A number of years ago, when Harleigh was a young teenager, she said to me, “Dad, I’d like to go deer hunting with you sometime.” That’s all it took for me to enroll her in a hunter safety class (which we took together), buy her a license, equip her with gun & gear, and head into a tree stand.
Since then, we have been on numerous hunts together every season. While we haven’t harvested a lot of game, we have killed a LOT of time together. Sitting next to each other. Breathing. Watching the sunrise. Talking. Sometimes even watching Virginia Tech football games on my phone.
Harleigh has been my hunting companion every season since she asked me that question. Until this season. This hunting season, she is on the other side of the world, living out a dream that God planted in her heart to serve Him on mission through the World Race.
She is currently in South Africa and I am sitting alone with my thoughts this afternoon in the mountains of Bath County, Virginia. On a deer hunt. As I scan the wooded timber looking for a glimpse of a deer, without Harleigh at my side, I am reminded that our God NEVER has to search for us. As I think about Harleigh on the other side of the world, even though she is far from me, she is near to God and He knows EXACTLY where she is and what she is up to. Every second of every day. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Psalms 139. In verses 7-10, we read:
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (NIV)
My God sees Harleigh. He doesn’t need to hunt for her. He sees you, too. And me. He knows that I am typing this on my phone while I am sitting on the side of a mountain. He knows that I am not hunting the landscape for deer. Guess I better get back to it. Harleigh will not be happy with me if I miss an opportunity for venison today!
Kevin McNulty
Harleigh’s Dad & Hunting Buddy
