What a great time our Winfield Men’s Ministry group had on our annual pheasant hunting trip. The road trip was fun, the hunt was fun, the fellowship was blessed, all was well. We had great conversations about church growth, people and pastoral participation in kingdom work, leadership, Lordship, generosity, passion, and more. Conversations that were not heard were questions about wounds needing staples or stitches, no one had to make a splint out of their shot gun stalk, we didn’t have to make a spine board out of tree limbs, or use tree bark for a neck brace. Furthermore, if this trip were made into a movie we could write a disclaimer on it stating “No actual pheasants were killed in the making of this movie.”

The following is my review of our trip:

On our Pheasant hunt trip:

1. We discussed the issue of why churches don’t grow leadership, Lordship, people and pastoral participation in kingdom work.

2. We acknowledged the success of the trip in that there were no worries if the tourniquet was too tight, need of stitches verses bandages, there was no need to make a splint out of a shot gun stock, or to make a neck brace our of tree bark or a spine board out of tree limbs in order to transport anyone to a hospital.

3. We discovered that mice can chew through headlight wiring.

4. We discovered that you can work up a sweat while walking through fields in January.

5. We realized that if we hunt earlier in the season next year we can hunt twice on one license. That’s kind of like getting two birds with one stone, or in our case, like getting no birds with one license.

6. We found that a 25 count box of birdie body bags (one gallon freezer bags) is more than enough.

7. We found that it’s more fun to shoot a gun until it runs out of shells than it is to empty it by ejecting them.

8. We came to the idea that hot tubs make great meeting places for small groups, but may lengthen the time spent in a board meeting.

9. I discovered that the greater the picture would have been, the deader the camera batteries will be.

10. We realized too late that one large pot of spaghetti would have been cheaper than 5 frozen dinners.

11. We found out that mice in the oven give off an odor when the oven is lit.

12. I concluded that those in the back of the van experience more wiggle and bumps than those in the front seats.

13. We found out that thick socks are better than thin socks for hiking.

14. I discovered that even though you can not see the bottom of a hole, its depth may still be discovered by simply stepping into it.

15. I found out that deep holes are difficult to get out of.

16. We realize d that if you hunt through a field that has been recently covered with fresh manure, and take no birds from that field, your most powerful memory of that field will be that of said fresh manure.

17. I experienced the phenomenon that shot guns gain weight in proportion to the lack of birds shot.

18. We became aware that to begin a hunt at the “crack of dawn” one must realize that dawn makes no audible sounds, such as a “cracking” sound. Nor is the eastern horizon rife with cracks, splinters, fractures, fissures, or other signs of breaking. Therefore, starting ones hunt “at the crack of dawn” may be defined as “sometime before noon.”

19. I grasped the truth that the more one encourages fellow hunters and adventurers to join in the hunt, the fewer birds there will be to find on said hunt.

20. We learned that pheasants taunt hunters by striking the “Heisman trophy pose” while they run away from hunters.

21. Some found that non game birds get dead for striking such poses.

22. Some excitedly found that the fuller a bladder becomes the farther it will be to the stopping place.

23. We learned again that shared events creates friendships, and draws close friends even closer.

24. Found that hind sight is good, and its observations should be recorded.

25. We established that “Two in the bush” is not an appreciated comparison to “one in the hand” when one is holding none in the hand.