I usually go to church EVERY Sunday, this is the first year that Ohio has had Sunday hunting. I have gone out hunting every Sunday that I could this deer season. I have made it back for church a few Sundays but usually I dont. My mom and my grandma have been trying to make me feel bad for it mostly by saying that my decision is between me and God. Well, I try to tell them how spiritual hunting is, but they seem to think that I'm just trying to justify going.....but I'm not.

When I'm in my treestand, all I can do is pray and thank the Lord for everything around me. I always have a very spiritual experience when I step into the woods. I feel close to God in the woods. He created all of what is around me, the animals, the trees, the plants, the sun, the skys, the clouds, the water in the streams, all of it is His creation. I feel close to Him, and I feel like I am doing what he wants me to do and I feel like I'm taking part in the food chain, the circle of life, the preditor prey relationship, all of that.

My parents dont hunt so they just dont get it. I can try to explain but you just cant explain hunting to a non-hunter. There arent words enough to properly explain it, believe me I have tried. I try to tell them, my mom and my grandma are the ones who really get angry or are upset that I dont go to church, that I want to go hunting, but they just still, tonight being the most recent, that they got angry. I still get to go but it is kinda.....upsetting that I cant share hunting with my family, they dont have any interest in it at all. I want them to understand and not be angry at me for wanting to get close to God in my own way rather than their way. I LOVE church, but I feel closer to God in the woods than indoors.

I wish they could get it. Well, thanks guys for letting me get this off my chest and.....rant, I guess.
Thanks

&quot;A Country Boy Can Survive&quot; </IMG>

Try this one Tell them it's a lot better to be thinking about church while your hunting than sitting in church thinking about hunting<img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle>

I tried that one, and even tho its true, it dont work<img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>

&quot;A Country Boy Can Survive&quot; </IMG>

i assume you're less than 18 yrs old....how about doing this. to keep peace in the family and please your mom and grandma why not go to church sunday morning and reserve the evening hunts for sundays. sounds to me like you have a pretty good head on your shoulders. you're mom, grandmother, and the church have done well raising you. also talk to your pastor and tell him how being in the woods makes you feel and what you think about while you're there....maybe he'll add some light to the situation w/your mom and grandma. church is just a place to meet and praise god for a couple of hours, seems to me that if you're praising him the whole time you're in the forest that he created, thats a better place for you. i live in ohio as well and it sure is convenient being able to hunt 7 days a week Ü

Hmmm... I didn't know you had to go to church to be a christian. I also didn't know you should worship the day more than the one who created it.

I used to go to church on sundays, but it just got to the point where I was hating going to church. So I just started praising and worshiping the lord more in the woods more than I ever did in church.You can do that and have fellowship in the lord doing other things, and at the end of the day you'll be more in right with God than the man who sat and sulked all day in church.I had heard all the &quot;you need to be SAVED!!!&quot; and I'd been saved for freakin 9 years. If they don't feed you spiritual meat, then your better off doing bible study on your own. I found a church that really has something to teach after you find salvation, but I still hunt on sunday.

&quot;Hey ya'll, watch this&quot;

I'm not going to tell you how I feel about 99.9% of the churches and the people who run them. I do however believe that God would rather you worship in the land that he created rather than in a cement building that some greedy man created and is using to make money. Well I guess you know I feel about churches. God didn't go to church, he just prayed when and where he felt he wanted to.

well put kodiak.....another point to mention is that it appears that in todays age church seems to be more about money and power at the pulpit than sending a spiritual message.

Tough situation. You can look at it in several ways.First as a minor the Lord does say to honor your parents.Your parents responsibility is to raise you in the ways of the Lord and when you get old you will not depart from his ways. Maybe if you honor your parents God will deliver you a deer anyway.I would probably go to one service on Sunday and hunt either the morning or evening. I do understand how close you can come to God and his creation in the wild,Believe me.I do my best praying and praise in the woods.

HERES MY THOUGHTS (FOR WHAT ITS WORTH). IF YOU BELEIVE THAT JESUS IS THE SAVIOR AND THE SON OF GOD THEN I THINK HE WOULD UNDERSTAND MISSING A FEW SUNDAYS. EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE NOT IN HIS HOUSE HE IS STILL SITTING ON YOUR SHOULDER WHILE YOU ARE IN THE WOODS. THE BIBLE TALKS OF MEDATATION AND I THINK THAT THE WOODS PROVIDES THAT SOLITUDE FOR ME. HOW ABOUT YOU?

I ALSO FEEL THAT IF ALL YOU MOM AND GRANDMA PLACE SUCH A HIGH VALUE ON THE TEMPLE THEN MABE THEY NEED TO RE AFFIRM THERE FAITH. THE FELLOWSHIP IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD IS TREMENDOUS BUT IT IS WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART THAT IS MOST IMPORTANT. YOU CANNOT BEAT THE FEELING OF THE HOLY GHOST WHILE MEDITATING IN THE WOODS.

WELL THAT'S MY 2 CENTS

HUNT ON HUNT HARD EAT WELL

Amen, Cardeer!

FOOLPROOF?
Never underestimate the power of a fool!

What if the &quot;Hokey Pokey&quot; really is what it's all about?