Trapping

When I landed in East Liverpool, Ohio, there didn't seem to be any dominant sport by the men in the church. However, eventually a friendship blossomed between John and Denise Repella (Heidi, Hayley and Holly) and Debbie and me (Travis, Troy and Tracie).  John is an avid trapper and it didn't take long for him to invite me to accompany him on his trap-line.

Needless to say, it was a new experience for me.

The first time I went, we parked his truck off-the-road and hiked across a long field to a stream-bed.  As we looked down the bank, we saw three raccoon in separate traps within fifty feet of one another.  John hopped into the stream-bed and sloshed across the creek to the first coon.  He put his foot on its neck and quickly used his pistol to shoot the first coon.

When he glanced up at me I must have had a shocked look on my face.  John simply said:  "Kinda cruel, huh?"  In reality, it was very humane, but I just wasn't used to seeing animals being killed.

I went with John on his trap-line quite a few times.  I eventually figured out that he took me along to help haul his furs back to the truck!

On one occasion, we walked down into a wide, flooded valley where he had set a number of beaver traps. It was a bitter, cold day!  We came to his first trap which was set under the water - which was now frozen! John used a hatchet to break the ice.  Then, he laid down on the ice and plunged his arm up-to-his-shoulder, into the ice-cold water.  Seconds later, he pulled a huge beaver out of the hole in the ice.  After re-setting the trap, we moved on to find four more beaver - all large!  Hauling them out of that valley and back to the truck was exhausting;  as I recall, the average weight was about 60 pounds!

I learned so much from John about trapping and other things and we became the best of friends during our thirteen years in East Liverpool.  I discovered that this relatively quiet and private guy had lots of stories. They were all very personal.  He told me about a night when he saw a UFO.  He spoke of another night when God warned him not to go up a creek!  He talked about his years in the coal mines.

During summers, John also let me tag-along on a couple of fishing jaunts. Friendship is formed by the sharing of intimate thoughts and stories. That bond is not easily broken.

One time the engine went bad in a 1984 Renault Encore I was driving.  John suggested that we buy a used engine and install it.  Ahhh...the height of masculine engagement!  John had just put an engine in one of his trucks and seemed eager to help me change out my engine as well.  We plunged in.  In two days, we had the Encore running again and I drove it for several more years!  It was another rite of passage!

John also gave Troy and me our first experience with frogging.  He took us out very late one night and led us up the middle of a creek.  It was creepy!  He would scan the sides of the creek for small sets of eyes that would focus on his head-lamp.  Then, he would lower his gig in front of them and moments later their legs were in his pouch!

While we were traversing the creek that night in the pitch dark, John stopped suddenly and handed me his gig.  Troy and I watched as he focused his light on the water and peered into the creek.  After moments of scrutinizing something he plunged his arm into the creek and pulled a huge snapping turtle out of the water! It's shell was probably eighteen inches in diameter as he held it up by-the-tail for us to see.  We were incredulous at the site of this big turtle trying desperately to take a chop out of John's leg.  We were even less comfortable when he turned around and released it back into the creek!

I went frogging with John several times that year and we ended the summer with a big frog-leg/chicken-wing barbecue! Delicious!

Our families also became friends.  We shared many cook-outs and family nights.  Travis and Holly became the best of friends!  Heidi and Hayley became Troy and Tracie's baby-sitters.  We played lots of games of Euchre.  We still share ten days every summer at the Tri-State Family Camp in East Liverpool.  Friendships like this are rare and precious!

Free Will

I just read the story of King Saul in I Samuel and it made me think about the free will that God has given us. Free will always gets tangled up with God's sovereignty and God's omniscience.  I'm not a theologian, but it seemed kind of clear to me - so I thought I'd share...

God, through Samuel, appoints Saul as the first king of Israel.  Saul was "...a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel;  from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people."  (I Samuel 9:2  NAS).  After Samuel anointed him, he said, "...the spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall...be changed into another man...Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart..."  (I Samuel 10:6,9  NAS).

