West Cocoa Chat

There were several “high moments” for me during Thanksgiving. First and foremost is the annual arrival of my good friend Bob, his wife Shelby and their son, Nathen. It was touch and go as to their visit due to Bob’s father, Edwin, being very sick and battling cancer. Please keep him in your prayers. I will admit by the way that I would have pouted or at least moped around a bit had they been unable to come. Bob and I have known each other since the Third Grade or as I’m fond of saying, many moons.

Shelby and Barb usually pair off and go shopping on “Black Friday.” Steven and Nathen will hang out together and usually Bob and I get in a round of golf. We were unable to do that this year as Bob left right after our Thanksgiving meal to head to Lehigh to be with his Father.

But Friday was not uneventful. I know Randy (http://www.randywray.com/) will be a bit jealous since I went fishing with my good friend Chuck from Church. Once again Chuck took me out to the Space Center to do some surf fishing on the Space Center’s restricted and unspoiled beach.

It goes without saying that Chuck is the consummate fisherman or hence the term, “Varsity.” Yours truly, although I love to fish am anything from an accomplished fisherman, hence the term, “J.V.” I must say that although Chuck is a self-admitted competitive fisherman, he was very patient with me or so I thought.

We were mainly fishing for Pompano but the Black Drum were hitting as well. For some reason and I know it was due to Chuck’s expertise, we were in a hot spot. The folks fishing to our right and left were doing a lot of standing. Chuck and I were doing a lot of running, grabbing a rod, and reeling in fish! Now mind you, all of this was not happening due to anything I had done or was doing. In most cases Chuck would see the pole bend first and tell me to get it. Except for one time.

We had gone through the routine that I just described. I was reeling a fish, a pompano, in when all of a sudden “Hurricane (nickname my son gave him after a day of shark fishing) Chuck” ran up to me with another rod in his hand. He said emphatically, “Here, trade with me,” as he handed me the other rod.

At this point my feelings were not hurt in the least bit. I understand the nuances of sports. When the game gets tight again, you take out that J.V. guy and send in the “Varsity starters.” I figured Chuck didn’t want to lose this one and I was O.K. with that.

I decided my best course of action would be to reel in my line and make Chuck proud of me by re-baiting, and, or re-casting the line. It was soon after I took a couple of turns with the reel that I realized “I too” had a fish on my line. I thought, “Hey, Mr. Varsity guy, the J.V. guy has a fish as well. The fishing gods have smiled on this rookie.”

So I yelled back to Chuck, “Hey, there’s a fish on this line too!” My joy was met with laughter. You know, when your joy is meant with someone else’s laughter, its hard to look cool. Chuck’s response to me was, “Why did you think I switched poles with you?” I said, “I thought you were switching out the J.V. with the Varsity.” Chuck being the kind, patient, and in awe of my lack of fishing ability said, “No, I switch poles with you so you could fight a bigger fish.”

I wonder if God looks at us sometimes and smiles and laughs in the same way when we, through the power of His Spirit, persevere through a trial that we thought we could never make it through to come out on the other side with greater faith.

BTW – Chuck is as good a cook with fish as he is at catching them. Happy Tuesday.