WALT ME R R E LL
Common Ground BY C A R O LY N D R I N KA R D
Walt Merrell does quite a bit of thinking and writing on this quiet creek bank with Lincoln, his faithful black-and-tan hound, keeping him company. Walt drinks coffee and enjoys a warm fire in the old stove, especially on cold winter mornings. It’s his “secret place” to reflect and pray.
46
Cooperative Farming News
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,
