WARNING:
If you are a member of PETA, I apologize in advance for offending your sensitivities.
Now that that's out of the way...
This morning the three wanna-be deer slayers (My two oldest children and I) went over to our friends' house, who had graciously offered us one of their deer, a buck with a mere 4" of antler on his cranium. When we arrived, the animal had already been expertly eviscerated, decapitated and elevated by his hind legs:
Now let me just brag right now on a couple of young gentlemen, whom our family is proud to know. Matthew, I believe, is about 13. He's the lad responsible for our family's recent motherlode of meat. He dropped that buck in his tracks with a shotgun slug, right out in his own backyard. Handy.
Then there's his older brother Daniel, who seems to live-and-breathe hunting-and-skinning. At 14 years old, the way that guy wielded a skinning knife and a sawz-all was downright impressive:
With the skills these guys have, it would have been easy for them to make sport of our inexperience. But the best thing about Matthew and Daniel is that they have been diverted, by loving and wise Christian parents, from the trap of cruel and thoughtless peer pressure so pervasive in public education. These guys have been taught to show love and respect at all times, and they wear such qualities like badges of honor. They were glad to be able to help us out, without needing so much as a word of oversight from their father (who was occupied nearby).
Hats off to young people like this everywhere (including my beloved children), who will undoubtedly bring hope, healing and provision into this broken world, in Christ's Name.
