Father's Day

Chance and I got to take a special pre-Father’s Day trip to Douglas County, going on our first ever turkey hunt. We had no idea what we were in for, although we had heard hunting turkeys could be pretty intense. Little did I know that I would walk away with more important memories than simply how to hunt these critters.

Chance getting serious.

First of all, let me say the trip was a blast! Chance and Grant, the other young man hunting, both filled their tags, so that was exciting! We got to experience several types of hunting; spot and stalk, blinds, calling them in. What an experience for new turkey hunters!

On the way down, we stopped at Chance’s great-grandparent's property so he could fire his first rounds through a shotgun. Yes, we were so green, he had never shot a shotgun! We got to the campsite early that afternoon and headed out to hunt within an hour. Amazing how quickly things get serious when you have a guide leading you.

Heading out for our first hunt.

That first night we saw several birds, but a bringing one home was not in the cards. The next day, we woke up ready to hunt, and hunt we did. We started hiking in well before light, and didn’t finish the day until dusk. All worth it though, especially when two young men were able to carry turkeys out. Being a spectator as Chance, Jeff and Dave hiked a couple miles up a creek bottom to get on some toms we'd spotted, well, it is hard to describe. They did some stalking that I am just not very good at. When you are a 275 pound clod-hopper, it's hard to be silent. The birds started walking up a big hill just as the guys were getting close. They had to follow the birds up the hill, part way down the hill, and back and forth for a while. Chance has surpassed me in his physical abilities, and it definitely sparked some pride to see how hard he was working. He didn’t have a single bad word about it, either. Hearing the gunshot, and then seeing your son packing out his prey, that brings some great emotions over a father.

Chance and Jeff making the hike out.

Both before and after this hunt, I got to sit back and watch the Dunn family operate. Seeing three generations of men is special for me. My grandfathers both passed when I was very young, and my dad passed before Chance was 10. Watching a grandfather question, give advice, and generally love his grandson was a special time. Without stepping on toes, Grandpa was able to make suggestions, while letting his son be the leader of the youngest. Seeing the leadership by example, rather than through bossy words, was very Biblical.

The Old Testament is filled with conversations between God and his children. Yet in the New Testament, Jesus acts as the intercessor. Let us remember how God loves us, and follow the examples Christ has laid out for us. If your father, or better yet, your grandfather is still alive, please take the time to share your love with them. Explain to them what goodness they have brought into your life. If there is tension or bad history between the two of you, at least clean up your end of the mess. Forgive, and love. If you truly do not have a relationship with your father, perhaps there is a man in your life who has filled that role. Let him know what he means to you, what he has taught you. I have let a few men into, and out of my life without sharing what they meant to me. Let us all work on sharing how much others mean to us.

Grandpa Dunn, waiting patiently to hear a gunshot.

Fathers, share love and wisdom with your children. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2, “Like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged each one of you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God.” These are good qualities we need to share with our children.

Sons, display honor and respect for your father. For the Commandments themselves tell us to “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12). Jesus himself brings this up again in Matthew 15. He goes on to tell the Pharisees how their reasoning was NOT honoring their fathers, and they were making “Void the word of God!”

Fathers and sons, have deep appreciation for the time you spend together. Thank God daily for the relationship and opportunities you both have. Be a shining light, showing the fatherly love of our Master in Heaven to anyone you can. As I work on this myself, I challenge you to do the same. -Jared

One of the only hunts I got to go on with my dad and two of my brothers.

Follow Jared's Blog here: http://www.ottfamphotography.com/

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Brag Post

     Please allow me a little brag post here.  I'm just so proud of my 13 year old daughter that I wanted to share what she has been up to lately.  She is in the 7th grade and goes to a public school.  She was assigned a short persuasive speech and the teacher said that they should talk about something they are passionate about.  So she wrote and delivered the following speech in class last week.  I think she showed a lot of courage in doing this.  Way more courage than I had in junior high!

