September 4 six years ago was also Labor Day Monday. And I remember it very distinctly. That’s because that was the hunt that I took Anna on which I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the last one I would ever do with her. It was a dove hunt. AJ Stock set it up for me. He contacted Chris Calliotte. And Chris contacted Josh Barron. It was an amazing morning. The reason why it was so significant is because the very next day was when I had my surgery. It is also significant because of the people involved. Let me explain.
A few weeks after my surgery is when we founded Charlie 22 Outdoors. AJ was a founding Board Member. Today, he serves as the president of the ministry. Chris Calliotte is a veteran. We met him when he was part of the shooting range north of Webb City. Josh Barron was also a veteran. He was a United States Navy rescue diver. He was the dog handler on that hunt for Anna.
Here’s how it all ties together. Charlie 22 Outdoors was founded in October 2017. As I stated, a few weeks after my surgery. A short time late, Josh found out that he had ALS. And he wanted to try to get his son out for one more hunt before he couldn’t. Much like I was doing for Anna. We contacted the owners of Little Flat Creek Ranch. Explained what was going on. The graciously opened up the property for us. Therefore, Josh and his family were part of our very first deer hunt. It was an amazing blessing. Because it was a few months later that Josh was gone. The point here is pretty obvious. You never know who you are going to meet. You never know when. You never know where. You never know how or why. And you never know what it is you are going to say at a certain point to someone that’s going to resonate with them. You never know! But we know this, Jesus does this all the time. He puts people in our paths at certain times in our lives. And it’s our job to witness to them. Because there’s going to be a day that we are all going to meet him. And we better have “things in order” with him before that happens. So today, let’s work on that. Let’s make sure that we have our “eternities” set up for when that time comes. Let’s make sure we have Jesus in our lives. And today, let’s make sure that we don’t hesitate to let others know about him. Because there’s a chance, we might be the only people to ever tell them about Jesus.