When you read through these chapters, you get a sense that God had chosen the best man for the job.  However, Saul made consecutive bad choices. Eventually, his victories went to his head:  "[Samuel] got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, "Saul's gone.  He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor..."  (I Samuel 15:12 TM).

Eventually, God laments that He made Saul king of Israel:  "Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, 'I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.'...And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel."  (I Samuel 15:10-11,35 NAS).

It seems pretty clear that Saul could have chosen obedience.  Saul could have written a different ending to this story - but he didn't.  Saul used his free will to disobey God and suffered greatly for it.  Had he walked in a way that honored God, he could have created an amazing legacy.

Because of Saul's choices, God changed His plan and withdrew His Spirit from Saul:  "Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul..."  (I Samuel 16:14 NAS).  Instead, God placed His Spirit on the young shepherd, David:  "Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed [David],...The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life."  (I Samuel 16:13 TM).

This is not just a sad story from the Old Testament.  It is an illustration of how God works.  He gives us free will and hopes that we will use it to honor and obey Him!  However, when we neglect Him and start building monuments to ourselves we forfeit His blessing.

At one point, after grossly disobeying God's commands, Saul tries to assuage God by sacrificing lots of animals.  Samuel responds:

"Do you think all God wants are sacrifices - empty rituals just for show?

He wants you to listen to Him!...

Because you said No to God's command, He says No to your kingship."

(I Samuel 16:22,23 TM)

Sorry!  You can't please God just by showing up at His house on Sundays. Remember, "...the LORD looks at the heart."  (I Samuel 16:7 NAS).

What does He see when He looks at your heart?

Deer Hunter?

When I was leading the Jeannette, Pennsylvania Free Methodist Church, I quickly discovered that the men of that church were deer hunters.  I was not.

Which always makes me feel sort of bad.  I've just never been into killing animals - although I did kill a robin one day.

When I was a kid, I was always throwing rocks at targets.  The telephone pole on the corner of our property was my favorite target.  Like William Wallace, I became pretty good at it. One spring day while I was throwing at the pole, I noticed a robin had landed in our yard.  I wondered if I was good enough to hit it?  I winged a rock in its direction and nailed it in the side of the head!

I felt horrible!  I looked around to see if anyone noticed.  I gathered the bird in my hands and took it deep into our back yard where no one could see me.  I got my dad's shovel and buried the poor, innocent bird.  I never threw a rock at a bird again (except a few crows).  :-)

Where was I?

Oh, yes, I decided that if I wanted to get to know the men of the church better, I should go hunting with them.  So, I borrowed a rifle from my brother and bought a hunting licence.

I went with the men and walked through the woods praying that I wouldn't see a deer.  For two seasons, I walked through the woods and spent time with the men.  I was right, it did give me a fantastic opportunity to build relationships.

Later, while living in McClellandtown, I went again with a young friend named Gary.  I was fortunate that I didn't see any deer.  Gary was fortunate that he did!  I got my first lesson on field-dressing a deer.  By the way, it's a great way to warm your hands.  The rest of it I won't go into detail.

Then, we took it to my back yard and skinned it!  Another first!  It was like a rite-of-passage!

I gave the rifle back to my brother and haven't been deer hunting since.

Don't get me wrong.  I love the outdoors and have spent weeks backpacking. I respect my many friends and family who love deer hunting.  I love to hear their stories and I am happy when they get one. I'll eat their deer-jerky and venison steaks anytime!  I love seeing deer when I'm in the woods.  But, I think I'll stick to hunting them with my eyes!  :-)

Fishing

When I was leading a church in McClellandtown, Pennsylvania, I discovered that the men of this church loved to fish!  Several of the men would occasionally bring fish to the house after one of their trips.  At that point in time, Debbie didn't even know how to prepare it.  :-)

Once a year, the men would plan a weekend fishing trip.  The one I recall the clearest was when we went to Confluence, Pennsylvania and fished at the outflow of the Youghiogheny Dam.  This is a great place for catching trout.  Some of the guys had campers and others set up tents. 

