God Will Equip You
By Pastor Kevin
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.–Hebrews 13:20-21
Two years ago I was blessed to step into serving full time with Kicking Bear! It has been an amazing ride and I am very thankful. One thing hit me hard this past month though and that is just how unqualified I was for parts of this assignment back then. Let me explain.
My first task with Kicking Bear back in 2022 was to plan that fall’s youth hunt. Ok. Well, I had never actually been on a hunt before, never…haha funny assignment God. To be honest it was a little overwhelming and I felt the pressure through the process to not screw it up because it was such a cool opportunity for these kiddos. But, by His grace and some amazing support from fellow guides I was able to plan that hunt!
And on that hunt, I had my first sit in the blind for whitetail deer with Tyler and Kaylie Bass. They were the veterans, I was the rookie. Sure enough Kaylie got a deer on our last sit Sunday morning. Part of my initiation into this hunting stuff was that I had agreed over the weekend to gut the deer. I kept telling everyone that I was probably going to either get sick or cry, so the cell cams were out. Again by the grace of God I was able to keep it all together as brother Chad guided me through the process of field dressing that deer. Time and time again I hear veteran volunteers with Kicking Bear talk about how they agreed to serve thinking it was all “for the kids” but once the work was being done they realized God was using that time “for them” as well. This was happening for me too!
One more cool thing about 2022 was teaching mentees Jeffrey, Raelyn and David how to shoot crossbows so we could catch late season archery in Minnesota. Brother Ray helped me train the kids with our Mission Sub 1 Crossbows and then we were able to get out for a winter sit. We couldn’t quite get the deer in on that one, but again I was learning so much about the sport of hunting, it was really amazing. Over the last two years I’ve been blessed to learn about deer, turkey and bear hunting from some of the best around!
Fast forward to last month and everything sort of came to a pinnacle moment about how God will equip those he calls. My buddy Reese and I were out on a sit with the crossbow. God blessed Reese with a nice doe that night and he made a perfect shot on her. Right after some high fives and congratulations it all hit me. I had been out on our group hunts as a guide, but this was the first time none of the other veteran’s were in reach or in the area. Was just me and Reese that night. I’d also never been out on an archery hunt that was successful. I’d never tracked a deer solo or field dressed one without someone to mentor me through it. As we packed up and went to look for the bolt it hit me hard, I got nervous. But, you know what, I had learned it and so had Reese. All the time spent with the Kicking Bear crew and all the wisdom passed on had all been part of the plan. Reese and I had an absolute blast that night! We tracked his deer, dressed and dragged her out and I don’t think we stopped smiling the whole time. For both of us, it was a great time to give thanks to God. Thankful for all the amazing people who had taught us along the way and all the experiences we had in His creation. Also thankful that night to step into putting all we had learned into practice together, making new memories.
I still have a lot to learn about hunting and if my prayers are answered God will keep providing opportunities to learn more, because I am hooked on getting kids out to hunt. It is not just about the harvest on these hunts, the time together with these kiddos is so unique in our world today. The peace, the quiet, watching creation wake up or the sun setting, conversations about life, prayers together. God knows about this special time and that is why He created Kicking Bear and the things we do.
God will equip those he calls. I just want to pass this along because I think sometimes we check our qualifications before stepping into Kingdom work before we check His, and that isn’t how God’s Kingdom works. He is good and all His promises are yes and amen! He will equip those He calls, every time. Now let’s get some more kiddos out hunting!!!
Are you interested in becoming a mentor with Kicking Bear? If so, email Pastor Kevin at info@kickingbear.org today!