LOOKING FOR A “FIX”

LOOKING FOR A “FIX”

Doctors say, and many people can attest to the fact that drugs can take control of a person. Drugs can make a person do crazy things that “normal people” just don’t do. I’ve heard it said that thoughts of when and where your next “fix” will come from obsess your mind. I’ve heard that it only takes using certain drugs one time and you are hooked forever. Now I’m not a doctor, or psychologist, and I’ve never been on drugs, therefore I’ve never totally understood the “how’s” and “why’s” of these addictions…UNTIL a few days ago!

It all started one foggy morning when a friend of mine named Joe Finney took me on a duck hunt. We got up at dark-thirty and proceeded to wade chest deep in the dark through frigid swamp water. We made it to our hunting spot, set the decoys in place and then waited for the ducks to cooperate. During the hunt I made some new friends and hunting buddies including Joe who I’ve already mentioned, Matt Stanly, and Matt Benfield. These guys were experienced, hardcore duck hunters. We had a great time tellin’ lies, laughing at each other falling in the miry swamp, and we even got to pull the trigger on a few ducks.

Being a rookie duck hunter, I had some important lessons to learn. One lesson that I quickly learned was to always keep your eyes on the sky. Just looking up at the tree line around the edge of the swamp wasn’t good enough. You must look up – almost to the point of getting a crick in you neck. The ducks that we hunted dropped out of the foggy sky like feathered rockets. If you’re not focused on the sky it just happens - they seem to materialize out of thin air and you miss your chance only to hear them break the sound barrier as they pass. At that point it’s over and there’s nothing you can do!

After this happened the first time, I realized that there was a great life lesson there in the midst of that flooded timber. If I can just keep my eyes on “the sky,” focusing on God, I’ll always stand ready for whatever life drops out of the fog. All too often I take my attention off Him and miss out on His perfect will for my life. Fortunately for us, God is a God of second (and third and forth etc.) chances. If we just look up we can get back on target, and pull the trigger on living life to the fullest – the way God wants us to.

Now, when I lay my head on the pillow at night, I see ducks flying over the decoys. I wonder where and when I’ll get my next feathered “fix.” I just can’t wait to get out my shotgun and stick my feet back in the freezing swamp water. I’m hooked after only one hunt. Imagine that!

“Hello, my name is Jeremy and I am a Quack-addict.” However, I’m not alone. There are others who taste the gunpowder and smell the swamp water when they close their eyes. I guess we’ll just have to help each other through it – cause that’s what hunting buddies do. Thanks for the hunt fellas – KEEP LOOKING UP!

Keep your eyes on the Lord!

You will shine like the sun

and never blush with shame.

I was a nobody, but I prayed,

And the Lord saved me from all my troubles.

Psalm 34:4-6 (CEV)

Jeremy Harrill

"Dad....I'd rather go coon hunting"

Man, that critter is bigger than my son Jack! I (Brad) am away from town this weekend. Seems like between the Army and preaching and teaching I'm away from home way too much. I'm up in Gatlinburg for the Crossroads Winter Conference (www.crossroadsworldwide.com). Its a great weekend for high school and college students. Jack was supposed to go with us this year and hang out with all the staff from Crossroads and get to be a "big guy" for a few days. But last weekend, Jack came to the realization that some things are just more important. He found out that the HOS guys were taking a bunch of young boys on a coon hunt and it was on like a neck bone. Jack very calmly said to me, "Dad, I'd rather go coon hunting with the guys." Now a part of me was hurt, but a bigger part of me was proud. He made his own decision. He chose to do something outside of his normal box. And the proof is in the pictures. He didn't shoot it, but he was there, stomping through the underbrush, in the dark listening for the drone of a coon dog with a bunch of men. It don't get much better than that. I just hate I wasn't there with them. Way to go guys, can't wait till the next one.

Rabbit Boxes!

The guys at my church had a great little event for the little guys this week. They helped all the boys build cedar rabbit boxes. A rabbit box is a wooden trap to catch anything that that will crawl into it and try eat whatever bait you have in there. The door stays open until there is a critter caught. I'm in an Army school at FT Bragg until February so I couldn't be there to help but my buddy Jeremy sent these great photos. They used the traps to teach the boys a lesson from proverbs. I talked to my son, Jack, last night and asked him about the trap. He said he was going to catch some squirrels and some rabbits. When asked what he would do with his prey he said, "Well, if I catch some squirrels I'll let them go, but if I catch some rabbits I'll kill them and skin them and make a hat and some stew." I can't wait for that one! I'd like to thank all the men at Cornerstone Baptist church. You have all been instrumental in helping father my son while I am often gone serving our country. I am so grateful that my friends have come along side my son to provide some amazing teaching moments for him. Thanks especially to Gary Mosely who every week takes a few hours to mentor all the little guys in our church. Now all we need to do is catch a few rabbits!

