Breathing deeply

Maybe once in a lifetime, you are part of something really really special. And if you’re super blessed, you’ll be able to recall that experience for the rest of your days.

I know I didn’t finish my daily blogs about my experience in Tanzania with my best friends – I still haven’t written about the Honey Badger! – but yesterday, I got to see the experience in film and sound like never before.

I wanted to share the film that Donnie put together for us. Today’s technology is super amazing, when you think of the video and photography we were able to capture and the artistic way Donnie was able to pull it all together. Rachel, Amy and James are wonderful photographers and you’ll see their work here. The music is moving and brought me to tears, happy ones of course. If you listen close, you can hear the excitement in the breath of the boys as they hunted and the sounds coming from the land and the animals that are uniquely Tanzania.

What you may not see in the video is the change that occured inside me, perhaps you’ve noticed it after my return, maybe not. But I can promise you it is there. I have always valued the friendship of Jim, Monty, Donnie and Rachel. I have come to love and adore Amy. And the Draegers, well James and Penny have always had a special place in my heart. But this experience, at this time, and in this place, it’s another example of God’s love and His hand in my life.

A word of caution, this was a hunt. And if that’s not for you, then this video may not be for  you. Take the humor for what it is because laugh we did, and while this blog is not the place to explain in detail how conservation works in Africa (animals, land, people), the hunt is indeed a critical part of the conservation cycle. What I hope instead, is that you get the chance to appreciate, admire and even revere as I did what a place like Tanzania represents for us all.