Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Fishers


The kids have been itching to go fishing, so Josh took us out to Gilchrist Pond - a little stocked trout pond about 30 minutes away.  

Since it was Monday night, I tied in a spiritual message using a Bible video of Christ calling his apostles to follow Him and be Fishers of Men.  The kids hadn't heard that phrase before, but with some prodding and thought, they finally made the connection.  "Oh!  I get it.  Jesus wants us all to help people come to Him, so they can all come back to Heavenly Father."

I loved this quote by Elder Robert D. Hales, of the Quorum of the Twelve:

"The Savior has promised that he will make us equal to his work. 'Follow me,' He said, 'And I will make you fishers of men' (Matthew 4:19). As we follow him, he blesses us with gifts, talents and the strength to do his will, allowing us to go beyond our comfort zones and do things we’ve never before thought possible. This may mean sharing the gospel with neighbors, rescuing those who are spiritually lost, serving a full-time mission, working in the temple, raising a child with special needs, loving the prodigal, serving an ailing companion, enduring misunderstandings or suffering affliction. It means preparing ourselves to answer his call by saying, 'I'll go where you want me to go; I'll say what you want me to say; I'll do what you want me to do; I'll be what you want me to be.'"

The trip itself proved hot (our heat has ratcheted up to the 90's, which is really unusual for us)!  The kids were flushing red and melting within 30 minutes.  We're such wimps, I know!  I don't have much experience fishing, so poor Josh had to help tie and cast and untangle and de-hook (?)  three kids at the same time.  It was a little stressful, to say the least.  

Lots of lessons learned:
- Fishing takes LOTS of patience and waiting and trying again.
-fishing isn't always comfortable.  It can be hot, sweaty work!
- It's best to only take one "companion" at a time, unless you take multiple knowledgeable adults (of which I was not one)
-best to explain to Diddles BEFORE we started reeling in the fish that these were NOT going to be taken home to live in a bowl in her room!




2 comments:

Sarah said...

Love them running in the first picture's backdrop! And I agree that fishing with kids is less than the ideal it seems it could be. The only successful trip we had was a few weeks ago when adult hands outnumbered the loud kids. Too stressful otherwise.

Trish and Matt said...

I bet your kids will always remember this! What fun memories, and gorgeous pics to remember it all by.