Deer season is finally over and now I will try to catch up on the many chores left undone while I was chasing deer all over the farm. But first, I’m going down to the keys for a couple of weeks to catch some fish, enjoy the great weather, and see some old friends. Then I will come back catch up around the farm and when things warm up a bit, my middle son wants me to bring some equipment to his farm in North Carolina and help him out. My youngest son will have his cancer surgery at Emory in March, and I will support him without getting in the way. And while engaged in this I will be keeping in mind I only have a month or so until turkey season begins which will run for a month.
I need to get busy.
As my Bible partner would say my “first world” problems are insignificant. Hmmm…I suppose to the world at large he is correct, but nonetheless, my insignificant life is significant to me. During my career I worked at a grueling pace. Week after week, month after month, year after year I would fly out on Monday morning and visit five or more cities conducting business and then fly home on Friday night. I did this for many years. Every two weeks I would stay at home for a week working 20 hours per day to get caught up after being out of town so much, trying to get as much done as possible before I had to head out again.
It was tough on me physically and stressful mentally and hard on my family with me gone so much, but we weathered the storm and today we are enjoying those things we like to do and reaping the rewards of a lifetime of hard work.
Don’t get me wrong, I still work hard, but today it consists of doing the things I love and not the things I have to do. In addition to hunting and offshore fishing I have a major construction project of building a new house and enhancing one of my freshwater lakes by digging it out and making it deeper in areas which will improve the bass fishing. I’m also right around the corner from planting winter food plots for the wildlife on my farm, fixing roads, removing predators, and executing some controlled burns.
One would think that with all of that going on it would be enough, but I am experiencing a level of emptiness because I no longer have a large project to work on for our Lord. One of my goals is to find one and soon. I am leaning towards getting back into prison ministry. I have worked prisons as an evangelist for countless years, but had to retire from it because of my failing eyesight which as rendered me blind at night. I think I might begin going during the day on a weekly basis to teach the Bible and encourage inmates. There are numerous prisons in my area, and I’m going to try and join a prison ministry in my area soon.
Some of my friends have told me that I am doing my part for the Lord with writing Words for the Day and my Bible study. Further I have written books, founded and funded churches and the Jesus Alliance, worked decades doing prison ministry and blah blah blah, but the point is that the Lord did not spare me and save me so I could hunt and fish all the time, even in my golden years. I think He does enjoy watching me have fun, but He has a definite purpose for my life and that is to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ and I want to be obedient and must be obedient if I want to enjoy His peace.
It is much easier to enjoy the other things we love if we know that we are working for the Lord. I might ask, what are you doing for the Lord? Do you have a peace about your effort? Or like me do you think the Lord is nudging you on to greater things even if you are “retired”. We should never get tired of doing good and we can have fun doing that too.
Galatians 6:9
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!