Although my childhood was spent in the country, my father and brothers were not hunters. I was not introduced to hunting until I had grown and moved away from home. I have been rabbit hunting, squirrel hunting, duck hunting, and deer hunting. I will admit to you that I don’t have a problem with the practice of hunting for food, although squirrel and duck do not appeal to me as a food choice. While some of you may adamantly oppose hunting for sport and/or food, that’s not really the point of my thoughts today, so please bear with me as they unfold….
Yesterday was one of THOSE days. It began with the sun shining through the windows, which always makes me smile, but as the day progressed the clouds began to blow in, metaphorically speaking. First, there was a situation at the school with one of the children that had the potential to be very bad. This required several conversations, emails and phone calls before any resolution was to be had. So for several hours a part of my brain is working on this issue. Next is the frustration of retrieving the children from school on a Friday afternoon. Two children attending two different schools, dismissed at two different times. Add to that a ridiculous amount of traffic surrounding the schools, and my frustrations are mounting. Resigned to the “wasted” drive time, I finally have the first child in the vehicle and enough time to run a couple of errands before picking up the second child, who has an after school meeting/practice.
It was as if the post office, the bank, and the dollar store were waiting for me. Not to bring sunshine back into my world, but thunderclouds. Nothing was easy. Lost mail, 83 people in line at the bank (ok, well maybe not 83, but it felt like it…), and the overly chipper cashier who wants to visit with the person in line ahead of me…. It was a conspiracy!! I am on a tight schedule, people! I have just enough time to pick up second child and drive first child to game practice!
Finally, I am at the school to get second child and I wait. And wait. And wait. She’s not answering her phone and I must leave to take first child to ball field. Leaving a text message promise that I would be back, I return to the afternoon traffic. Ugh. I decide to take the short cut through the nearest subdivision, and just as I pull out on a major street, another car across the street rapidly pulls out at the same time. They barely miss my grill, while furiously honking and giving me the “What are you doing, Idiot??” look. Oncoming traffic is approaching and I must reverse to get my grill out of harm’s way, and BUMP – I back into the car behind me. Seriously??? It’s extremely minor, a small scratch on her grill. She is beyond gracious as we quickly exchange information. She assures me it is nothing to worry about. I am ever so grateful.
I nervously return to my attempt to get first child to practice on time. Once deposited at the correct field, I return to second child’s school. I wait. And wait. She has given me the wrong time for the meeting end. Rather than a 45 minute meeting, it was a 1 and 1/2 hour meeting. Not enough time to go anywhere else. Nothing to do but wait. Hindsight reveals that I most assuredly should have used this time to pray, but I confess that is not what I did. I stewed.
Second child apologizes profusely while getting in the car. At last, I am on my way back to the safe retreat of home, very glad that I have already prepared the evening meal, anticipating my time to blog. I am home approximately 30 minutes when my husband calls and needs me to pick him up. My tone with him is less than pleasant, and once at the correct location, I wait. And wait. And wait. By the time he is in the vehicle I know that I just need to be quiet. If I open my mouth, I am quite sure the wrong words will escape. I can do this. I can make it home to a nice, hot, relaxing bath, and I will be able to be nice again.
Once home, my husband needs help with our duties for this morning and I crack. I was tired and grumpy and feeling very much the martyr for having to take care of everyone else all day. I was sharp with my words, grudging in giving the help he needed, and impatient with his response time. It wasn’t pretty. It was time to go fox hunting.
This hunt I needed to go on did not involve guns or horses or even a small creature such as those mentioned above.
“Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15
The Song of Solomon is a book about love. The Amplified Bible says “…the vineyards of our love…” Whether the interpretation is the love between God and Israel, Jesus and the Church, or Solomon and the Shulammite, it is still about love.
God is love. God is all about love. He has lavished His love on us and fully expects that we allow His love to flow through us to others. All the time. At home, at work, and even at the dollar store.
It’s not the big issues that do the most damage to our love walk. It’s the “little foxes”. The sharp tongue, the ungrateful attitude, the impatient spirit – crafty, little foxes. Ignored, they will destroy the vineyard. Did you know that you can hunt fox while relaxing in a hot bath? I caught quite a few and put and end to them. Once the bath and the hunt were over, I gave my husband a much needed apology, kissed him, and went to bed. The sun had long since set on this day, but I drifted off to sleep knowing it would rise again and my vineyard was safe.
Our Passionate Purpose 