Monday, October 3, 2016

Understanding the heart of a man created in God's image

Last month Grant and I had the opportunity to hunt elk in western Colorado.  This was one of those bucket list trips for me - something I desperately wanted to do with Grant before he headed off to college next year.  

I thought we were going out west to hunt elk - but it turns out that God sent me on this trip to hunt for my own heart.  There are certain longings God has placed in my heart (and in the heart of every man created in his image) that I had become disconnected from in recent years.  Not only was this a trip to strengthen my relationship with my son, it was a quest to find my heart again and re-discover the passions that God has hard wired into it. 

This post is primarily written for men, but if you are a woman (especially a wife or mother of a son) who wants to better understand what makes the men in your life tick, keep reading.


Colorado Journal 2016

A compilation of quotes from “Wild at Heart", photos, and journaling I did during our elk hunting trip September 6 – 17, 2016.













“A man’s life becomes an adventure, the whole thing takes on a transcendent purpose when he releases control in exchange for the recovery of the dreams in his heart.”

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  - Gil Bailie








Journal 9.11.16

Grant had his first close encounter with a bull elk this morning.  He was hunting out of a tent blind and the elk came within 20 yards.  Grant said he was so close he could hear him breathe.  Grant never got an open shot and the bull bounded off after a cow.  Grant wonders if he was as prepared as he needed to be – that maybe he could have made the shot if he had done something differently.  I am grateful for the opportunity he had to come face to face with such a magnificent animal with only a bow and arrow.











“It’s not a question – it’s the question, the one every boy and man is longing to ask.  Do I have what it takes?  Am I powerful?  Until a man knows he’s a man he will forever be trying to prove he is one, while at the same time shrink from anything that might reveal he is not.  Most men live their lives haunted by the question, or crippled by the answer they’ve been given.”











I am writing from a ground blind I pieced together this morning.  I have yet to see an elk although Ken has seen four so far; he sits about a quarter mile away from me – Kenny (his son) is farther down yet.

There are ten of us in this hunting party – six guys from Michigan, three of us from South Carolina, and one from North Carolina.  We have been planning this trip for over a year – it is, by far, the most expensive hunting trip I have ever been on.  It is also doubling as Grant’s senior trip – yes, he graduates high school in about ten months.  He will turn 18 in May and enter into a new stage of manhood.  I turn 50 in May and enter a new stage of life as well – and it is during the quiet and solitude of this trip that I am seeking clues as to what this next season signifies – what are the focal points during my fifth decade on this planet?

The place where I am looking for those clues?  My own heart.  I believe vital clues are locked away within my heart.  If I can find my heart and look deeply within it I feel that I will know what to do.

This pursuit of my heart has been inspired by my third reading of Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.  The opening paragraph is set in the mountains of Colorado in pursuit of elk.  He compares the hunter’s pursuit of the elusive elk among the rugged Rocky Mountains to his pursuit – and every man’s pursuit – of their own heart.

John believes there are three mythic longings in the heart of every man created in God’s image:
  1. An adventure to embark upon - a quest
  2. An enemy to defeat - seeing myself as a warrior prepared for battle
  3. A beauty to rescue - the woman I fight for and who joins me on my quest

We pulled out of the driveway at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16 for our 32-hour journey to western Colorado.  Dreaming of an opportunity to hunt bull elk from within 50 yards, and through the lens of pursuing my heart, these are the observations I have made thus far:

1    Elk live where the air is thin


Elk live in mountains.  For a hunter like me who lives at sea level this means I have to adjust to an 8,500’ rise in altitude.  And so far this thin air is totally kicking my butt!  I hike about 30 – 60 minutes each day (twice today) to get to my stand.  The hike to the stand is mostly uphill and steep in a few places.  And honestly, I am panting, my heart pounding, the sweat dripping, and the muscles in the back of my legs burning every time.  It’s not that difficult of a hike!  I am in decent shape!  But, at 8,500’ I feel weak.  They tell me my body will adjust eventually and I will feel stronger again – but to chase elk I need to exert the effort to breathe the same air they breathe.  Honestly, it would be much easier to hunt deer in South Carolina or Michigan – but if I want to hunt elk I need to literally climb these mountains and breathe the thin air.


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