Travis was about five years old, so he and I joined the men and had a wonderful weekend.  Delbert Bowers took Travis under his wing and taught him to fish.  Another fellow named Wayne Franks had been a cook in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps).  He brought a huge griddle and built a fire under it.  He did all the cooking for the weekend and we ate like kings! 

But we didn't eat fish!  Everyone agreed that it happened to be a weekend when the fish just weren't biting!  Sort of sad.  Believe me, if anyone could catch fish - these guys could do it!  But, as it turned out, Travis was the only one to catch a fish!  Ha ha ha ha...

He caught a six-inch trout! 

Later that day, I got an idea.  I took every man's picture holding up Travis' fish!  :-)

The next Sunday when the men all came to church I had the bulletin board filled with their pictures!  Every man who went was pictured - smiling and holding up Travis' trout! 

Coon Hunting

In 1975, we were living in Wilmore, Kentucky, where I was a seminary student.  I accepted an appointment as 'Student Pastor' to the Tunnel Hill Free Methodist Church in English, Indiana.  On weekends, we lived in a 70' mobile home beside the church.

Gene and Betty Conrad sort of adopted us.  They often opened their home for meals and simply a place to hang out.  Gene invited me to go coon hunting with him on Saturday nights.  It was a new experience for me.

After dark, dressed appropriately for late-fall or early-winter, we loaded Rock and Sue-Sue into the back of Gene's truck and headed out.  When he dropped the gate of his truck, those dogs took off into the dark. They clearly understood their mission.

Gene lighted his carbide lamp, strapped on his 22-caliber pistol, grabbed his rifle and took off after the dogs. At first, we would just walk casually with our ears tuned for the first bark.  Once it sounded, Gene took off faster than I thought he could move.  Without a lamp, I learned to stay pretty close to him! The problem was that we were not on a trail;  rather, we were bush-whacking through the woods.  He would push branches out of the way which would then slap me in the face!  I quickly learned that it was best to stay about six feet behind him.

The barking would be consistent and when he heard Sue-Sue's higher pitched bark, he would holler to me: "They've got one treed!"

Eventually, we would arrive at the spot where the dogs had treed the coon. Rock would be desperately trying to climb the tree!  Sue-Sue would be sitting six feet from the tree barking consistently;  with every bark, her rear-end would come off the ground!

Now, Gene would pull out his spotlight and train it on the scared coon.  After rewarding the dogs, Gene would train one of his guns on the animal and drop it.  We had to rush to the coon before the dogs could get it!  Gene would let the dogs smell the animal and then put it in a sack.

After a few minutes of excitement, we'd start walking away and the dogs would take off again!

The most exciting night was when the dogs started barking and we started running.  Simultaneously, a train was coming through the valley toward 'Tunnel Hill'.  As we raced through the woods, Gene desperately wanted to get across the tracks before the train!  It was a panicky few minutes and we leaped across the tracks with the train so close I could feel the heat of its headlights!  Whew!  That was close!

I asked lots of questions and Gene was always patient to answer.  Some nights we got several coon;  other nights we came home with an empty sack.  One night the dogs treed three coon in one tree - that was exciting!  Either way, we had fun together.  It's a sport that's all about the dogs.  A good coon-hound could be worth a lot of money!  Gene was always worried that someone would steal his dogs.

On one occasion, Betty cooked up a coon for us to eat.  She did it with potatoes, onions and carrots.  I'm not sure Debbie tried it, but I did.  As I recall, it was kind of greasy and I didn't really like it that much. Typically, they didn't eat coon - I think they just did it as a novelty.

When we moved to McClellandtown, Pennsylvania, I got a coon-hound of my own.  I also named him Rock.  He was half 'blood-hound' and half 'black and tan'.  He had a hard time keeping his long ears off the ground!  I took him into the woods across from our home one night to hunt. When I released him, I sat with my back against a tree to wait for him to bark.  I sat for over an hour with no barking.  I was cold!  Finally, I called him but he never came.  I dragged myself up the hill and back to the house.  I figured I'd leave my coat at the door of his house so he'd stay if he came home. When I did, there was Rock - sound asleep in his house!

