We are Going on a Bear Hunt!

 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish….Matthew 18:12-14

Bear Hunts are serious business at Papa and Gammy’s house!

They can event be quite intense, and you definitely have to know what you are doing before being allowed to go on one of our hunts!

For example…

You have to be quiet as you walk through the jungle (aka.. the darkened hallways and rooms in our home)…because you don’t want to scare the animals away…

And you definitely don’t want to stir or awaken one of these animals from their natural habitat...they might chase you!

And of course, you definitely need flashlights because it is dark and you never know what large animal you might run into on one of our hunts!

And just so you know…we don’t just hunt for bears!  We hunt for all types of wildlife!

Bears…Lions…Tigers…Elephants…Giraffes…Zebras…

And of course…there are other ferocious animals that we run into on our hunts!

Puppies (lots of them)…Cats…Birds…. (and other animals)

We have even hunted for some wild farm animals!

Our adventurous Bear Hunts began when Hudson and Graham were little!

We would hide several beanie babies (I mean…what else do you do with all of the beanie babies that you just had to purchase several years ago) throughout the house…turn off the lights…and then search for them with our flashlights!

The boys loved it!  And now their younger brothers, Beau and Emmett, have joined the fun!

On their last sleepover, the boys began hiding the beanie babies themselves!  A couple of them would hide the animals, and then the other two would go search for them!

And I can assure you…they were very serious…finding excellent hiding places for the animals, as well as, making sure that each animal was found!

I loved hearing their squeals of laughter as they found animals in various places throughout our home!

And I love joining them on their hunt!

However, a couple of days after our sleepover…much to my surprise…a couple of animals turned up in various places while I was cleaning!

These two animals were found behind our bedroom door!  Fortunately, they were doing well, and I quickly returned them to their animal family!

Moments later…as I was vacuuming under our bed…I spotted this little guy!  You can see how easily it would be to miss him…he is so tiny!

Needless to say, he has also been returned to his family and is doing quite well!

I smiled as I rescued these little ones and was quickly reminded of Jesus’s care for us!

God’s word tells us… “What do you think?  If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.   In the same way your Father in heaven is not 

willing that any of these little ones should perish….Matthew 18:12-14

Just as my little grandsons diligently searched for each animal, trying to make sure that every animal was found and returned to the rest of the group…Jesus did the same thing with the one lost sheep!

His word tells us that Jesus left the group to go and search for the stray sheep! 

I don’t really know any shepherds, but I assume it is normal for most shepherds in this area to care for a large number of sheep.

And after a long day of letting the sheep graze and roam the pastures, the shepherd might even count the sheep at the end of the day, making sure every sheep was accounted for!

Think of the great care a shepherd has for his flock.  He is willing to leave the 99 sheep, just so he can go and search for the lost one.

I can picture the shepherd searching high and low…behind every rock…along the streams…determined to find that lost sheep!

And think of the joy the shepherd feels when he finds his lost sheep and is able to safely return it to his flock.

This is how God feels about us!  He does not want to lose one of his children! 

And when we are lost, God will come searching for us!

I think of the joy my grandsons express when they find their precious animals!  I can only imagine the great joy our Heavenly Father feels when one of his lost children is found and returns home!

Dear Heavenly Father…thank you for loving us so deeply!  How blessed we are to know that you will come searching for us when we are lost…and then rejoicing with us when we are found!