A Blessed Way
I had never mounted an animal and had no idea how to cape out a Dall sheep. I had skinned a lot of furbearers and knew how to dress out a deer, but this was different.
I kept looking for my partners, but no luck. By taking my time, I was able to get the cape off and bone out all of the meat while keeping it clean. The old arctic winter army packs have enormous volume. They also have long straps so that you can continue to stack things higher. I was able to get all of my meat and the cape with head and horns on top of my already full pack. I was much younger and much stronger then, being only a year out of the infantry. Even so, I had to sit on the ground and roll over onto my hands and knees before I could stand up with the pack. I had no way of descending from here, so I took my sheep trail back around the front of the mountain where I had left my pack previously.
From there I spotted a large patch of last year's snow along a creek bed far beneath me. It was still morning but already the day was getting warm. I knew that I needed to get my meat to that snow to keep it cold. It was then that I learned another valuable lesson. When carrying a lot of weight, going down is much harder than going up.
This applies to all of life. When you are single desiring to be married, the path up to purity and holiness is hard. The path down to promiscuity and heartache is even harder. When you want to get established financially, the path of hard work and saving is hard. The path of gambling or dishonesty is even harder. Going up is always hard, but going down is always harder. Shoulder whatever is yours to carry, give the rest to God- and climb. There is no easy path, but there IS a blessed path! -Pastor Brad
Written on February 13, 2026
Posted in Daily Devotions