GONE FOR THE WEEKEND

I am happy to say that I will be leaving for the rest of this day (Saturday), Sunday, and will be arriving back late Monday. It's off to the North, North, very, very, North woods of Wisconsin. My daughter and I are meeting my former brother-in-law (Keith), and his wife (Helen), at the hunting camp where I stay when I hunt (thus the name 'hunting camp').

Of all the places in the world I have been to, this is one of my favorite. No phone, except cell phone (turned off!, of course), no computer, tv, or running water. Just God's green green earth, all over, everywhere. My daughter loves it as well. We take long, long walks in the woods, we go with our truck through the forest on the logging roads, check out the water falls, and have a bonfire every night. The eating is good, too. Last year, I deep fried a cajun turkey for one of our dinners. I think this year, we'll fry up some venison steak on the old Weber grill.

Ahhhhhhhhh yes, I can smell the forest already, all the cedar trees, and pines, and birches everywhere you turn, deer when you least expect them, and the rare porcupine as well. Oh yeah, let's not forget the turkeys.

It's the fourth of July weekend in the US, and it's a time we celebrate. However, let's please remember what freedom costs, always. Just as our freedom in Christ cost Christ his life, so too, freedom costs soldiers everywhere in this world their lives. Those who would oppress and keep people enslaved will stop at nothing to keep them in chains. So if you know of someone who lives in a country that isn't free, maybe you can remember them this weekend, and ask God if He will set them free, too.