Surviving the Wild

I discovered if you search in google images for "bus towing a car", you'll find a picture of our bus/RV towing our little Suzuki. Pretty wild, huh? When we see this picture it makes us long to be on the road. The adventure of traveling, connecting with friends, ministering in churches...the call of the wild. Or should I say the wild call of God on our lives?

The reality of what God has called us to do, and the steps of faith in which we take towards that goal, makes my heart race wildly. I don't like roller coaster rides at all, and the one we are on as we prepare for the next season of ministry, is full of twists and turns. It is a wild ride for sure.

Being in the wilderness can be very scary. It also can test your skills and ability to survive. I remember when our son, Jacob, was heavily involved in Royal Rangers and Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship (FCF). He thrived on the survival knowledge he learned; from how to use a compass, build shelters, start fires, and even which plants to eat. He had a keen sense of awareness and I trusted his instincts completely. I told him I would have no problem being lost in the woods with him. I knew he could take good care of me and we would survive the wild.

I'm sure you've seen news stories where people survived experiences of being lost in the wild. They have a story to tell, and the public longs to hear it. People are intrigued to know the details; what they were able to eat, where they hunkered down, and how they tended to their wounds.

We feel lost in the wilderness right now and even have the wounds to show for it.

Our bus is wounded.

We had some severe water damage last winter that caught up with us. Dry rot, ruined carpet, black mold... you get the picture. It needs floors replaced, paint, and who knows what else? Mechanically speaking there are issues as well, including two batteries to the tune of $225 each.

And now, in the process of caring for the bus and preparing it for a new season of ministry, Les is wounded.

On January 2nd, Les was readjusting the heavy-duty tarp over the roof of the bus to protect it from further wild winter weather risks. He slipped off the roof while reaching for the ladder, smacked his head on the roof of my mom's garage, and was knocked unconscious before he hit the ground 12' below.

Bruised ribs, mild concussion, and a broken arm later...we look towards our survival story.


It has been said that you don't receive a miracle until you need one. Surviving the wild is indeed a miracle.

Greener Grass...?

A good shepherd takes extra measures to assure his flock has green pastures to graze upon. This takes work. Rotating the flock to different fields keeps  the sheep from overgrazing, pulling grass up by the roots when they eat. Moving them also allows their manure to be scattered and the shepherd can take time to irrigate the pasture if needed. Lush, green, nutrient-rich grass, should make any sheep say...I shall not want. 

But guess what? Sheep are stupid. Isn't it any wonder we are compared to sheep in the Bible? Yeah...cute, woolly, stupid sheep.

Even though a flock may have the best pastures around, there is always one or two that long for grass on the other side of the fence. Sheep that think the grass on the other side is greener, even if it is brown, burnt, and unsavory. 

The author of A Shepherd Look at the 23rd Psalm, Phillip Keller, shares in his book about a certain ewe that, in the eyes of a breeder, had been the perfect ewe. She produced healthy lambs and excellent wool, but she was restless. She longed to venture beyond the fence. In every pasture they moved to, the perfect breeder became a fence crawler.

Sadly, the bigger problem wasn't her restlessness. While she crawled along the fence looking for the loophole, other sheep followed her. Worse than that, she taught her lambs to be restless by example and they wandered the fence on their own looking for a way to leave the lush, safe, pastures of their shepherd. 

How did he halt the potential danger to the entire flock? The killing knife.

Recently, my husband used a phrase that has stuck with me. He referred to the term, Carnal Christian, being an oxymoron. Basically, that means being a Christian without following Christ. That's an oxymoron for sure! The word Christian means Christ follower. So, I got to thinking...if someone is a Christian without following Christ what does that make them? An ian...a follower following what?

An ian is someone that crawls the fence. They're sitting among the best pastures any Christian would ever desire, yet they are drawn to search for loopholes to the other side. We also refer to these ians as lukewarm and we know what happens to lukewarm ians... Revelations 3:16 tells us:

" ...because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth."

Why would anyone want to poke their head through the fence when they have tasted the fields of the Good Shepherd? The grass is not greener on the other side. Don't be an ian...a follower of nothing. Be a follower of Christ.

But more importantly, don't lead sheep to be fence crawlers. Phillip Keller had to halt the potential danger of his flock being led to search for holes in the fence by using the killing knife.

Are there things in our lives that cause us to be lukewarm? Do we need to kill some behaviors that could be a stumbling block, teaching others to crawl the fence?

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want...