Stinky Boy and the Scent Rule

Stinky Boy and the Scent Rule


I was sitting in my hunting blind when I heard what I thought was that familiar sound. The crunch of leaves and twigs under the hoof of a deer. I readied my bow and prepared myself to draw. I sat there for several minutes and finally decided that because it was still very early in the season my ears had not yet been fully calibrated to detect the sounds of woodland critters. The curiosity killed me, so I quietly leaned forward to take a peek out the side window of the blind. BUSTED!!! There she was, a big, fat doe peering into the blind where I sat. I don’t know who was more surprised, she or I. I could almost see my reflection in her big, brown glossy eyes. She nearly tripped over her own hooves as she ran away. The last thing I saw was her long white tail waving back and forth. As she faded into the forest, she made a loud blowing noise as if to tell all the other deer that stinky man in the camo tent-thingy was in the woods. I was quickly reminded of one of deer hunting’s biggest rules: the scent rule. I was reminded again a week or so later when I heard another deer blowing after it winded me. As it ran off blowing, reminding all that lived in the forest that “stinky boy” was back; I couldn’t help but drop my head in frustration.

We hunters stink! We literally stink. A deer’s nose is hundreds of times better at detecting scent than a human’s nose is. There are those that say that deer hunting is not fair and I would agree. God gave deer such a good sniffer that it is not at all fair to the hunters that pursue them. All hunters sooner or later learn about the scent rule. The sooner we learn it, and what to do about it, the sooner we can get down to the business of filling our freezers.

Hunters try to pull the wool over the deer’s nose, so to speak, by using a variety of products to eliminate or cover our scent. Each year hunters spend millions of dollars on gels, powders, wafers, drips and sprays containing everything from earth scent to fox pee. We rub on these scents and secretions in our quest to outsmart the nose of a deer and hopefully get within range of a big buck. We wash our bodies in special soaps. We buy dryer sheets that smell like dirt. And it’s of vital importance to wash our hunting attire in a detergent that eliminates our human foulness.

After that second deer winded me, while I was vowing under my breath to get even, I couldn’t help but think about sin and how sin stinks up our lives. Sin hurts us, and others, it wreaks havoc in our lives and our world, and most of all sin’s putrid fragrance taints our lives by separating us from God. However, just like there’s a solution to the scent problem in deer hunting, there’s a solution to the stench of sin in our lives too. Fortunately for us, God loved us so much that he gave us a solution in His son Jesus Christ. Jesus shed his blood to save us from our sins. The Bible tells us that “love covers a multitude of sins,” and I can’t think of any greater love than the love that Jesus displayed for us on the cross. Therefore, to cover up sin’s terrible odor one must accept God’s gift of his son, Jesus. Once someone becomes a believer asking Jesus to be Lord and Savior of their life, God surely smiles when He takes a wiff of their new lives. 2 Corinthians 2:15 even says “for to God we are the fragrance of Christ.”

If you don’t know Him already, become friends with the greatest hunting companion one could ask for – Jesus. If you are already a follower or Christ, thank him the next time you are spraying on some type of cover scent or washing your camo preparing it for the next hunt. I just bet if you think about it long enough, you’ll even hear that old hymn playing in your mind. “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb, are your garments spotless, are they white as snow, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb.” I’ll never hear, or sing that song the same way again.

Jeremy B. Harrill

Now that's a nice deer!

Wow! Shane Brock went up to Ohio to go deer hunting this year but had to come all the way to his back yard to fin this monster. I talked to Shane today and we talked about going hunting but he said he'd rather film now! I can see why, this is one nice deer. It measured 18" outside to outside. It was taken in Cleveland NC right near Shane's house. Way to go Shane, he's a beauty and we are all envious. By the way while Shane was up in Ohio on a hunting vacation he helped some folks with some projects around their house instead of hunting one day. It really is more blessed to give than to receive and you do reap what you sow......Awesome!

Post hunt commentary

Today Mark and I went hunting at his grandfather's farm in Rowan CO NC. We were in an elevated blind in a stand of pines. It was cold and it seems the pre-rut movement is starting to come in. There are rubs on Mark's place. The deer in the video came in at 8:24 this morning. Its our last few days of bow hunting before muzzle loading season comes in. It was cold this morning, about 30. Mark made a clean shot, the deer only ran about 30 yards or so. It was a heart shot. The impact video isn't as good on the web, but I'm making Mark a DVD when I get back from my conference for the Army. Hope you like the commentary, we had a great time this morning. Thanks to Mark for taking me with him. Thanks to God for a day in the woods!

I will be out of the loop for the next ten days with Army business. If you get photos of deer send them to me and I'll post them on the blog!

By the way, to all my Army guys, sorry for the facial hair!

Mark hits the target!