A Deer, A Duck, and A Christmas Goose Surprise
Have you ever had an identity crisis? Have you ever come face-to-face with yourself, and realized you don’t know who you are?
I have. I did. Read on friend, and I’ll tell you how God showed me my true identity when I went on the hunt for it. It began with a deer hunting pastor, led to the Duck Commander’s daughter, and includes a Christmas Goose Surprise!
THE DEER HUNT
The deer hunt began when my singing voice ended up in the Lost & Found 8 years ago. All of my music dreams came to a screeching halt…or you could say, a “croaking” halt. That more accurately describes the condition my voice was in. (More on this in THE REBA RESURRECTION blog).
I was suddenly faced with an identity crisis. “Who am I, if I’m not singing? LORD, I thought You led me to Nashville to SING?!!!”
Of course I knew I wasn’t JUST a singer-songwriter. I’m the wife of a wonderful man God picked just for me (More on this in THE SACRED SAWDUST). I’m the mom of 3 beautiful kids who are the greatest songs of my heart. I’m the sister of 3 awesome siblings, and the friend of some loyal, loving friends. I’m the daughter of a blue-collar St. Louis dad who gave me music in my DNA…and inspired a song that would carry my strong and steady mom through breast cancer.
“But LORD… I thought You brought me to Nashville to SING!?! Who AM I …if I’m not singing?”
I felt His reply like a gentle breeze in my thoughts. I brought you here to HEAR. I brought you here to LEARN. I brought you here to personally know Me in such a way that you can “taste and see that the LORD is good, and blessed is the one who takes refuge in Me (Psalm 34:8). I AM with you now in your voice-less confusion, in order that you can FIND your true, crystal clear voice. The One I created you to uniquely express in song-and-story for My glory. The one that resonates in the deepest places of your heart as your TRUE IDENTITY. If you will stop chasing your music dream and start chasing Me, I will renew and restore your voice in ways you could never dream up yourself.”
WOW. When you know you’ve heard from God, you KNOW you’ve heard from GOD!
So, my quest began. The hunt for my true identity, and the chase to know God more. Though I didn’t know it at the time, He was about to show me that I am His “deerly” beloved.
Psalm 42:1-2
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
THE DEER HUNTING PASTOR
First, God led me to a deer hunting book. Not just any deer hunting book – one that is full of “The Kingdom.” Pastor Gary Keesee (Faith Life Church, Ohio) is someone who loves deer hunting, and he has a fascinating story about how God began to teach him his true identity -- as one who has a Royal Kingdom inheritance waiting to be experienced right here on earth –- through the process of deer hunting. His book is called THE FAITH HUNT, and what I learned from it was the start of my own personal “faith hunt” which, quite literally, led to the property our family now lives on. Complete with regular visits from plenty of deer! (More on this in THE FAITH HUNT blog with video story filmed by Keesee Ministries).
I now understand, looking back, just how perfectly God ordered the steps of my “hunt” starting with this book, even though I have no personal interest in deer hunting. It doesn’t make ‘logical’ sense…yet God’s Word tells us His ways are not logical.
Proverbs 14:12
”There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Matthew 6:33
”Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” [emphasis added].
God was showing me what I FIRST needed to learn: how His Kingdom operates. The way a Kingdom operates is a reflection of The King who reigns over it. I learned so much from my Kingdom encounter in this book. Next, I would be encountering The King!
THE WILD GOOSE
A mission trip to Scotland with Brave Worship and Ray Hughes came into my path, out of the blue. This incredible sojourn introduced me to The King Himself: The Wild Goose. We learned in Scotland that Celtic Christians had an interesting term for the Holy Spirit: they called it “Ah Geadh-Glas”, or the wild goose. And following the Holy Spirit is… “a wild goose chase!”
This resonated at a deep level in my heart. It really has felt like “a wild goose chase” getting to know God better, and it never stops! He has simultaneously been revealing my true identity in the process. God really wants each of us to chase after Him…and encounter Him continuously. It is personal, experiential knowledge of His ways, His character, His love and His truth. It is the opposite of boring or predictable or “religious.” It’s an exciting adventure! The more I chase after Him, the more He reveals Himself in the most unexpected ways. And while chasing The Wild Goose, I am also chasing destiny. Knowing who HE really is helps me know who I really am. My true identity, created by The One Who is TRUTH. He designed me for specific plans and purposes to fulfill, and I get to do it all in a great adventure — a wild goose chase — with Him!
Not only was the Scotland trip, itself, the result of a “wild goose chase” (see my SCOTLAND video story), there were many incredible Wild Goose encounters experienced by all of us in the Brave Worship group while we were there. From triple rainbows appearing outside of our tour bus window, to long-lost genealogy being suddenly and unexpectedly revealed. (See guest blogs of Krissy Nordhoff and Deanna Porterfield for just two of many genealogy surprises that happened during our Scotland trip)!
Which leads me…finally… to how I met the Duck Commander’s daughter, and how she gave me a “Christmas Goose Surprise.”
THE DUCK COMMANDER’S DAUGHTER
As it turns out, I’m not the only one who has been on the hunt for my true identity. In a merging of miraculous stories and family trees (which only God can orchestrate!), I now have a family member in “the family tree” of the famous “Duck Dynasty” family. It’s an incredible story you don’t want to miss, if you haven’t heard about it yet…
Phyllis Thomas, who happens to be my “God and My Girlfriends” guest blogger this month, suddenly got 20/20 vision going into 2020 (at the age of 44) about her true identity. She had no idea, until the start of this year, that her biological father is Phil Robertson, the Duck Commander himself. You can read about it (and watch her wonderful interview story) in her guest blog …what a STORY it is! God’s fingerprints of restoration and redemption are clearly visible throughout. He is “the author and the finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
I learned the story months before it became public knowledge, because it was one of my nieces who unknowingly “let the duck out of the bag.” This niece, named Julie, is the daughter-in-law of Phyllis – married to a son of Phyllis -- which makes Julie’s husband the grandson of Phil Robertson. I just love how God used this “wild goose chasing” path, from my niece Julie Jean (that’s her middle name!) to a surprise genealogy…giving Phyllis the gift of her true identity through A CHRISTMAS PRESENT! (That’s God, folks. He IS an adventure)!!
THE CHRISTMAS GOOSE SURPRISE
While Phyllis and I were in communication about featuring her story this month on my God and My Girlfriends stories platform, I sent her a package with some merchandise as a thank you. It included some copies of my DAYS OF DECEMBER Christmas CD, and she thoughtfully passed one on to Miss Kay, the Duck Commander’s wife. I didn’t know Phyllis would do this; it was a complete surprise to receive a text photo of Miss Kay holding my CD with a smile on her face. I believe it was a little ‘nudge from the Holy Spirit’ that prompted Phyllis to do that; He knew what a special treat that would be for me to see. A wonderful “Christmas Goose Surprise”! (I got permission to share the photo on social media) :-)
If you’ve read this blog all the way to the end, I hope you’ve enjoyed the “wild goose chase” adventure! This has been a long blog, but I’ve gone into such detail in the hopes that it might help someone else out there in the world who is looking for their true identity, feeling lost, or questioning their life’s purpose.
Have you been asking yourself, “WHO AM I?” Give your question to God with open hands. Take a gander at The Wild Goose! He will take you on a hunt that will be your greatest adventure. He will show you how ‘deerly’ beloved you really are…and that you belong in His FAMILY TREE!
reSOURCEs:
The Faith Hunt book by Gary Keesee
How the Kingdom of God will Transform You - Gary Keesee video
The Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson
Video: Phyllis discovers her true identity as the Duck Commander’s daughter