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Last weekend, we had the opportunity to squeeze in a
quick trip to one of our favorite places – Port O’Connor, Texas
On this particular fishing excursion, my youngest
daughter spent much of the time digging in the sand while my dad and I dropped
our lines. I think the place we chose was a bit too busy
with other boats passing by, so the fish were hiding. (This
is what we consoled ourselves with anyhow…)
Then, moments before we gave up, I noticed my dad’s flip-flop floating
in the water nearby. In the blink of an
eye, it was out of reach, several yards from the shore bobbing up and down with
the pulse of the ocean.
“Dad, quick, grab your shoe before it floats away!” I
hollered. My dad reacted by calmly casting
out his top-water lure close to the runaway flip-flop…again and again. “Dad, I think
that flip-flop’s a goner!” I yelled. Each
time he threw out his line, he got closer.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it. Have faith!” he shouted back.
After numerous attempts, he finally hooked the flip-flop and slowly reeled it
in.
Despite the fact that the only thing we caught on that trip was indeed a
gray flip-flop, I marveled at how much patience, persistence, and faith he had
in the process. He WAS going to get that
fugitive flip-flop…without a doubt in his mind.
A few verses from the Bible come to mind when I think
of the waves tossing about at sea. In James 1:5-8, it says, “If you want to know
what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you, for He is
always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him. But, when you ask Him, be sure that you
really expect Him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a
wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you
then make will be uncertain, as you first turn this way, and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the
Lord to give you solid answers.”
Hmmm. As we
embark on a new school year, there are waves of uncertainty, aren’t there? Will our
college student be okay during his or her first year away from home? Will our Kindergarten kiddo make it through
the first day? Will I? Will we pray with the faith of knowing that
God hears us and will answer? Will we be able to balance our endless commitments and activities with carefree timelessness?
Since it’s the back-to-school season ‘round here, it
seems I’ve been focusing on time a bit more lately…particularly, how it slips
away so quickly. Is my baby really starting Kindergarten? Sniff, sniff.
I want to share a couple of e-mails that were thought-provoking
for me. I think they’ve been around a time or two,
but they’re worth reading again. This
one is from my cousin’s wife, Donna:
Imagine that you’ve won the following prize in a
contest - each morning your bank will deposit $86,400 into a private account
for your use. However, the prize has
rules:
- Everything
that you don’t spend during each day will be taken away from you.
- You
can’t transfer money into another account.
- You can
only spend it.
- Each
morning upon awakening, the bank will open your account with another
$86,400 for that day.
- The
bank can close the account and end the game without warning. At any time it can say, “Game Over!”
What would you do?
Would you buy anything and everything you wanted? Would you spend it on yourself, all the people
you love and care for, and even people you don't know? Would you try to spend every penny because
you knew it would be replenished in the morning?
Actually, this game is real and the prize is
time. Each morning we awaken to receive
86,400 seconds as a gift of life and when we go to sleep at night, any
remaining time is not credited to us. What
we haven't used up that day is forever lost.
Each morning, the account is refilled, but the bank can close our
account at any time…without warning...
What will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?
I needed the reminder. I thought I’d also share the following e-mail
from Mikey’s Funnies because it was
too cute not to:
Mr. Smith climbs to the top of Mt. Sinai
I hear that God has a good sense of humor and on many
of my summer days with the kiddos at home, I certainly believed it. I’m equally sure
that God loves us and wants us to know and feel that love every single day.
I try to be aware of God’s blessings throughout my most
ordinary of days, but for some reason, I become acutely aware of them when I’m
at the beach. It might be the miles and miles of ocean, the calming
sounds of the salty air, or the fact that I’m usually spending time with my
family there. It’s most probably a mix of
all three, but I love being there.
With sun-kissed, sandy toes, I like to look for
bottles that have washed ashore. Since I was a child, I thought it would be neat
to find a “Read Me” message in a bottle.
I haven’t found one yet, but if God sent us a message in a bottle with
thoughts for this new school year, what do you think it might say? I’m thinking it would go something like this:
“Be quick to forgive.
Love deeply. Laugh often. Be kind.
Be patient. Pray. Cherish life.
Help others. Trust in Me. Don’t worry.
Nothing is impossible through Me.
Listen to each other. Remember
that you are My child and I will always love you.”
I’ll remember that fishing trip when my dad caught a
foot-long-flip-flop. But, what I’ll cherish most of all is the
memory of seeing the faith of a fisherman.
He fished…knowing he would catch…regardless of the catch. And, in the words of William Arthur Ward,
“Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook.” Love it!
P.S. If you
need a poem to kick-off your school year, here is one I wrote in August of 2012
called, “Time to
Fly.”
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