A Christmas Eve morning spent in the wilds of south Georgia has inspired Josey to share this story. We wish you all the most joyful Christmas and a peaceful new year.

“I guess it is for the simple reasons I chose this stand in the swamp to hunt this Christmas Eve morning. I recall how hard it was to bring this stand back in here, and remember telling myself it will never come back out again. I modified it with an old piece of tin to cover me in a rainstorm. The safety fence we had around the pool when the boys were young made sides around the top just in case I doze off.

It’s warm enough today for the frogs to sing their song, and the storm that’s been approaching has the tops of the trees dancing their rain dance. A buzzard is riding the wind currents above me. I guess he might think I will be his next meal.

My boys are not far from me, perched up in a tree. I pray they learn the peace of the unkempt beauty of what God’s magical fingertips have made.

My youngest asked a simple question last night. As we sat around the campfire outside our simple no electricity, no running water cabin. “Daddy, what was your favorite Christmas gift as a child?” I said, “I will have to think about that”. I knew the answer but I did not want to share it with him then.

One Christmas I asked for a particular rifle. When I unwrapped the the long package, it was an old used shotgun. I was so disappointed, but I smiled big for the Polaroid camera. I knew it was the best my parents could do, so I never said a word. There were many Christmas’s to follow when I got the gifts I wanted.

So why would an old shotgun I did not want end up being my favorite gift? To me, the old shotgun represents a good portion of our attempts in life. You do not have to be a first responder and have a life leave your hands to feel the guilt of thinking you could have done more. In life we constantly try and do our best, and we constantly feel we fall short. As I watch the trees dance in front of me, it does not matter if it’s an Oak, a Pine, a Magnolia, or a Cypress. Their life is about growing roots and reaching for the sky above. They do the best they can, with lack of rain or hurricane winds, to keep making roots and reaching for the sky.

To me we are no different than a tree. Our time here is also meant for us to make roots and reach for the sky. There will be things that we cannot control. Things that leave us feeling we are not grounded to the earth, and as though our limbs are broken. In the end we did the best we could.

As we walked into the cabin last night, I turned and looked above the door at an old shotgun that hangs above it. A framed Polaroid of me at Christmas hangs alongside. Somehow, that old shotgun that I did not want has stayed with me all these years. It’s hard to accept when we feel we fall short. But just like that old shotgun, my parents did the best they could as they made their roots and reached for the sky.” – WLV-

Merry Christmas