to limit the use of those devices to school work only. Except for the one in isolation in her room for 10 days. I mean really, what is a 10 year old going to do in her room for 10 days? Although we limited her use too, she was granted some special exceptions to this rule.
This isn’t something I learned really over the last couple of weeks, but was reminded of. That is that squirrels are the archenemy of deer hunters. Hunters everywhere know exactly what I’m talking about. You hear something moving around you. You slowly turn your head so that whatever beast is moving into your area does not see you move. You are certain that a 210 pound 170 class deer is looming in the trees and fixing to reveal himself so you can shoot him. Then you realize that it is a 1-2 pound squirrel causing all kinds of commotion. Although frustrating, it is also quite impressive the noise they can cause.
What I also learned during this time is to cherish these times. I turned 40 while we were stuck at home. While age is just a number, that number gets more disturbing the higher it gets. I have had several comment to me about the gray in my beard. I have just responded that it is wisdom and experience coming in. It’s all relative to how you see it, right? While thinking the other day about being at home and turning 40 and everything else that has gone on the past couple of weeks, I realized that the next time I roll into another decade of age my youngest son will be a Sr. That means that our other two will be out of our house and Kristin and I will be empty nesters soon after. WOW. That hit home. So I want to cherish these times. Even if we hear 2051 times a day, “mom, come here.” Even if we have to break up fights between our boys. Even if we are stumped by how to help our 6th grader with their math. I still want to cherish these times.
I was also reminded that God is good. Even in hard times, God has a plan. We may not see it right away. We must have faith. Faith is having complete trust and confidence in something, even if we can’t see it. I saw a quote on facebook last night that said, “We can have fear in the unknown or faith in the all-knowing.” Hebrews 11 talks about faith and what that faith does for us. God is the only one that can save us from eternal death if we have faith in Him. Satan is full of lies. The Bible tells us that God cannot tell a lie and satan cannot tell the truth. I would much rather put my faith and allegiance in the One that cannot tell a lie!
I don’t have all the answers to Covid, or anything else for that matter. But, I can’t imagine going through tough times like so many are right now without hope. Hope in a God that does have all the answers. Hope in a God that will wrap his arms around us if we keep our faith in Him. As we are in between Thanksgiving and Christmas let us remember to be thankful for what we have. Let us be thankful for a God that won’t ever leave us. Let us remember to be a friend. Let us remember to be good human beings. We have had so many people reach out to us and offer help during the last few weeks. It is so comforting to be surrounded by people like this. Hopefully we can pass it on to others, not only during the holiday season, but always.
If we have that hope that only comes from God, I challenge us all to share that with others. Share the story of Jesus with others. Share the peace and hope God provides by how we live. Sharing Jesus with others doesn’t mean having to sit down with them and literally tell them about Him, which would be great too. We can share Jesus with others by how we treat people and by how we help our fellow man. If you don’t have that hope or faith, reach out to someone that does and have them share this story with you. It can change your life. It can transform your life in so many ways. So let us be like the woodpecker at the beginning of this blog post. Let us be persistent in what we do. Let us be consistent in what we do. And let us never stop doing what we do as God’s disciples, regardless of who is around or what is going on around us!!!