One of the passions of my life is hunting. I don’t care what it is…quail, turkey, deer, pheasant. It doesn’t matter. If it is able to be hunted, count me in!!!

I reacently had a blast of joining a friend of mine at his wonderful ranch in the Hill Country of Texas. I have had the honor and privilege of taking some wonderful deer there in the past, including my pride and joy (a 13 point!) and a Big Bruiser 9 point just last year.

This year I received a different kind of assignment from Bud. He had a 10 point who was a fighter and “Ruler of the Roost” in one of the main areas in his ranch. The problem was that this Big Boy was fighting off some other Bucks, which had even better racks, from mating. When you’re managing game correctly in a ranch you want to make sure that you are allowing the strongest gene lines to florish so that their racks can be spread in the future throughout the ranch providing increased trophy deer.

So, that brings us to my assignment. Bud asked me to take the Bully out of commission. Now it’s one thing to go into a stand and just look for a good deer…any deer. But it is another thing to be hunting a specific deer with a specific assignment!

We had spotted the Big Boy the previous evening, ruling the roost as usual. Bud had seen him driving a beautiful 8 point, with a Great rack, away as he hoarded the does for himself. But deer are notorious for NOT showing up where you want them, and when you want them to be there. So the next morning, I made my way out in the dark to the area Bud had seen our Boy roaming the night before.

Settling myself in the stand I began the scan the dark at 6 am looking for moving shadows. It was 6:15 when I saw two moving images. One was large…and one smaller. Could this be him?! Was he with the doe Bud had said he had been courting the night before? Could I possibly be so fortunate that he had returned to the area giving me the chance to accomomplish what Bud as said would help him most.

They began the graze about 88 yards from me…but the light was far too dim to clearly see his rack. I knew from Bud that he had damaged his right side in some fights…so at best, in the dim light, all I could do was look for a high left side and a non-symetrical right side. That made things even tougher…as deer don’t have as their primary plan hanging around until full light so any hunter can have a fully illuminated broadside shot!

They grazed a while, and I kept willing the sun to hurry and broach the eastern horizan so that I could see clearly. The more time went by, the more they started to drift away. They he crossed a dirt road, then walked down its center away from me and began to move toward heading into the brush and out of sight. The opportunity was fleeing and the sun wasn’t hurrying. I had been able to establish in the shadows, however, that his left side was bigger that his right. It just HAD to be him. But it was now or never.

As he walked away from me he wasn’t even fully quartering away and was now about 95 yards. Sighting on his left side I pulled the trigger trusting the shot would enter his left side and hit the heart/lung area as it plowed its way through. With the sound of the shot, he took off in a run, around trees and into cactus and brush, and out of sight in a flash. Now I had to wonder, “Was it indeed him? Was it a hit? Where did he go?” And the wait began.

The last thing you want to do is drive a hit deer away from you by getting out of the stand too quickly. He could travel for a significant distance, even hit, and you could never find him. So, having waited 15 minutes, I made my way down quietly and struck out in my search. At first, I couldn’t find any sign of blood or blood trail. And the direction I had seen him dart was empty. Had I missed?! Did I not see it clearly? What was the deal? So I circled back to the right. What if he had bolted left, and then–out of sight–wheeled back right to radically change course? After walking 20 yards…sure enough…there he was! And sure enough, the right side of the rack was scarred from fight damage and the left side was higher. He was the 10 point Bud had pinpointed as the focus of my hunt. And the MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED.

What a hunt. And what a different kind of hunt. I have been privileged to get a number of animals in the course of my hunts but this was the first time the goal had been a specific target for a specific reason. The experience brought me back to realize that there are many similarities to effective living. It is always more satifying when you know where you are going, have a focused and concrete goal, and then follow through to the accomplishment of the plan. Yet research shows us that the vast majority have no specific goals in their life toward which they are moving. So, how will they know when they get there? Of if they miss?

How about you? Do you have some focused goals for 2009? Did you for 2008? How many did you hit? Why did you miss some? What have you learned? What could be done better? How’s your follow through? There’s no better time to do an evaluation of the past year…and to make some specific goals for thecoming one. So sit down at your computer, or pick up a pen and some paper, and get busy. You’ll be glad you did!

In the Fall of 2007 I received an invitation for which I had no idea of the joy and celebration it would bring. I was invited to join with my great friend Jay Strack and serve as Teaching Pastors of a new congregation in the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. area. The first time I spoke at the church was in the summer of 2007 when it was meeting in a Women’s Shelter in Ft. Lauderdale and there were 44 in attendance that Sunday. When we began the relationship in the early Fall of 2007 they were running in the mid 60s. The group were going by Ft. Lauderdale Community Church at that time.

In this calendar year of 2008 we have continued the journey with a great a loving group of people that has grown significantly and become a joy of which to be a part. Last year a church that had been significantly declining and running only a handful, Wilton Manors Bapist, gave Ft. Lauderdale Community their facilities on 24th Street in Wilton Manors. At that time we changed the name to North Star Church. Since the we have seen some remarkable things happen. Just a few of the exciting results this year (2008)have been…

1. NorthStar has grown 300%, with 173 new members
2. 61 professions of faith, with 33 being baptized
3. Because of a grandmother’s prayers for over 20 years, her 13 yr. old grandson came to know Christ as Savior, then his Jewish mother received Christ and his dad rededicated his life to Christ. Now all three are in small group Bible study each week. LIVES ARE BEING CHANGED!
4. Average of 350 meet in small groups weekly
5. New ministries God has blessed us with this year:
Celebrate Recovery, Worthy Creations, Urban Village, Wilton Manors Elementary School, Immanuel Baptist Food & Clothing Ministry, Foundations 101, Truth Project, Vacation Bible School, & more.

