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WALT MERRELL: Common Ground
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BY CAROLYN DRINKARD
My home is in Alabama, and home is where my heart is. But it has nothing to do with “where” I lay my head ... and everything to do with who holds my heart … and the “rest” they offer to me.
These words came from “Shepherding Outdoors,” a popular Facebook forum written by Walt Merrell. Walt lives in Andalusia, Alabama, and those who “hold his heart” are Hannah, his wife; and Bay, Cape and Banks, his daughters.
Walt Merrell describes himself as a writer and a servant. In “Shepherding Outdoors,” he chronicles “a father’s family adventure journal of factional fiction and fictional faction about family and faith.”
Walt’s stories are heart-warming recollections of how he found ways to connect to his three girls through the outdoors. With this in mind, he chose to name his forum, “Shepherding Outdoors.” After all, he was “shepherding” his daughters, just as Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does. He wanted to invoke the image of the “outdoors” being the original teaching opportunity, free of life’s many other distractions.
… and we are always shepherds … ”Teach a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. ” … We all need a shepherd … let us be good shepherds.
A spiritual man, who sees fatherhood and parenting as a personal ministry, Walt Merrell worked hard to develop a personal relationship with his daughters. However, as they grew, he realized that he could not compete with the “outside forces” that enticed his children to pursue things he could not relate to. Thus began Walt’s quest for a connection, a bond, which the forces of the world could not break.
“I had to find something that lipstick, glitter and technology wouldn’t compete with,” he said. “I realized everybody loves God’s creations, like mountains, sunsets, trees. I could find common ground with my girls in God’s creations!”
Out there … in the woods, it is just us – each other – free from distraction and extraction. The only thing that can capture our attention is the entertainment God provides and each other … that’s why we go outdoors … so I can have a better chance to shepherd.
Cape and Walt Merrell enjoyed fishing together on the Cahaba River. This river is part of the larger Mobile River Basin.
Even though he was not an experienced outdoorsman, Walt Merrell was willing to try. After he poured his heart and soul into engaging his young daughters in the great outdoors, the rewards were amazing!
“The girls saw things that they had never seen before,” he explained. “I discovered that things in the outdoors helped us find common ground!”
Being a dad is tough. Competing with all the modern distractions our kids face is even tougher. And finding ways to bond with them can sometimes be the most challenging thing of all. Thankfully, God gives us the great outdoors as a way to find common ground with them ... boy or girl. Let’s go shepherding outdoors, and take back the influence of our children!
When the Friday night lights come on in Andalusia, the Merrell family is at the stadium with a cheerleader and a majorette. (L to r front) Banks, Cape (back) Walt, Bay and Hannah.
With their father, Bay (l) and Cape Merrell (r) paddled and waded in the waters of the Mobile Delta to get to the State’s Grand Champion Cypress tree at a closely guarded location in the Delta. This beautiful giant tree dwarfs the girls below.
Faith and family are the most important things to Walt. “The battle with those outside forces has gotten harder as my girls have gotten older,” he admitted. Nonetheless, this family has built a foundation on solid rock and has held tightly to the things that really matter.
We are torn so much … ball practice, work demands, ballet, church efforts, and so much more … it is essential that at some point in the day, we take each other by the hand and declare “this is our circle” and this circle “will remain unbroken.” That is what we do at every meal …. Even on days when we are mad with someone within the circle … we set that aside, and take our stand, together.
When Walt started his Facebook forum in 2017, he had three goals. First, he prayed that his readers would see what Jesus looked like through his stories. In addition, he wanted parents to understand the importance of their bonds with their children. Finally, he hoped that long after he was gone, his three daughters might pick up his writings and realize that his words were love letters to each of them.
So, through this forum ... Shepherding Outdoors, I want to encourage you to get outside with your kids. Regain your God ordained influence in your kid’s life … the journey is the important part … seize what is rightfully meant to be yours, and influence your kids to the exclusion of pop culture! Values, morals, life lessons and faith are not dead ... as long as you teach them!
Thousands liked, shared and commented on each post. Suddenly, Walt Merrell had also found “common ground” with over 225,000 fans, and they rewarded him with words of encouragement, stories of how he had impacted their lives and even pictures of their own memorable adventures outdoors.
“What happened over the last six months is that I have made many more connections with people,” he added. “I believe that God is using me to bless their hearts!”
A devoted family man and father, Walt Merrell also serves as the district attorney for Covington County, the 22nd Judicial Circuit of Alabama. He was elected in 2011, but he has been a prosecutor for 20 years.
“I see how when men fall short, there is a ripple effect,” he said. “If I have to send a father to prison, his children have no father. “
And too often, because kids don’t have family and no one teaches them “the ropes,” unfortunately too many kids find their way into the prisons of adulthood without knowing the true value of family, friends, faith and ethics .... I see this everyday in my profession.
A pair of overalls, a good dog, a loving and beautiful wife and the Lord as his Shepherd is all Walt Merrell could ever want!
Walt Merrell did not grow up as an outdoorsman. He turned to the great outdoors to connect with his girls. Walt sees the outdoors as the original entertainment that God provides.
