The Creation Speaks: If you listen: A Testimony from Taylor Bergeron

Religion started out as a part of my family when I was younger. I was baptized
and did communion at a catholic church very young but never understood it and quite
frankly, didn’t like it. This was of course no fault of my parents. When you don’t
understand something and are voluntold to do it, it doesn’t serve the same purpose as if
you seek it out yourself.
Proverbs 12:27…. We’ll come back to this.
There have been so many times and instances throughout my life that the Lord
nudged me or presented Himself to me, but I was hesitant. I was reluctant. Why? All the
signs were there. All the blessings were there. All the lessons were there. He was there.
But… I wasn’t.
It wasn’t until I met a, now, very close friend of mine, that religion came back into
view. Andrew Lang and I met at the beginning of our military career going through
Officer Candidate School together. We endured countless physical, mental, and
emotional whoopings that we, to this day, wouldn’t want to experience again but it
created an eternal bond over shared misery. Over the couple years we experienced
these sessions, there were many times we would return to our barracks exhausted and
have meaningful conversations. These deeper discussions were intertwined with
religion and done so tastefully. Nowhere outside of a church had I heard a normal
person talk about their experiences with church, the Lord, and believing. It was him and
his wonderful family (Kim and Mark) that led our family to DayBreak and ultimately to
the Lord.
Recently, following a four-day family trip to this place in Northeast Pennsylvania
that we call The Farm and with the support of my amazing wife and best friend, I was
able to make the trek back for a short three-day solo trip to hunt. At first it felt like just
that, a hunting trip. Not more than 10 days prior, I missed a 40-yard shot on a buck from a stand we call the Judge's Chambers, named after my father-in-law’s time as a
superior court judge, with our son Hunter by my side. Not once…. But twice. I felt
defeated, like a failure of a father, and struggled to find the reasons why the event
unfolded like it did. It was this trip that would answer those questions.
When you go to The Farm, there is a lot that needs to get done before you can
truly enjoy the tranquility and peace there. This usually includes ensuring that the water
is on, the heat is on (and working) or starting a fire, bringing in all the items you brought
(which typically includes food, clothes, and bedding), wood cut and stacked, barn lights
are on, and the occupancy cow flag is displayed. Flying solo, these tasks were daunting
but achievable due to the simplicity of the items I brought. Without the heat working
properly, I grabbed what split wood there was left in the barn and started a fire to get the
place warm from when I returned from the evening hunt.
I hunted that Wednesday evening in the Judge's Chambers and saw nothing but
one doe streaking across the field. It was windy, cold, and slightly sprinkling. I was cold
and damp from the walk to the ATV and ride back to the house. The greeting of a furry
face of our old pup, the warmth of the wood stove, and a glass of whiskey helped to
take the chill out.
Thursday morning, I sat in Emily’s Grandpa’s stand and saw a bunch of
chipmunks and, by the time Thursday evening came around, I moved stands back to
the Judge’s Chambers. I was frustrated. Frustrated with the lack of sightings, frustrated
with the inclimate weather, frustrated that I had an opportunity to share something
memorable with Emily and our son over a week ago and blew it. It could have been a
true father / son moment. As I sat there grumpy, I began texting with a good friend of
mine (Jesse (a different one). This friend is someone who I have become close to since
our deployment and is a fellow hunter. We share a lot in common but one thing we have
discussed and have different views on is the Lord and religion (I’m working on him!). I
have had a few conversations with him and have told him and others; the place I feel
closest to God is in the woods hunting. I started venting to him and to my surprise he
said to me “Hey you can’t be grumpy when hunting. Think about how close to God you
are right now.” He was right. I have said it all along and with my selfish thinking and
desire to find answers of what happened 10 days ago, I forgot where I felt the closest to
God. I forgot about the times he presented Himself to me and I failed to believe. At that
moment, I prayed. I prayed for forgiveness for how I was acting, for my stubbornness,
for Emily and Hunter to bond while I was away, for their health and safety, and for their
understanding for me being away. Praying brought the Lord back into focus, and it
brought more clarity. I was focused on the wrong things that day and a couple weeks
prior. I had been chasing experiences that I wanted, not understanding the bigger
picture, and lessons the Lord was trying to provide. God had a plan as he always does.

Not 15 minutes after praying, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and
saw two backs starting to crest a small hill 175 yards away in the corner closest to the
north corner of the field. That was short lived when their tails flickered, and they
disappeared over the hill. I texted Jesse and said, “I sat the wrong stand”. I was
overcome with a sense of calmness and peace. I had seen a couple deer and continued
to build my relationship with the Lord. Suddenly, those same deer reappeared but had
one more with them, another doe. They were still way out of bow range at 175 yards
away. One of them, however, zig zagged her way through the field stopping every so
often to put her nose up in the air and evaluate what was going on. A few times, she
even stopped to stomp her foot (as deer do) to alert of a potential threat. She wasn’t
looking at me though. She was looking past me to the far end of the field. I scanned and
there was nothing there. Texting with Emily, she shared something Hunter said, “Daddy
remember to breathe, be calm and look out your peep sight:" ; Some smart advice from a
six-year-old!