-Scott
     

Why Everyone Should Have a Relationship with Jesus

By Morgan

Have you ever felt lost in your life; like you need someone to carry you through it? Well, there is one person that can get you through every difficult obstacle in your life, that’s Jesus Christ. I have found that having a relationship with Him can do so much for you. In fact, I have everything I need because I have Jesus. He died for me, and now I can live a more abundant life on earth, and one day, I will be able to live with Him for eternity.

         
            First, Jesus loves me so much, that He actually died for me. He was sent to earth to be a sacrifice for our sins, the Savior of the world. He lived a perfect life as a human to give us an example of how to live, and to fulfill the duty that God gave Him. He absolutely never sinned and was full of love for everyone. He didn’t want to suffer, but He did because His love for us is so great. By dying on the cross, He made a way for us to be forgiven. All we have to do now is accept Him, and all of the benefits are ours!

Proverbs 13:9 says; “For the light shines brightly through the righteous.” That means that when you have a relationship with Christ, He will be visible through you, and your life will have more purpose. People will notice that you have Jesus living within you. When you become a Christian, you are spiritually born again. You have a completely new life. All of your sins are forgiven, and you can start new. If you have sinned, and are not happy with what you’ve done in your life, God can fix it. God forgives and forgets. Not every aspect of life is going to be fun. With Christ walking by your side through it, you always have peace of mind because you know that He is going to keep you going the whole time. He will let you bend, but He will never let you break.

Finally, you can live with Jesus forever in Heaven. Imagine a place with no sadness, no pain, and no fears… Nothing bad can ever happen in this place. It’s the most beautiful and perfect place that anyone could ever be, and everyone is welcome there. If you have a relationship with Christ, you can go there, and stay there for eternity! It amazes me every time I think about it, even though I’ve thought about it countless times! In Corinthians, it says that if God had the least bit of foolishness; it would be wiser than all human wisdom. If He had even a tiny bit of weakness; it would be stronger than any human’s strength. God is the most powerful person ever, and He loves us more than anyone else. I think that it’s so incredible that He chose to be a friend of sinners. We don’t deserve anything that He has given us, but He still gave us much more than we could expect from anyone else.

In conclusion, I think everyone should have a relationship with Jesus because He actually died to forgive us of our sins, we can live a more abundant life on earth, and someday, we will be able to live with Him in Heaven! At times we all feel lost, but with Jesus I know my future is secure and that He will guide me through difficult times.

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Bulls-Eye

I’ve known Trevor for several years, but we've seen each other a lot more since he moved to Oregon with his family last summer.  He moved here from Delaware, when his dad accepted a position as a chaplain in a local retirement community. Suffice to say, it can be challenging to move to a new place across the country when you are a 15-year-old boy. I have great respect for his parents’ efforts to raise him up to be a man of God, but even kids with good parents need a little extra support and encouragement sometimes.

What I had to offer was a favorable schedule, a little knowledge of archery, and a new recurve bow with a dozen arrows. The draw weight was only 26 pounds, but with lightweight carbon arrows, it’s fairly fast and lots of fun to shoot. Our goal was for Trevor to compete in an archery competition that was scheduled for Spring Break. I picked up a couple of straw bales, and we were set.

Trevor turned out to be a raw beginner in archery, but that gave him the opportunity to learn good habits from the start. Cock feather pointing away from the bow, one finger above the arrow, two fingers under the arrow, and always anchor in the same spot at the corner of your mouth. To his credit, he listened and learned pretty well. Some arrows hit the bales, and some hit the ground in front, beside, or behind the target, but I could see he was learning the fundamentals. He learned the lesson that, “Hold a little higher” doesn’t mean, “Launch one into the treetops.”

As we got closer to the competition, I made a regulation size target out of cardboard, and we started keeping score. He scored a 46 in his first attempt, then even slipped down to a 37 a few days later. There are 240 points possible in the competition format, but Trevor was shooting in the Instinctive category. Some of the shots are also at 50 yards, so all points were going to be hard-earned. The practice was paying off, however, and as we got closer to the competition, he shot several scores in the 70’s.

