The Power of the Pole

After reading Andi's post this morning I'd like to shed some light on this fishing subject.

Early last winter I found myself searching for many things.  During the course of this pathless wandering, I thought that purchasing a fishing and hunting license might help me find some of what I was searching for.  Six months later, I had done no hunting and no fishing.  In searching to satisfy my own desires, I'd found exactly nothing.

A couple of weeks ago, I suddenly realized how wonderful the weather was that particular day, and I decided that it was the day to go fishing.  Andi threw all the food she already had on the table into a picnic basket and we all packed into the van and headed to a local park that had a small lake.  I didn't catch a thing, but the boys had fun at the playground and Grant got a small taste of what it's like to try and catch fish with gear built for someone twice his size.  I was unhappy with the results of the evening.  I had failed to show myself and my son that I could catch a fish, and I was displeased to see him get worn out so quickly by trying to use my equipment.  But I had made the effort to GO and TRY, and that changed everything.  What I didn't know was that there were higher powers involved with my fishing interests, and until I showed the willingness to put in some effort I was going to receive no benefit.

Two days later, this message was clearly shown to me.  I was 40 miles from home installing a new movement in a customer's grandfather clock.  I knew I had my fishing gear still in the van from two nights before, and I was considering driving to a nearby public lake after finishing the job.  I am fortunate to work in a situation where I am paid for the work I do, never "on the clock," so if I choose to run an errand or go fishing in the middle of the day that is fine.  This job was a good one that paid me well, so spending some time in the sun with a rod and reel sounded like a good way to spend a couple hours alone.  I shared my plan with my customers as I was fixing their clock, and the man of the house insisted that I not waste my time driving to the public lake.  He told me that I would have better luck right there on his private pond that was well stocked with fish.  I had taken notice of his beautiful pond upon entering his driveway a few weeks earlier, but I never guessed I'd be invited to fish there.  So I accepted the invitation and was blessed with two of the most pleasing hours of my life.  I was rewarded with a little success, and a TON of positive mental energy.

To this point I had not given much thought to the timing of everything, but in the passing weeks much has become clear to me.  I'll elaborate more in the future, as I am taught more, but I will do so on my personal blog, enduringcreation.com, so that I can leave this as a place for Andi to tell her side of our family's adventures without me stealing her thunder.

I'm Trying to Catch Up, Brian's Trying to Catch Fish

Since it took an hour to upload the new picture to our blog (slow internet?), this post will be a lot shorter than I had intended, but I'll be back with more soon.  I'm out of school for the summer which makes me feel like I have all kinds of free time...even though I have yet to see any of it.

The boys are doing great.  They are smart, healthy, and so entertaining.  Grant is almost finished with first grade.  He has been learning Aikido on Saturdays through Parks and Recreation and is enjoying it.  He takes it much more seriously than most of the other children in his class, and he also appears to have some natural abilities (I couldn't possibly be biased, could I?).  Brian got Grant his own fishing pole and has been fishing with him as an opportunity for some father/son bonding time.  I was beginning to wonder if Brian's fishing gear would ever see the light of day again.  Up until a couple weeks ago, he hadn't gone fishing since before we had children.

While Grant is counting down the days until school is done, Christian is counting down the days until he gets to start school.  He and Grant will be in summer school together for four weeks in June; then he will begin kindergarten in August (although Christian will likely go to first grade for math and reading).   Christian is my sweetest boy.  He loves to draw me pictures of hearts and flowers or pictures of me and him together.  I think he is getting bored here at home, though.  I will miss him very much when he starts school, but I am glad he will soon have some new experiences and challenges that I can't give him here at home.

Justin has been changing and growing up so fast lately.  He wants to do everything his older brothers do, and he is interested in everything they are interested in.  He is still like a combination of Grant and Christian in appearance and personality.  It's cute now (how he follows them), but I hope he will be able to find his own identity as he grows.  I can't believe he's about to turn three.  He loves to go swimming, swing, watch bugs, play sword fight with Grant, and eat cookies - among other things.  He is still talking about our trip to the St. Louis Zoo almost two months ago!  He especially loved the hippos.  I'll have to post pictures of the zoo and other happenings later this week.

~Andi