When the doe got to about 60 yards and from a seated position in the chair, I
began to get my bow ready for a shot. By this time, she was semi hidden behind a big
oak tree and some brush just to my right as you look out the front of the Judge's
Chambers. It was then she stopped. This time, she had an intense stare, and it was in
the same direction as before. She let out a HUGE snort but did not run away. I glanced
to my left through the left window and here came a buck. He had emerged from the
brush and was walking right toward the doe. That line he was walking was going to put
him no more than 30 yards out from where I was. As he continued to walk, I used
binoculars to verify he was a legal buck. To conceal my movement from him, I used the
corner of the Judge’s Chambers as a blind spot to draw my bow and hope that the doe
could not see my movement to alert the buck. I anchored my string, looked through my
peep sight, and waited for him to enter my point of view from the front window. As he
did, I put the 20-yard pin just above his vitals and was ready to make a noise to stop
him when he stopped perfectly broadside at 25 yards. I squeezed my release and sent
an arrow his direction.
The buck kicked and lightly ran about 30 yards before slowing to a walk. He
walked into the woods about 20 feet from Emily’s Grandfather’s rusted, white, wire
chair, picked his head up to nibble a branch and slowly disappeared. At that moment, I
was confused. Where was my arrow? Why was he so calm? Was it a bad shot? What
did I do wrong… again? The questions and doubt swirled in my head. I KNOW I heard
and saw it hit him in a good place. I think… Now it was a waiting game. Seeing as I
couldn’t see my arrow (which had a lighted knock) and it was approaching dark; I
decided to only give it an hour before going to look for the deer. This would provide
adequate time for me to search for my arrow and begin tracking.

I left the Judge’s Chambers to recover my arrow and look for blood… Nothing.
No sign of my blinking light on my arrow, not a single drop of blood. Frustration and
anxiety began to fill my head. I needed to be patient and spend the time looking for
signs. I headed directly for where the buck entered the woods so that I could confirm he
was hit and bleeding. I found blood. Not a lot. I continued searching with my head lamp
only finding two small instances of blood but no trail that would lead me in any one
direction. I slowly backed out of the woods and decided to take another approach. I
would do what is called the clover leaf method. This is where you pick a central point
and create oval like shapes returning to that central point creating a clover like motion. I
had to do this in the dark and only with my head lamp. I began by walking the edge of
the field and then cutting up the North Road before entering the woods. As I turned to
head towards where he walked in, I shined my headlamp in the woods and saw two
eyes glowing 25 yards away. He was bedded down. I quickly turned my headlamp off
and used sticks to make an arrow of the direction I saw him. The smart thing was to
back out for the night and return in the morning to the last spot I saw him.
I gathered all my things and headed back to look one last time for my arrow. As I
was doing that, I received a text from our friend Roy checking in. He was at the house
after I texted him, I had shot a buck. He came to my location and helped me look for my
arrow then gave me a lift to the ATV. We shared a good conversation about people and
how the world needs more people willing to help others. Again, we are blessed to have
such incredible people in our lives such as Roy. After wounding an animal, many feel
sick to their stomachs and rightfully so. When I returned to the house though, I was
anxious but only because of not knowing the outcome. I had a sense of indescribable
sense calmness. After two days of wind and on and off rain, I awoke to the sun coming through the window of Grandma’s room the following morning. I was tired from lack of sleep re-living the prior day’s events and praying that everything would work out the way the Lord wanted it to. I had received text messages already asking what the outcome was. I
wasn’t any closer to giving them answers let alone getting answers myself than I was
the evening before, but I was ready to get them. I quickly got my bow and pack and
headed to the top field to continue searching. I couldn’t help but think about the
possibility that I wouldn’t find the deer but kept my focus on the Lord.
I began my search back at the last sign I had found. I was able to find a little bit
more, but still not enough to determine the direction he may have traveled. I did find one
disturbed area where it looked like the buck had bedded down or stumbled. There
wasn’t significant sign though, so it had me concerned. The tracking was beginning to
be unsuccessful, so I went to the point (the arrow made with sticks) pointing into the
woods where I last saw the deer bedded down. I walked into the woods approximately
25-yards in the direction the arrow was pointing and didn’t see the buck. So far, the two techniques I was using were not working. I decided I had to use the terrain and my
knowledge of deer behavior to evaluate where he may have went. I started to conduct
the clover leaf method. I used the last known bedding spot as the central focal point and
began my first leaf. I walked in a semi-circular motion heading out into the thick brush of
Max’s Maze, hit an apex and began walking back towards the central point. About
halfway back, I saw the beautiful sight of deer fur. This search had another meaning. To
me, it was the Lord’s way of saying that there aren’t always going to be definitive paths
and at times, you may lose your way, but it is important to keep your eyes, heart, and
focus on Him.
The buck had fallen just on the other side of a downed tree in a bushel of thorns
that if had I walked straight in from where he entered the woods directly into Max’s
Maze, I may not have seen him. As I got within a few feet, I could see that he had died
either later the night before or very early that morning. He was a beautiful 8 point. I
instantly hit my knees, put my hands on him, thanked him for his sacrifice and thanked
the Lord for the outcome, and most important, His patience. Overcome with emotion, I
began to cry. I immediately called Emily and, as she picked up the phone I said,
“Proverbs 12:27. The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of
the hunt.” I could hear the excitement in her voice when she said congratulations and
that she was so proud of me. There was no better feeling. Now the reel work would
begin, literally and figuratively. I had to roll up my sleeves, get dirty, and put in the effort.
This was truly a Father / Son experience one that I honestly wondered if I would
experience. I had been stubborn. I had been ignorant. I had been skeptical… Not
anymore.

Those few days and the couple weeks prior had been full of experiences,
questions, thoughts, emotions, and realizations. As my friend Jesse said, I had no
reason to be grumpy, it was the closest to God that I felt. This experience brought HIM
into focus and not the things I wanted to focus on. It taught me patience, showed me
His patience, taught me to be present, focus, and believe. Also, the path isn’t always
going to be easy to follow but if we keep Him in our heart, it will always lead us to Him.
The messaging was clear to me that I needed to focus on Him. Put my trust in Him.
Submit to Him and HE would guide me. Also, it was his way of leaving a mark on my
heart. The mark that he had been working to put on my heart all along, but I was not
open. Now, I truly believe I am child of God and you are all witnesses to me giving my