“Ray you told our grandson that you would take him to the cabin to do some fishing before school starts. Do you remember?”
“Actually, I forgot about it, we have been so busy this
summer.”
“He only has three more weeks before school starts, you better
give him a call.”
Ray knew there were a number of things he wanted to get
done before the weather turned cold, but he also knew it wouldn’t be right to
break his promise to Billy. The poles hadn’t been out of the garage for several
months, so before calling, he thought he better check the equipment. The
battery would also need to be on the charger for a few hours.
An hour went by and Ray hadn’t come back in the house, so
Martha went out to check on him. “What ya doing?”
“Just checking out the equipment and charging the battery.”
“What’s that smell?”
“I guess the last time we had the boat out it rained. I
found my fishing vest all rolled up on the floor. Got a little moldy.”
“There’s no way you’re going to wear that. Give it to me
and I’ll wash it.”
That evening after dinner, Ray decided to give Billy a call. Needless to
say, Billy was excited to go on a fishing trip with Grandpa. Ray told him that
he would pick him up Friday morning at seven. He also reminded him to bring
warm clothes. Being out on the lake can be chilly this time of the year. “And
one more thing, don’t eat breakfast. I know a place where they serve the best
pancakes,” Ray emphatically told Billy.
When Ray pulled up, Billy was on the step waiting and came
running as soon as the truck stopped.
“Where’s the boat, Grandpa?”
“It’s already up at the lake. All we’ll have to do is put
it in the water, but first we’re going to fill our bellies. It will take us all
day to get there.”
About twenty miles down the road, Ray pulled into the
parking lot of Mommy’s Kitchen. Billy said, “I’m going to order six pancakes.”
“I think you better start with two. Wait until you see the
size of these.”
When their order came, Billy’s eyes got big. “Wow! You were
right Grandpa. These are huge!” Billy managed to get them down, but the last
few bites went down slowly.
They got back on the road and within minutes Billy was
fast asleep. The flat land gave way to rolling hills the closer they got to
Cedar Falls. Just as they were getting ready to top one of the hills, a mule
deer jumped out in front of the truck. Ray slammed on the brakes, instantly
bringing Billy out of his sleep.
“What happened?” Billy said, rubbing his eyes.
“We came this close to having venison tonight,” Ray
replied, motioning with a space between his thumb and forefinger.
They were only an hour from the cabin, so they stopped and bought
supplies for dinner. As they pulled in the yard next to the cabin, Billy
pointed to the boat, “There it is.”
By the time they got everything unloaded, there was only an
hour of daylight left.
“Ok, here’s your choices. Cheeseburgers or hotdogs?” Ray
said, grinning as he walked toward the grill.
“Is that all we’re having?”
“No. We are also having pork and beans with whichever one
you pick, cooked on the grill.”
Grandpa and grandson finished their last bite of food as
the sun was setting over the mountain. As they sat in the rockers on the
porch overlooking the lake, there was very little sound other than the
crickets and the slight breeze through the pines. Billy pointed to the sky, “I have never seen so many stars.”
“How many stars do you think is out there?”
“Golly, there must be a hundred.”
Ray smiled but didn’t say anything right away. “Would you
be able to give names to those hundred stars?"
“I don’t think I even know a hundred names.”
“What if I told you there were millions and millions of
stars out there, Billy? That’s not even the best part. God has a name for each one
and knows where each one is.”
“I could never do that. I have trouble finding my
toys.”
Ray laughed out loud. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave that up to
God. We need to get up early, that’s when the fish bite best, so let’s hit the
sack.”
“What part of the lake are we going to fish, Grandpa?”
“I always have good luck on the west side of Bear Mountain.”
Ray wasn’t sure if Billy heard his reply or not. Billy’s eyes were already
shut.
The next morning, Ray had the boat loaded and ready to go
when Billy came out, still rubbing his eyes. “It’s still dark Grandpa.”
“The sun will be up by the time we get to our fishing spot.
Grab your coat, and let’s go.”
As they headed out to Bear Mountain, Billy was taking it
all in as it started to lighten up. “Grandpa, do you ever worry that something
might happen, there’s no one else out here?”
“You’re a Boy Scout, what’s your motto?”
“Be prepared.”
“Right. That’s what we are.”
“But what if the motor stops?”
“I have extra spark plugs, another tank of gas, and a new
siphon hose under the seat. If the boat would spring a leak, I have a roll of
tape to stop it.” That seemed to satisfy him.
The fishing was good. They put seven in the cooler within
the first hour. They were only fishing a hundred feet or so from the shoreline
when a deer came running out of the woods with a bear in hot pursuit. The deer
ran as fast as it could, but the bear was quickly gaining on it. When the bear
was only feet away, the deer leaped into the water and swam out into the open
water. At that point, the bear stopped the chase, and headed back into the
woods. When the threat was gone, the deer headed back to shore.
“Grandpa, if the deer knew the bear wouldn’t follow him
into the water, why didn’t he jump into the water as soon as he came out of the
woods?”
“You see Billy, the deer had a choice. As he ran down the
shore, he saw that he had made the wrong choice. So at the last second, he knew
that he had to rely on something other than himself. The same is true with
people. They make the choice to handle their issues themselves, only to find
out it’s more than they can handle. If they had taken their problem to God
first, instead of trying to do it on their own, wouldn’t they make a better
choice?”
Billy nodded his head, yes. That was enough
excitement for this fishing trip, so Ray pulled up anchor and headed back. The
two didn’t talk, but simply enjoyed the scenery. Arriving to shore, they
cleaned the fish and fried up a couple. The others were put in the cooler, as they would be heading back home in the morning. Bellies full and dishes done, they sat in their favorite rockers to watch the sun go down. Ray could tell Billy
was thinking about something, but he didn’t want to interrupt Billy's thoughts.
Maybe twenty minutes or so passed before Billy looked over and said, “Grandpa, we
have a couple of bullies in our class.”
That kinda caught Ray off guard. Ray looked at Billy and said, “You’re a big strong kid for your grade, are you one of
them?”
Billy fired right back, “No, I don’t like those guys.”
“Bullies have a choice to be good or bad. They chose to
be mean. Just like we saw today, how the bear decided to let the deer go. But not every choice is good.”
“Why doesn’t God just punish them?
“Billy, have you ever done anything wrong?” Then I stopped rocking,
waiting for his answer.
“I guess I have a few times.”
“Then why didn’t God punish you?” Ray inquired. Billy was quiet and just
sit there rocking. “Sometimes Billy, we all make bad choices, but that doesn’t
mean God quits loving us. Have you ever thought about how many choices you make
every day? From the time you wake up, you start making choices; what to wear,
what to eat, where to go, and for the most part you make good choices. You even
have a choice to love God or not. Every choice you make has consequences,
either good or bad. Hopefully, you learn from your bad choices, not to do them again."
The trip home was quiet. Billy expressed gratitude to his Grandpa for a great weekend of fishing. He even took a couple of fish home to his mom. As Ray steered into his driveway, he couldn’t help but wonder if God had provided an opportunity for a valuable teaching moment.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean
not on your own
understanding. Proverbs 3:5 KJV
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