There has been a story on our local news for the last two days concerning a man whose dog was grabbed by a cougar. The man chased after the cougar and was able to save his dog.. this story reminded me of a terrifying experience that took place almost 20 years ago which has never and will never leave my mind. This piece was written while the events were fresh in my mind. it is long but I hope it will be a lesson for others who might happen upon it here.
A Lesson Learned - Speak Not Foolish Things
Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
Proverbs 15:2 "The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but
the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.”
This devotion is about how the Lord greatly chastened me for making a
very foolish statement. I will never
forget it as long as I live.
In 1996 near a town located in the mountains several hours from us, a
woman was killed by a cougar. She had
been horseback riding with her three children, and the cougar grabbed her
youngest child. She drove the cougar
off, and sent her children for help.
When they returned an hour later with a man, she was dying from the
injuries the cougar inflicted on her.
Her dying words to the man were "Please tell my children that I
love them."
For some foolish reason at that time I said that it would be very
exciting to be eaten by a bear.
In August of that year, my husband and I planned a vacation to Jasper
National Park with a friend and her three children. Our friend's husband was
staying home, and we used her van and trailer for the trip, plus our tents and
camping supplies.. Before the trip, I
prayed for lots of animal sightings, as Jasper at that time was full of animals,
and it was my fervent desire that my friend and her children would get to enjoy
them as we had in our visits there in the past. My friend and the children
would sleep in our large tent, and my husband and I would sleep in our small
tent. "Junior and Senior" as the tents were named..
We headed to Lake Louise to spend a couple of nights in Banff before
our trip up the Icefields Parkway. That
night we set up camp next to the washroom at my husband's insistence. The site was on a hill above a grassy area. That night I awoke to hear an animal in the
area below us, but it didn't come any closer, so I didn't worry about it. My friend heard it too, and in the morning
she said "I think we had a visitor."
Lake Louise has grizzly bears visit that campground regularly, but I
don't know what kind of animal it was.
