When the Past Bites You!

I've been worse. I've been better too, but for sure I have been far worse. I hit bottom a few years ago and have been crawling back ever since. I've sweat, bled, and strained half the muscles in my body to get back to where I am today. My body aches most days, I have to drag myself out of bed many times, but for the most part I feel ok with where I have gotten to.

Today I was cleaning out my email and I came across some gems. A few funny ones from my brother, including a Christmas List and a fruitcake recipe, some old friends sent things that said they needed cheering up, and one that caught me so off guard it was like being hit in the face with a bat.

I'm still working on becoming a screaming optimist, that hasn't changed, but reliving the email that once brought me to tears, just did the same thing to me again. All the anguish that I went through that day came back to me and I didn't imagine that I could feel some of the things that I went through.

Fishing in the Rain

For some reason this morning was cold. By cold, I don't mean a brisk early summer chill that you need a light coat on, it was frigid. The kind of day that I zip up the Mountain Hardwear and make sure I have a stocking cap handy. To add to the lovely temperature, it rained. Not just a little here and there, but the kind of rain that you expect in late October when the only ones crazy enough to be outside are inside Autzen Stadium with 50,000 of their closest friends. Rain that soaks through layers, to get to other layers to soak through so it can chill your bones to the brittle fracturing point. Cold and Wet. A late May day that is cold and wet.

So what do you do on such a glorious sit on the couch and watch cartoons day. Why, you go fishing of course. I don't know how to fish from a bank, I'm not sure that I have the patience for it anymore, we drift, in a boat, in the MIDDLE of a river so all that good cold rain can fall not on the trees above you, but straight on your dumb ass that is stupid enough to be sitting in the middle of it, wearing shorts no less. That's right I wore shorts. I thought it would break, but who is the idiot now.

Today's yield wasn't one of the best that I've come across but that really isn't the point when it comes to fishing anyway. We caught a couple early on, and then just the cast and reel routine for much of the day. There was one point, while along the golf course, that made the whole day worth the trip. For about 20 seconds, just 20 seconds of a 2 and a half hour trip, excitement was abound in the Fiberglass Clackacraft. My dad cast to the port side and convincing himself that he was going in a tree, let out a soft swear word and released the bail. The lure no more than hit the water and craziness broke loose. What looked like a small log and grabbed the lure and was heading off down river. It was all I could do to reel my line in as quick as possible and stand up to get out of my dad's way. I was headed to the back to get the net ready when the line snapped. Line, swivel, lure, and tomorrow nights feast took off down the river. We stood in complete silence for a few seconds then went back to it.

Just 20 seconds made what could have been a terrible day in the rain worth the whole ordeal. We did even catch him, and he gave us something exciting to talk about. I did later catch 2 trout which by comparison are barely dinner, but you can eat them nonetheless.

Morning Prayer

It's morning, early, and you are awake. It's a Tuesday and you really don't know why you have crawled out of bed at 5 am. You stumble into the kitchen and begin to brew a pot of coffee. The smell of the fresh grounds wake you a bit and the tell tale sound of an empty water tank draw you back to fill up your mug and that first big wiff of fresh coffee. Your head starts to clear and you remember why you are up so early.

Tuesday morning at 6, the men of Springfield Faith Center have started to gather to pray for each other, themselves, the church, but most of all, their families. There have been some amazing things going on over the last few weeks and the hand of God can clearly be seen every week.

Healings, provision, protection, you name it, things have been happening. These mornings are a struggle for me some times, but I know that it's more important to me that I'm there, and that it's important for my faith to see these things take place. I love being there and hearing all the things get prayed for, but more than that, I love to have my own prayers lifted up during a time that I set aside to spend with God.

We're going to continue to be there, and things are going to continue to happen. The hand of God is mighty and we only need to ask for his glory to take place.