This past Sunday we had groups in two maximum security sites in South Florida taking a Christmas Celebration to incarcetrated prisoners and next Sunday, Dec. 20, we will be feeding hundreds of homeless and economically struggling folks through our Christmas in the City ministry. This has indeed been a key part of making this year such a great year for Cheryl and me. God is alive and well and still changing lives, one person at a time.

I was recently asked to write the following article for the CHRISTIAN SPORTSMEN FELLOWSHIP magazine. It wraps up an important lesson in life which I was recently reminded of. Hope you enjoy it…

“Real men hunt with bows!” Some of my hunting buddies had ridden me with the fact that I had never hunted with one before. Now I had taken down quail, pheasant, chucker, turkey, deer and even elk with a gun. But a bow…not yet.

Well, this August I took the plunge. I picked up a good bow, carbon arrows, 100 grain practice field tips and broad tips for the hunt. With target in hand, I headed for some secluded land and began to hone my skills. And for good reason. I was headed for Colorado for elk! After all, why start small?!

Arriving at the north Colorado ranch I quickly changed and headed to the field. My friend and guide, B. J., was an experienced hunter…far beyond his 28 years. “Remember, Bob, anything you get with a bow is a trophy,” B. J. counseled. “This is your first hunt, so if you get a shot at anything, I would take it.” I heard his counsel…it went in one ear and out the other. I was there to bring home a 6X6, first hunt or not.

The morning was crisp, the stars bright, and the anticipation high. The Aspen trees were beginning to morph from their canopies of green to brilliant coats of shimmering gold. And the bulls were bugling. Look out world (and bulls)…here I come!

The next morning was dreadfully quiet. What happened? Where did the bugling bulls go? Maybe there heard “trouble” was in town. Not to be deterred, I wasn’t even considering a midday break. With only 4 days to hunt, I was making every minute count.

And it paid off. At 3:30 on the second day, as I sat in a ground blind, the earth trembled with a bugle only 75 yards behind me. I almost came out of my skin! Peering through the brush I saw the mass of the powerful bull stomping and pacing …60 yards away. Hunching down, quiet as a mouse, I waited for the moment when he would give me a shot. Time seemed to stand still. My heart was exploding in my chest. Then he whirled and stood broadside, a perfect target…still 60 yards away. No shot. Unperturbed he snorted, looked my general direction, and strolled off over the ridge. And my hopes went with him.

The following morning saw us up before dawn and positioned in timber adjacent to a large bed of willows, where we suspected some elk had been bedded over night. Sounding a bugle call, we received 3 answers in return. Listening closely we picked out the one which sounded like it was headed toward the same area I had seen the bull in the afternoon before. Hurrying through the timber we made our way parallel to the willows and into the blind. The more we called, the closer he came. My heart was playing calypso music. I KNEW he would steer our way…I’d draw my bow…he’d step out…and down he’d go.

As the bull nudged the cows with him into the sparse timber around me at 40 yards, B. J. whispered, “You’ve got to decide…cow or bull.”
“I’ll try for the bull,” was my confident reply. By now, at least 5 cows had moved their way across our visual path, coming in on the one side of the blind with the least cover! We could hardly breathe. And then I saw the dark brown mass and antlers of the bull appear on the edge of the timber. Drawing back, I labored to not make a sound. With the bow drawn and sighted in, I waited for the fatal step. And that’s when the cows spooked. We’d been busted…and my heart was shattered.

Defeated and disgusted, I released my draw and slumped to the ground muttering “What did I do wrong? What stupid mistake did I make? What does it take to succeed at a bow hunt?!?!”

That’s when B. J. stopped me in my tracks. “Bob, we worked 2 ½ hours this morning to pull those elk in. The weather was great. They responded like a storybook. We got to see the whole small herd up close and personal. You had a clear shot at the lead cow and could have had her easy. And many a man and woman hunt elk for years and never experience what you have this morning. And remember, this is your first hunt.”
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“Bob,” B. J. continued, “you need to remember that there is more to the hunt than getting a bull. Everything leading up to that moment is 80-85% of the hunt, and you seemed to have missed it all, being so focused on just bringing something down. If you’re going to be like that, maybe you ought not to hunt. You’ll miss too much, and savor too little.” With that, my 28 year old friend voiced the wisdom of a 70 year old veteran. Wisdom I needed to hear.

And not just for the hunt. For life in general. Looking back, I fear I’ve too often focused on the ultimate accomplishment desired…and missed significant portions of the journey getting there. It can happen at home, at work, on trips, with relationships…and on a hunt. How about you? Are you as good at listening to wisdom—even from unexpected sources–as you are at listening for animals?

Real men (and women) listen…even when it’s uncomfortable!