Discovering the Joy in Waiting Through My First Duck Hunt

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.”

Voltaire

I recently crossed something off my bucket list after 37 years. In Texas, hunting is a way of life. Hunting is just something you grow up doing. My story did not involve hunting a kid. While other kids perched in blinds waiting for the perfect deer to peek its head through the trees, I was in a gym or on a baseball diamond. Fast forward 30 years, and I finally can say I’m a hunter. Or, at least I’ve been hunting. 

Yesterday, our marketing guy invited my business partner and myself to a guided hunt of which he led. He’s a professional hunting guide, and he’s really good at it. He took us to this beautiful stretch of private land early in the morning almost 2 hours before first light. It was glorious. 4:45a wake up. 6:00a arrival to a brisk 34 degree morning where the steam is seeping off the waters and your breath is crystallizing every time you exhale. Warm clothes. Shotguns. Coffee. It truly is a microadventure of epic proportions. It’s also fantastic for the soul. Waiting would soon commence.

 

As we prepared our firearms for the incoming flights of duck, we nestled cozily into position inside our layouts waiting for the fowl to arrive.. Then, we waited some more. It was still over an hour from first sun, but we had to prepare in advance so that we’d be ready when first light occurred at 7:38a. 

While we waited for our cue to begin shooting, we talked, thought, talked some more, and thought even more than that. We had an hour to kill, so we made the best use of it. As first light approached, the conversations changed from funny stories dudes tell when they’re waiting to hunt to what the protocol would be once first light occurred. 

I couldn’t shake the thought that the beauty was in the waiting though. We laid in layouts for an hour talking before we ever actually got to the “fun” part. To see the horizon move ever slow slowly from darkness to light is breathtaking. The sun begins to creep it’s beautiful face up from the east to launch an array of warmth over your entire body. 

So often, we miss this in the things God has called us to do. Most of the important, purposeful assignments we’re called to endure involve some level of waiting. We simply forget that much of the beauty is actually in the waiting. We anticipate the end result or the final destination as the only part that’s important. In reality, the waiting is when we get to experience the best conversations, most thoughtful times, and the most critical learning experiences. 

It’s in the waiting that we learn to endure hardship and choose joy despite the discomfort we’re feeling. Waiting, in so many cases, is actually a gift if we choose to allow it to be. 

The next time you’re asked to wait, wait with joy. Wait with expectancy. Choose to wait and receive what God has for you.