Dear Grandkids,
I got my first 8 pointer last night.
Now I’m sure you know that I am not a hunter nor the son of a hunter. Never even been hunting. Pretty sure that I will never go hunting. So it was rather unfortunate that I got my first 8 pointer last night.
I was coming down St Mary’s Road on the way back from a very good meal at Vinnie’s with Nona, Scott, Mary, Keller, and Mary’s mom. It was already dark and we were probably going about 40 mph. Out of the corner of my eye I see this big buck in the other lane trying to decide if he should cross or not. I remember thinking, “don’t do it bucko.” But he chose not to listen to me and then slammed into the driver’s side of our van. Not too much damage to us – a dent in the sliding door and knocked loose the left turn signal. Pretty sure the deer got the worse end of the deal.
Here is my takeaway as I have reflected on what happened:
One of the driving lessons I have learned over the years living in deer country is this: Don’t try to swerve to miss a deer. Swerving is more likely to cause you to crash. Better to hit the deer than to risk ending up upside down on the side of the road.
Scripture teaches us something similar…
Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. (Proverbs 4:27)
“So you shall observe to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. (Deuteronomy 5:32)
You can get into a lot of trouble really quickly when you veer away from living according to the commands of God. In my almost 60 years of life I have seen this principle affirmed again and again… “Obedience to the Word brings blessing. Disobedience brings pain.”
There is plenty of pain to be experienced in this world without bringing it on ourselves. God will use pain to teach us some things that we would not learn any other way. But the pain and the hurt caused by our own sin and disobedience is an avoidable kind of pain. One that I hope you will steer away from as you grow up. Choose blessing. Choose to turn your foot away from evil. Choose to do just as the Lord has commanded you. You will not regret making this choice.
And never ever forget that you are very loved!
Pop Pop
