Cowboy Jim‘s Stories Around the Campfire

Years of youth ministry, camps and sports have taken me to many Emergency Rooms. Sometimes as a patient and many more times as the leader, coach, pastor in charge. They are never fun and can be exhausting, challenging and even fearful. Thank God that He promises to be with us.

Over the years I have had a lot of experience with horses. On the ranch we had a lot of really good cow ponies that I have told you about in "Horses on the Ranch" . We also had some that were not so good and created a lot of stories with horses that were slow, ignorant and downright dumb. Some of these horses were created to help us learn patience, I think.

Over the years we have had many adventures on lakes, rivers and streams. Sometimes it included some sort of rescue/ Our adventures on Moosehead Lake in Maine were always exciting, challenging and sometimes a bit scary.

Years of youth ministry will give you many stories of things that happen and can lead to visits to the local Emergency Room. There can be some pretty scary times and some of them, while not fun, gives us some great stores and adventures. I have often thought that if I wrote a book about my years as a youth pastor and camp director, I would entitle the book, "ER's I Have Known".

You probably know that I really like reading and hearing about hidden gold stores, especially in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Here is another famous one and some personal adventures as well.

Whenever you spend a lot of time in the woods or the outdoors there is a good chance of having close encounters with wild animals. Sometimes they can be very dangerous and sometimes vastly entertaining. But either way, there is a lot of excitement during the close encounter moment.

I've had the chance to drive in many different countries in many different vehicles.  Sometimes it can get pretty crazy and exciting as one tries to learn to maneuver a car or motorbike around in a culture that may drive a whole lot more differently than we do here in the States.

I've already talked about some of the hazards of camping.  When you are out in the woods there are many things that can happen to you.  Some of them are funny and some of them might be a bit challenging or scary.  But a bad day in the woods is still better than a day in the office.

I've already talked about some of the hazards of camping.  When you are out in the woods there are many things that can happen to you.  Some of them are funny and some of them might be a bit challenging or scary.  But a bad day in the woods is still better than a day in the office.

Those of us who enjoy canoeing will often go to great lengths to find a fun, challenging and scenic place to canoe.  It is almost always worth it.  But there are times that times go wrong, the water is worse than expected or storms cause a lot of trouble.  There are times we took some trips with students and I'm sure it was only by the grace of God that we did not suffer serious injury or accident.