Of Fathers and Fish: Feeding 5 or 5,000

Isn't it amazing how some memories are so clear in your mind that it's almost like you're right there instead of looking back? I'm thinking about one in particular today, a story about my brother and I fishing with our dad and grandpa when we were quite young.

The day was picture perfect. It's a bright & sunny, nearly cloudless winter day, so the sky is a gorgeous shade of blue. The temperature that day was lovely, too, so even though we had access to an ice house, we didn't have to bundle up to check on the tip-ups. On nice days our usual set-up was a pole for each of us in the house for crappies, a possible rattle wheel in the house for northern, & 3-4 tip-ups outside for northerns, and this day was no exception.

Before I go on, I must say that ice fishing with Dad & Grandpa was always fun, even if we weren't catching much! (Actually, fishing was fun, regardless of the season.) Grandpa knew how to have fun, and he passed that down to Dad. There was always plenty to talk about, and always something to do, even if it was as simple as taking out a snack from our cooler. Sometimes, Dad would tell us to get in the sled and he would spin us around and around, kind of like a merry-go-round except better. Or sometimes, if fishing was really slow, Kev and I would romp around, always careful to stay in site of the ice house.

But we didn't need to find ways to stay occupied on this day! We were already having a rather successful day fishing, which means we were going to bring home enough for a meal or two by the time we pack up to leave, when suddenly, our bobbers were going down in tandem, and the tip-ups were sending up their flags, too! We're hurrying to set the hooks and pull up the lines (this was way before ice fishing poles had reels). Wow! That's enough to be a special memory all by itself. Even more so, perch had hit the tip-ups! That just doesn't happen. So we get the hooks set up with minnows again and put the lines back in. Next thing we know, the bobbers are going down again and the flags are going up!

Well, it must have been a huge school of fish! We soon realized that we would need to keep count because perch had a new limit of possessing 99 that year, and the fish kept biting without any sign of slowing down! For the next hour or two (you sort of lose track in the excitement), as soon as our lines went down, they were needing to be brought back up! By the time things seemed to be slowing down, we were nearing our limit, not including the small ones we tossed back (not that there were many to toss back - most of them were keepers). We caught number 99 when things had almost tapered out, and decided to try for the 100th keeper before we packed up. We did catch it a little while later, then tossed it back where it belonged.

Besides being a cherished memory, this story holds a two-fold meaning to me.

The Heavenly Father will always provide for His children, just as He tells us in Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." We never have to fear a need not being met, and He is always right on time, too. The Lord certainly provided for us that day. You see, as much as we enjoy fishing, it also fills a need - our physical need for nourishment and sustenance. We went home with enough for quite a few delicious meals.

The Heavenly Father wants to pour out His love and care upon His children, as He tells us in James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." In that, He blessed us thrice: we experienced the thrill & enjoyment that day; with a memory to look back upon; and He blessed us with an abundance of food. The memory was sweet to recall when I was younger, but it has become even more precious since my grandfather left this world and entered life everlasting. The thrill of bringing that many fish in, and in such a short period of time, not to mention the excited busyness, is hard to describe. Even knowing how exciting that was, it's hard to imagine what it must have been like to be in the crowd when Jesus fed the 5,000 men with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread ... and had twelve baskets remaining!

This present day, I realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful grandfather and father, too. I'm thankful for Grandpa's influence in my life, and so very thankful that I'll see him again someday because I know he put his trust in Christ alone, asking Jesus to save him. Grandpa raised a wonderful son - who is a great dad, and has taught me what it means to love the Lord.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Thank you for being the godly example you should be and for teaching me in the wisdom & knowledge and admonition of our Lord - not only in my growing up years, but even now. I love you!

More than a Life Jacket

Some of my fondest memories are of times when I was out fishing with my father and grandfather. With today being Father's Day, I thought I'd share one of those fishing memories, a rather recent one of last summer with my dad.

It was the first time we were taking my littlest siblings out in the boat. When Kevin and I were young, Dad and Grandpa instilled in us safety precautions that all fishermen need to know, and the laws too in just the right way so little minds can grasp them. Now, it was time we do the same with 6-year-old Chelsea and 3-year-old Garrett. So as we were getting them settled in, we went over the dos and don'ts, the how to and not to behave. One of the things on the list was "don't jump in the lake." We already had made sure they had their life jackets on, all strapped and secured - not only as a safety measure, but because it's the law. It kind of has a double importance you could say. So Garrett says in his matter of fact way, "But if we fall in, our life jackets will save us." I had the privilege of explaining to him that, yes, it will save you, but you still don't want to fall in. Or at least we didn't want him to fall in; he probably would have liked it, after he got over the initial shock and surprise, that is.

We had a wonderful time on the lake. We quickly arrived at our little fishing spot, with Garrett persistently cajoling us to "go faster", and Chelsea enjoying our cruising along, too. My siblings were catching fish with almost every cast, so much so that I set my own pole aside to devote my time to taking the fishes off their hooks! As we Minnesotans are prone to do, not only did we take note of who caught the largest fish, but also the smallest. Kev was awarded with the largest as he pulled in both a northern pike and a bass just as we were packing up to go. Chelsea and Garrett both managed to "beat" my tiny little sunny that I had brought in early on, so I didn't get to claim that "accomplishment." Many were kept and others released (including our three record-breakingly small sunnies), and "the keepers" made a nice dinner the next day. We made our way inland under a beautiful sunset, with Garrett now trying to persuade us to go slower and slower, and Chelsea also not seeming all that eager to get off the water, either. It indeed was a lovely time, and thankfully no one took an unexpected dive.

