The Rest of the Story...

I teased this one last week. Shared it yesterday at the end of my sermon. Was called by a friend who reads the blog and couldn't wait to hear the story.

So, here it is... I got lost AGAIN on Monday night while hunting. I was hunting a piece of woods that is about 500 acres and very thick. I was in a climber stand and went deeper in the woods than I normally do. Had 12 does under me in the evening and couldn't shoot any of them, since I have taken the limit imposed by the farm (3). When it got dark, I climbed down, packed the stand up and started out. I was confident that I was headed in the right direction, but suddenly, the forest was getting thicker and thicker... didn't recognize the location at all. Started to panic. Got out my GPS and turned it on... thought I had allowed it time to lock in on the satellites and put in my "goto" location (the field edge) but when the gps told me which way to go, then it would flip to another screen and I would switch it back and it would switch back... thought I shouldn't trust it... so, I got my deer call that has a SMALL compass on it out and couldn't see it too well since I didn't have my glasses. I needed to head North West... walked in that direction but didn't feel right... my bright flashlight died (had a little one)... really panicking now... called my friend Jack, but he wasn't home... so called my hunting buddy and friend Wil who was willing to jump in the truck and come 25 minutes to rescue me. While I was waiting, it started raining... couldn't figure which way to go, so, in fear of going deeper in the wrong way, I stood still... called my friend Bryan in PA to pass the time. (I had also called Sharon to tell her I was going to be late) Thought better about talking to Bryan for fear of using all my cell phone battery, so, I hung up and waited in the dark (didn't want to use up my flashlight either). When Wil got to the farm, he called me and we were talking on the phone as he drove through the woods road into the field that I wanted to get to... I told him that I saw his lights immediately and he said where are you... I turned the flash light on... and he said... you are 50 yards from the corner of the field! Headed in the right direction and almost right where I wanted to be. Turns out, I didn't let my gps lock in ... was too impatient... should have trusted it, because as I walked out into the field, it told me that I was "arriving at destination".

Lessons learned... 1. Be thankful for good friends. 2. be prepared. 3. be patient. 4. Don't panic. 5. When lost, it's okay to call out to God! 6. leave a little sooner. 7. Always carry a gps and a compass and back up batteries.

My impatient friend gave me a gift today... he and his family were at Colonial Williamsburg over the weekend and he saw they had a compass... so he bought it and gave it to me in the hopes that it would help me someday! Thanks Steve!