On the day of the competition, the weather wasn't exactly ideal as it turned out to be rainy and breezy. Add in the pressure of competition and spectators, and I had no idea what to expect from Trevor. I shouldn’t have worried. He stepped up to the line and started sticking arrows in the target. In the first round alone, he scored 42 points. Then in the second round he picked up 38 more points. He missed the target a few times at the longer ranges, but when he was finished, I started adding and got 100. From a previous best of 76 points in practice, he improved by 24 points! There were a couple other guys with a lot more experience than Trevor who shot much better scores, but the excitement of his third-place medal came from knowing that his score was the result of his hard work on the practice range. The only thing left was a celebratory trip to the 3D course at Kutch Archery to find out what it’s like to go from shooting bulls-eyes to shooting at animals. Still a lot of work to do there!

So I have to stop and wonder about the final result. A third-place medal? Some good memories? A lesson about the rewards of hard work and practice? A message to Trevor that he is important enough to spend time with him? I’m not sure. I know it takes both steel beams for structural support and 2x4’s for interior walls to build a skyscraper. This archery project was surely more like a 2x4 than a huge steel beam in the story of Trevor’s life, but I felt like building with a 2x4 was a lot better than doing nothing while waiting for someone else to come along with steel beams. The results from there are in God’s hands, I guess. Without a doubt, though, I came away with a feeling that God’s hand was on our efforts, and I felt rewarded for the time I put into the project.

-Quinton

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Jared's Story

The author with some prized table fare

As I have battled cancer, finances, role-reversal, and flat out sin, the Lord has continued to walk along with me through my journey.  It makes me think back to the poem “Footprints in the Sand.”  The person in the poem learns how the Lord will carry us in the hardest of times.  Through my trials I have seen that the Lord will carry us any time we ask! 

My first bold experience with this I did not recognize until well after it was over.  I was working on a doctor’s home and the Lord began to lead and urge me to talk to this doctor about my brain tumor.  I did not want to bother this man, in his own home, about my medical situation.  I began to argue with the Lord, I already had a team of doctors who were forming a treatment plan.  When I finally gave in to the Lord’s urging and talked to this doctor, a whole new path of possibilities began to lay out in front of me.

The second time I experienced an opportunity, to succumb to the power of the Lord, was at the end of deer hunting season 2010.  My son was 12, and although he had hunted with me through the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, this was his first year to have his own tag.  We went through the entire season without seeing a buck, so we didn’t expect to see anything over the youth weekend.  However, after first light, there was a doe with a nice buck tailing her.  My son made the shot, which was into a deep, dark, hole.  We waited for the fog to roll over before heading down, and in that time the buck had ventured deeper into the hole.  It wasn’t until we got down into the hole that I realized the trouble we were in.  I was not prepared to quarter and pack this animal, and we were not strong enough to carry him.  Add to all this the fact that I was just coming off of a round of chemo, and boy did I feel weak.  We cleaned him out, rigged up a couple of ropes, and went to work.  After 2 or 3 hours of dragging uphill, we had made it only 100-150 yards.  I was weak and exhausted, for the first time in my life I knew I could not make it any farther.  Through much prayer, we marked the brush around the buck, covered him with my shirt, and hiked out.  At this point I was pretty discouraged and I searched for cell service to call friends for help.  As we were driving out, a vehicle full of college kids pulled up.  They had just been out shooting after church.  Then they decided to drive up a road they had never been on, and found us!  They offered to help, and we got that buck right up out of there with what felt like very little effort and energy.  This was a total wake up call for me, as a hunter, father, and Believer.

God has been driving this principal home in my mind and heart for over a year now, our need for Christ in our daily lives.  The Bible tells us to not sin, yet so many of us justify it by saying “We are all sinners, not much we can do.”  This excuse is not sufficient!  1 John 2:1 speaks so much to this, telling us not to sin, yet rely on Jesus when we are tempted. This temptation may be selfishness, rage, purity; the list goes on and on.  In the fall of 2010, I took an online Christian class that encouraged me to rely on Christ Jesus in our daily battles.  Mad at the car in front of you?  Talk to Christ, who is in the seat right next to you.  People at work just not understanding your frustration?  Ask Christ to show you things from their point of view.  I have a personal sin that I have struggled with for years and years, and, by purely relying on Christ, it has not even been a serious temptation in over 12 months.  I had tried to overcome this more than once on my own, and I had always stumbled.  It is so refreshing to see how God can block it out from my life!