I guess neither of us were very good hunters!

By the way, in my personal experience I've found two groups of men who are by far the best story-tellers: coon-hunters and coal-miners.  When I moved to McClellandtown I found a few men who were both!  I'm still trying to figure out how much of their stories I should believe!

Sports

When I was a kid, churches didn't have sports teams.  To be honest, they didn't have to.  In that time period we had the YMCA.  Back then it was truly a Christian organization.  I went to the 'Y' several times a week after school to participate in athletic activities.  My Dad would pick me up on his way home from work or, I'd walk home.

Once-a-year, they'd sponsor a 'Father/Son Banquet'.  This was one of the few things that my Dad and I did together.  We'd have a good meal and sing some fun songs together.  There would always be funny stories and a speaker. Awards would be presented.

Then the 'Y' would be open for the fathers and sons to use.  My Dad and I would usually swim together.  It was fun.

Because my Dad was not a hunter or fisherman, I never learned about those things from him.  Growing up, my friends didn't do these things either.

My brother-in-law, Lib, took me fishing a few times along the Beaver River.  I remember him teaching me how to take a catfish off the hook without getting hurt.  But I never owned a fishing rod of my own.

My Dad's encouragement was toward work;  so that's what I did.  He taught me how to care for our doctor's lawn when I was eleven.  I did so until I left home at the age of seventeen.  By then, I had added several more lawns to my job-list and was earning my own spending money.

Lib tried to get me involved in sports.  He saw my potential and often had me throw the baseball with him in the backyard.  He thought I had the ability to pitch and encouraged me to try out for the baseball team.  That never happened.

I did go out for the track team one spring.  The coach didn't know what to do with me, so he sent me to the pole-vaulting area.  The only coach was another student who had shown some ability at vaulting.  By the end of the season, I cleared 10'.  No one was impressed.

However, I did play lots of backyard sports!  I grew up on 'Brighton Heights'. There were lots of neighbor kids to play with along with school friends who lived fairly close.  We met after school at the Phillip's house. They had a big yard and allowed us to play in it.  Sometimes there were two of us and other times there were ten.

We played basketball, baseball and football.  The Phillips' yard also had a tennis court.  On warm Saturday nights we'd often get a big turn-out for a game of "kick-the-can".  My favorite place to hide was the lilac bush! This was a highlight until my Mom ruined the fun by calling me inside!

I tried out for basketball when I hit high school - along with sixty-seven other boys!  The coach was overwhelmed!  He set up ten stations where we had to perform tasks.  One of the stations was jumping rope.  I didn't know how to jump rope - I was cut from the team.

I did have a moment of glory before I was cut - sort of...

The coach had us line-up at opposite ends of the court.  I was pushed to the front of our line.  Opposite me was the star of the team, Rick Messick.  The coach put the ball center-court and told us we were to race our opponent to the ball.  He whistled and I took off!  Amazingly, I got there first and grabbed the ball!

A split-second later, Rick arrived and wrestled me to the ground until he ripped the ball from my hands.  I was utterly shocked.  The coach praised Rick for his aggressive play and we each went to the ends of our lines.

I did especially grow up loving to play softball.  I didn't play on organized teams until later in life, but I loved this game and was fairly good at it. Somehow, I had learned the skill of place-hitting.  Consequently, I could often get on base by placing the ball down the first or third-base line!  It was a love that flourished at Family Camp every summer.

When I got to college, I participated in intramural sports as fully as I could:  soccer and flag football.  I got to know several of the players on the tennis team and often competed with them, but I never had the courage to try-out for the team!

I'll soon be adding some stories about the sports experiences that I learned as I led my first churches.  I always found men who were eager and willing to teach me about the sports they loved.  So, stay tuned for some stories about coon-hunting, fishing, deer hunting, raquetball, and trapping!  Some amazing men let me tag along on their adventures which created some memorable moments for me!  :-)