Kids really do have a way of saying things, don't they? "If we fall in, our life jackets will save us." As I was explaining the life jackets to Garrett, it didn't escape my mind how valid his point was, the simple trust he had, and the lesson that can be learned.

A life jacket can indeed save you from drowning. However, just having one won't save you, of course; you have to be wearing it. You can't just throw it aside when you don't need it; you have to store it right when it is not in use. Not to mention, you have to have the right size, too. And if you follow these specifications, it will save you. You know it will be there for you when you need it, not needing to worry about the "what ifs", just having the trust that it won't fail.

I went on to think of how Jesus Christ is like our spiritual life jacket. You see, we all sin. "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:10-12, 23) Our sin deserves to be punished, and that punishment is death. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Yet God loves us, anyway, in spite of our sin. And He loved us so much that He did something about it. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." (Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:4) All who place their trust in Him have passed from death unto life. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:9-10, 13)

Because we sin, it's as if we're already in the lake, and we're drowning, fast. Compared to eternity our life is just a small vapor, not even a drop in the bucket. We need something - Someone - to rescue us, and that Someone is Jesus Christ. Like the flotation device we had on while fishing, we have to do things the right way for Christ to save us. I don't mean "good works"; I mean doing things God's way: You have to admit that you sin and you need a Saviour because you can't do anything to save yourself. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) Believe that Christ's work on the cross is sufficient and He alone can save you. It takes the simple trust likened unto that of a child, and when you go to Him with a humble, contrite heart and ask Him to save you, He will. The forgiveness and grace He offers will always be "the proper fit." It's as big as you need it, and it is renewed every day. He will be there for you through life's calm and through life's tempests, and He will be there for you when you leave this world behind and pass into eternity.

But a "life jacket" isn't quite the all-encompassing analogy, there's so much more to it. A life jacket is something you fall back on, something you hope you won't really need, and something that can still leave you stranded - floating, but not necessarily able to reach dry land. Jesus Christ is even more than that, He's our Saviour. He's not Someone we only need at certain times or troubling moments; we need Him always, even after our initial saving from an eternal demise. Nor does He only provide us with just the ability to stay afloat, He plucks us out of the water and gives us a safety we've never had before. That doesn't mean we'll never pass through a storm, but that we will never have to go through it alone or without any hope of escape because He'll be there with us and we'll be in the boat which cannot sink. And someday we will reach the final Shore, our beautiful eternal home, with Him, the One who loves us so much, there face-to-face and by our side.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Thank you for being the godly example you should be and for teaching me in the wisdom & knowledge and admonition of our Lord - not only in my growing up years, but even now. I love you!

A Father's Love

It's an overcast day, and a father is taking his son fishing. They settle themselves and their gear into the boat and start across the lake... but the waters are rough with the waves cresting into whitecaps. The waves crash against the small vessel and fold over the sides into the boat. Soon the boy begins to make his way to the back of the boat. As the boy huddles near his father he feels a sense of safety even though they must still pass through the middle of the lake where the wind is the strongest and the waves are the roughest. The father, well aware of the tempests, safely and carefully guides the boat to just the spot he had in mind - a calm bay where he knows the rough waves cannot reach.

The son in the story is my dad and the father my grandfather. As my father spoke of this fond memory - one that had happened on more than one occasion - it reminded me of my Heavenly Father's watch-care over me.

The same way this little story shows that my dad viewed his father as his protector, as someone he can trust, as someone who would guide and keep him safe, so our Heavenly Father is to us. "But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." (Proverbs 1:33)

My grandfather knew just the right fishing spot to bring my father to - a place of calm amidst the rough waters - and safely guided my father there. Our Heavenly Father's presence provides courage and peace in the midst of the turmoil and storms of life. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3) He has a plan for our lives and is leading us along the right way. "Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." (Psalm 143:8) "As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him." (Psalm 18:30) Much more control than my grandfather was capable of having, our Heavenly Father controls all things. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matthew 28:18)

I'm so very blessed to have a great dad, but I know that not everyone can say this for themselves. Perhaps, someone reading this is disheartened at the image which reflections of their own dad bring to mind. Like my maternal grandma's dad, a drunkard who gambled away his earnings instead of providing for his family's needs. Yet another may even have been deserted or never had a chance to know their father at all. Do you know that it's not too late to be born again into the family of God? Become a child of His to know what this kind of love is really all about. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) Christ also said, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand." (John 10:28-29)

I'd like to wish a happy Father's Day to my dad, and to all the dads that may be reading this. I encourage you to keep modeling the Great Eternal Father above. I imagine some of you dads may have regrets or feel that it's too late to be the great dad you wish you could have been. None of us is perfect which is why Jesus came to suffer and die for our sins. Let me tell you the rest of the second story - the one about my great-grandfather who failed his wife and kids. Near his death, he trusted Christ as his personal Saviour. Christ clothed him in His righteousness before taking him home to glory. May our resurrected Lord fill you with hope and joy as you trust Him with your life. "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14)