The year 2000 was a time of “hunt overload” for me. My fall hunting started in September with an Alaska-Yukon Moose/Caribou hunt with my son. October found me in Colorado hunting mountain
goat with Marv Clyncke, and the hunt which was to be the best was for Shiras moose in Montana. I had drawn a tag on my first year of application. M.R. James recommended a very successful Guide
and promised a story in “Bowhunter Magazine”. The opportunity to take an exceptional moose withmy recurve was very good.
Disappointment is a distasteful part of life. My November Shiras moose hunt was very disappointing. Two weeks before the hunt I learned that my exceptional Guide had been injured by a mule kick and almost died with a ruptured spleen. Upon arrival in Montana I was greeted by unusually cold weather and a young “know-it-all” Guide. Some snow came and the moose were moving, but alas, the cold and Guide conflict messed with two opportunities.
I’m not usually a quitter but I found myself thinking, “This hunt needs to be over”. So on day five I said to my young Guide, “Give me your gun, if it’s brown its down”. After some more disappointments he was down. It was the only one I saw, the small bull, not the big one the Guide had seen. However, it was a legal moose and the hunt soon came to a cold end.
If you look for them there are always things to be thankful for, even in a time of disappointment. In my case, it was that my moose antlers fit in my 36” sleeping bag case and did not cost extra money
to ship home. Also, I got some great personal time with M.R. James, editor of Bowhunter Magazine.This included a tour of his lovely Montana home filled with great trophies plus my final ride to the
airport. It was a good time.
So what is a person to do when life offers a load of disappointments? Things happen that change our plans. Friends let us down. People don’t keep their word. A job is ended without a good reason. A child disappoints our dreams for them. A hunt fails in our connection with a desired result and the list goes on.
In Samuel 30:6 we find some helpful words. “…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”.The setting for these words was that the Amalekites had destroyed Ziklag and taken David’s wives and many others as captives. It was not a good day for David. The verse starts out by saying that “Davidwas greatly distressed”.
However, he did the very thing we all must do in distress and disappointment; he turned to God.
Disappointments can make us stronger individuals and stronger Christians depending on how we handle them. We must look for the positive, be it ever so small, and find help in the Lord. A simple
verse from the Bible can often move us in the right direction or maybe an encouraging word from a friend will help. Too often we let disappointments drag us down. We can become selfish or bitter. We
can harbor unforgiveness or negative thoughts. The bottom line is that those types of things are not good for us or anyone else.
The words of Jesus to His disciples in John 16:33 remind us that life is filled with challenges. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. The disciples were being instructed as to what the end for Jesus would be. Their idea about their King and Kingdom was not
looking very good. I’m sure they were disappointed. We too can experience disappointment when our hopes and dreams come negatively down around us. We too like David and the Apostles live in times of personal and national distress. On the surface it may look like our world is falling apart. However, we too must really take to heart the words of Jesus: “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”. In other words, Jesus is saying, look to me I am still in control.
So in all of life’s uncertainties and disappointments look to Jesus and discover the little things that are uplifting. Is it hard at times? Yes. Is it the thing to do? Absolutely! James says it this way: “Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be
happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for
anything, strong character, full and complete”. (James 1:2-4 Living Bible).
Rev. David L. Roose
CBA Founder
goat with Marv Clyncke, and the hunt which was to be the best was for Shiras moose in Montana. I had drawn a tag on my first year of application. M.R. James recommended a very successful Guide
and promised a story in “Bowhunter Magazine”. The opportunity to take an exceptional moose withmy recurve was very good.
Disappointment is a distasteful part of life. My November Shiras moose hunt was very disappointing. Two weeks before the hunt I learned that my exceptional Guide had been injured by a mule kick and almost died with a ruptured spleen. Upon arrival in Montana I was greeted by unusually cold weather and a young “know-it-all” Guide. Some snow came and the moose were moving, but alas, the cold and Guide conflict messed with two opportunities.
I’m not usually a quitter but I found myself thinking, “This hunt needs to be over”. So on day five I said to my young Guide, “Give me your gun, if it’s brown its down”. After some more disappointments he was down. It was the only one I saw, the small bull, not the big one the Guide had seen. However, it was a legal moose and the hunt soon came to a cold end.
If you look for them there are always things to be thankful for, even in a time of disappointment. In my case, it was that my moose antlers fit in my 36” sleeping bag case and did not cost extra money
to ship home. Also, I got some great personal time with M.R. James, editor of Bowhunter Magazine.This included a tour of his lovely Montana home filled with great trophies plus my final ride to the
airport. It was a good time.
So what is a person to do when life offers a load of disappointments? Things happen that change our plans. Friends let us down. People don’t keep their word. A job is ended without a good reason. A child disappoints our dreams for them. A hunt fails in our connection with a desired result and the list goes on.
In Samuel 30:6 we find some helpful words. “…but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”.The setting for these words was that the Amalekites had destroyed Ziklag and taken David’s wives and many others as captives. It was not a good day for David. The verse starts out by saying that “Davidwas greatly distressed”.
However, he did the very thing we all must do in distress and disappointment; he turned to God.
Disappointments can make us stronger individuals and stronger Christians depending on how we handle them. We must look for the positive, be it ever so small, and find help in the Lord. A simple
verse from the Bible can often move us in the right direction or maybe an encouraging word from a friend will help. Too often we let disappointments drag us down. We can become selfish or bitter. We
can harbor unforgiveness or negative thoughts. The bottom line is that those types of things are not good for us or anyone else.
The words of Jesus to His disciples in John 16:33 remind us that life is filled with challenges. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”. The disciples were being instructed as to what the end for Jesus would be. Their idea about their King and Kingdom was not
looking very good. I’m sure they were disappointed. We too can experience disappointment when our hopes and dreams come negatively down around us. We too like David and the Apostles live in times of personal and national distress. On the surface it may look like our world is falling apart. However, we too must really take to heart the words of Jesus: “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”. In other words, Jesus is saying, look to me I am still in control.
So in all of life’s uncertainties and disappointments look to Jesus and discover the little things that are uplifting. Is it hard at times? Yes. Is it the thing to do? Absolutely! James says it this way: “Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be
happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for
anything, strong character, full and complete”. (James 1:2-4 Living Bible).
Rev. David L. Roose
CBA Founder
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