I really like the Mossy Oak magazine ad that shows a guy knelt down beside a turkey he's just shot...The caption at the top of the page reads...

 "Times like these always make us stop and count our blessings." 

The short paragraph beneath the caption reads, "Around here, turkey hunting is more like a religion than a pastime.  Getting close to nature, getting back where we most belong is something we hold sacred.  When we do get to take one home, we do so with reverence." 

I think I personally appreciate this ad because it so closely mirrors my own feelings and views on hunting and being in the outdoors.  It IS where we MOST belong.  And I know that myself and my husband, as well as many other hunters we know DO hold it sacred. 

For me, the outdoors is where I feel closest to God.  And when I'm teaming up with my amazing husband, and we are sharing a hunt, or sitting on a dock fishing with our daughters, camping, hiking the mountain trails in Colorado, enjoying a trail ride on horseback, enjoying a picnic on the grass, or even just walking our dogs...those are the times when our family is most content, most relaxed.  Those are the times we hold most sacred. 

The outdoors has always been important to our family.  My husband and I grew up in families who enjoyed hunting and fishing.  It's in our blood, in every fiber of our being.  And sharing this with our own children has brought us so much joy and satisfaction. 

The outdoors, on many occasions, has brought he and I closer as a couple.  That, I believe, is one of the biggest gifts and blessings that has come out of me taking more of an interest...and eventually becoming somewhat obsessed with bowhunting.  

When he and I are out there together, working together, I'm learning and absorbing all he wants to teach me...those times make me realize that we are a TEAM.  In life, and in hunting. 

In nearly 20 years of being together, it is, admittedly, sometimes easy to lose sight of the fact that we are a team.  I guess we always know it, but sometimes it does get taken for granted.  Sometimes I laugh to myself and think about the times we've been annoyed at one another, but not quite annoyed enough to not grab up our bows and head on out to those woods and find us some deer or turkey!  HA HA! 

I have to wonder from time to time if bowhunting hasn't been somewhat of a marriage-saver for us!  I know, that sounds a bit extreme to a lot of folks... But, it's something we both have become so passionate about over time, and how can sharing something so sacred to us and something we are both so passionate about NOT enhance our marriage?  I know plenty of wives out there who rant about hunting and fishing being such sore spots in their marriages.  So I am incredibly thankful that that's just not the case for us.  Never has been, never will be.  Even before I actually hunted myself, I was thrilled to see him doing something he enjoyed so very much.  Just seeing the smile on his face and the excitement in his voice when he would tell me all about what he'd seen in the woods, rather he shot something or not...that's all I needed to know to understand that this was something that made him happy. 

And when Big Daddy's happy, Mama is happy too!  HA HA!  Back when I would tag along and just sit and watch while he hunted, I felt so honored in a way, that he wanted me to be a part of the thing he loved most to do in this world.  He loved me being there.  Just sitting, listening, watching, waiting.  Here we were, just the two of us, sitting close together, not able to really speak, and yet we were enjoying eachother's company.  Now if any couple can sit for hours under a tree together, not seeing or hearing an animal for sometimes several hours, but still have the time of their lives...well, if that isn't true love, then I don't know what is!  =) 

This is exactly why I hold our time out in the beautiful outdoors so sacred.  I feel closer to God, closer to my husband, and closer to our daughters when they are there. 

What's better than that?  =)