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Outdoor Truths: Aiming Outdoorsmen Toward Christ Feb 23, 2017

My childhood days of fishing amounted to going to different places along the canal that wound in and out of my little town. The only fish I ever caught was a carp. I can also remember as a youth the day I was bit by the bass bug. Even though I had never been to the lake, the levee was known to be full of largemouth. And even though it was still in my small town, for a kid who either walked or rode his bicycle everywhere, it was a little further away than I was use to going. One summer morning however, we made the trip to the levee for my first attempt at catching a bass. I don't exactly remember how I got the information but I would be using as bait a red plastic worm. That day marked two distinct changes that, to this day, still affect my fishing. First, it brought a love for that particular game fish and secondly, it made me learn to love the plastic worm. I caught 5 keeper bass on that first day. When I did start going to the lake as an older youth and a young adult, I can never remember not throwing a plastic worm. In fact, that's the only bait I ever used. While others were cranking and spinning I was patiently and methodically throwing that worm. It is still my favorite bait today.
Much like that infamous first day of bass fishing, there are other markers in all of our lives that changed us forever. Some of those markers were happy moments and some were unhappy - even tragic. But all of them are significant. They are significant because when you put them together, over the years, you see a pattern. It's a pattern of how God has worked in our lives even when we didn't realize He was there and at times when we thought we were not going to survive. Even something as simple as a first fishing trip can become a story you are reading right now. Nothing is insignificant to God. Everything is a piece to our puzzle that God is using. If we will let Him, He will take every moment of our life, no matter how good or bad, and use it to make us and the ones around us better.
Gary has three books that are compilations of the articles he has written for nearly 15 years. He also speaks at game dinners and men's groups for churches and associations.

gary@outdoortruths.org ~ www.outdoortruths.org


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