The struggles have continued.  Dealing with disability and being the stay at home parent while my wife works hard to provide for the family?  God provides support.  Doctors telling me I would be on chemotherapy for years?  Crazy as it may be, the Lord has lead us through it.  Time spent in the gym, trying to bring my body back around to somewhat health?  When I hit the wall, out of energy, I truly rely on Jesus to carry me forward.  And just recently He unchained my wife from a job she loved, but had grown very weary in and planted her in a much better situation.  If we had not respected God’s wisdom and the goodness he wants for us, she would still be at her previous job getting burnt up.

Does this mean things with God are easy?  Of course not!  But we do experience a much greater and deeper level of peace, strength, and endurance when we are listening and following God daily.  It can be a battle for us to live a holy Godly life but God will reward and bless you abundantly through the process. Do not rely on your strength, your plans, or your power.  It is just not enough.  Accept Christ not only into your heart, but into your daily life!  Don’t allow yourself to be a “Sunday Christian,” this is just a taste of the wonderful glory God has to share with you.  So let us rely on Jesus daily, and let us lift each other up and encourage one another.  As Romans 1:12 says, “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.”

Chance Ottinger during the hunt where God sent help.

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Compassion in Action

Here is a thought-provoking verse from the life of Jesus. He has been out walking the countryside of Galilee, seeing firsthand the financial, social, and spiritual poverty of the people. Jesus is arriving in a new area, and the people are once again rushing out to see Him.


“And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:34, KJV)

Here’s what I find interesting. Jesus sees the poverty of the people, and what does He offer them? Government agricultural subsidies? Miraculous cash from a small boy’s basket of five dollar bills and two small coins? A plan to Occupy Nazareth? No, the most powerful Being in the universe starts teaching the people. Jesus could have done lots of things the people might have seen as more substantial, yet He perceived their greatest need to be the truth He could bring them.

It makes you wonder what exactly He said that day, and if we might be more effective in reaching out to people if we focused more on spreading the same truth Jesus did. Certainly we see financial, social, and spiritual poverty much like Jesus did, yet He didn’t seek to change their circumstances so much as their values. He changed their pursuit from satisfying themselves to finding their role in building the Kingdom of God. A person’s greatest need is not financial, but one of direction and understanding their purpose in life. Jesus’ goal was to help people understand what life was meant to be about and help them grasp fulfillment at that level. It’s kind of fun to realize that Jesus had been part of creating these people, so He was uniquely qualified to come back and say, “This is what I really had in mind for you all along.”

This concept should direct our efforts to use our times in the outdoors to mentor young men and women, including fatherless boys who really are a modern example of “sheep without a shepherd.” Even our most intense efforts are probably not going to change their circumstances, but we can help them realize a purpose in life that encompasses more than their present circumstances. It challenges us, as mentors, to model that purpose that God has given us and to pursue a better knowledge of the truth so those being mentored can see how it works. It is that combination of example and teaching that will have a lifelong impact on a young person. Gifts of cool outdoor gear and exciting times in the field are never going to be life-changing by themselves, but they can be a vehicle that gets us to the place of sharing truth about our purpose in life.

That is why we are really looking forward to the Faith in the Field youth programs that will be starting here real soon! If you are interested in being a mentor or leading your own son through our program, please contact us. We would like to add you to our list of people to contact when the program materials are ready.

Email us at info@faithinthefield.com


Quinton

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Hoodies available for a LIMITED time! Orange and PINK logo!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Order by next Sunday, March 4th and they'll ship by the 14th...youth and adult sizes available! Choose an orange or pink logo!

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Mark your calendar!!!

Saturday, February 25th...hunting, calling, prizes and pie!! It's going to be a fun night, just west of Corvallis!

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