The cold
air stung my throat with each breath, but I barely noticed. The wolves had just
woken up and were playing out in the sage. I had spent countless hours reading
about this wolf pack, looking at pictures of them, and watching YouTube videos
about them. But seeing them with my own eyes out there in the wild—well, I just
couldn’t believe it!
 |
| Lamar Valley |
 |
| F926, taken by Kathy Rowland. http://www.yellowstonewolf.org/yellowstone_wolf_detail.php?log_id=2080 |
My
husband Vern was grinning ear to ear as he set up the scope and focused in on
the wolf pack. The kids were standing with eyes popping out of their heads with
excitement. We all knew that if we could see them this good with the naked eye,
seeing them with the scope was going to rock our worlds!
Vern knew
that I had a “thing” for F926, and so he had carefully focused in on her. I’m not
sure what it is about her that attracts me. Perhaps the fact that she is the daughter
of the famous F832 alpha female that could take down bull elk without any help.
Perhaps it was that she had endured the deaths of 3 mates and 2 litters of pups
in just under 18 months and continued to show a fierce drive to live.
Or maybe
what really fascinated me was the notch in her right ear that clearly had a
story behind it that nobody could tell. Perhaps it had happened in that fight
they had with the 12 wolves from the Prospect Peak a few years back when her
mate, M925 had acted as a decoy so she could escape. He didn’t survive the
attack.
I lowered
my eye to the optical, hands shaking with excitement.
She
looked incredibly wild. The sun was just rising and it caught the rusty brown
highlights in her dark brown fur as she pointed her nose into the wind for a
good sniff. Even from this distance, you could see her green eyes dancing as
the sun greeted her face. Then she effortlessly turned and trotted towards the
elk herd nearby, the rest of the pack following loosely behind.
 |
| F926 to the left of the elk |
I knew we
would all be content to stay there at the Jackson Overlook for the next few
hours, despite the cold temperatures. Just being near the wolves was thrilling
and we wanted to have that feeling for as long as we could.
I imagine
that is how we are meant to feel about being with Jesus. That we are so
thrilled and content being in His presence that we don’t ever want to leave.
Did you
know that Jesus feels the same way about us? He wants to be with each one of us
so badly that He became human and sacrificed His life so we could be together
for eternity. There is no greater love than that. (John 15:13)
Family
time.
1. Play
a game. Have you ever heard the phrase “I love you to the moon and back”? Make
up a new phrase that tells how much you love your family.
2. At
some time in your life, you have experienced excitement at seeing someone or
something. Share with the family about that. Why were you so excited about it?
Is there anything that could’ve made that experience even more exciting?
3. Seeing
and holding a baby is very exciting, particularly for the parents and family. But
unlike other babies, Joseph and Mary and many others (the shepherds, the
wisemen) knew exactly why Jesus had been born. How do you think that changed
their excitement? Is it possible to have that kind of excitement for a normal human
baby? Why or why not?
4. Read
Revelation 1:7. Who will see Jesus when He comes back to earth? This verse says
that some who see Him coming back to earth will be sad. Who do you think will
be sad and why? Will you be sad when you see Jesus again? Why or why not?
5. We
could only see the wolves from a distance, but when we see Jesus in eternity, He
will be so close that we will be able to touch Him and talk to Him. What do you
think that will be like? How is that going to be different from our experience
with the Lamar Valley wolf pack?
No comments:
Post a Comment