Patience

"we'll wait 10 more minutes."

it was 10 minutes to noon and we were waiting for one more fish to bite. the wind had picked up and sitting on the ice was less and less fun, but we would wait 10 more minutes as my fishing buddy suggested.

i met up with him at 7:30 in the morning to head out onto the ice for some trout fishing at a place that he knew of and had previous success at. the first signs of daylight were showing up as we headed out the door and into his truck, and then down the road. we passed several deer on the way and even saw an elk herd as we turned into the road that went to the lake. it was turning into a beautiful day and i was excited to see how things went.

we pulled our gear onto the lake and drilled our holes. we were all set up and ready to go at 10 minutes to 9. the clouds were starting to part and the sunrise was looking awesome with the promise of a nice warm day ahead of us.

almost immediately we started getting bites, well, he started getting bites, and soon landed a nice 14 inch rainbow trout. shortly after that i landed one as well, a 12 inch rainbow. it seemed that the fish were swimming around the little lake and as the school came by, some would come by for a quick bite hoping we wouldn't bite back.

we watched our rods carefully for the "tapping" of the rod tip as a fish began to bite then with haste tried to grab the rod an set the hook. and so it went for the next hour and a half as he caught 4 more and i missed 2 more.

it was so frustrating as the ones i missed let go close to the hole then got away, especially as he was catching all the fish and had just reached his limit, but then i got to use his holes as the fish seemed to be biting better there. and shortly after moving in i had another bite . . . and another miss, and yet another. by about 11 he had caught his limit and i still only had one little fish on the ice.

i was starting to think of giving up when i got another good bite, and this time i got the fish on the ice. i started taking the hook out when i saw my other rod getting tugged and quick grabbed that one and pulled in another decent rainbow. i had a quick double and tried even faster to get more bait on and down the hole while the fish were still around. but they had already moved on again.

i waited some more and after a few minutes had another bite and pulled out a fourth rainbow and was getting excited that i might also catch my limit. being a non-resident, a fishing license is expensive, and not wanting to spend too much money, i've bought the short 2-day licenses so far, and i am hoping to catch enough fish to make the license worth it. when trout is $6 to $10 a pound at the store, and a 2-day license is $15, three fish pay for the license, and everything after is a bonus.

we watched as two other anglers ventured onto the ice and set up, giving us hope that the fishing might still be decent in the middle of the day. and so the wait for one more fish was one.

"here!" my fishing buddy reported as i turned to look at one pole from watching the other as the rod tip started bouncing. i quick grabbed the pole and set the hook and reeled in a nice 14.5 inch rainbow, number five, i had reached my limit.

we packed up our things, walked out, took some pictures and drove back to his place to clean and cook up some fish, and you really can't beat the taste of fresh fish.

it was a great ending to an awesome morning of frustrations. the patience really paid off and i'm glad i took those extra 10 minutes.

The Dream

so i've been reading an interesting book, which deserves a blog all on it's own, but that's another day. but in the book the author tells of a dream he had. i recognized it as one that has been passed around on email multiple times, and the email has been wrong, and because of that, when i shared it with others, i've given the wrong story. so i appologize for that.

the author's dream is about finding himself in a room full of card filing cabinets. each drawer is labeled with things of his life, like "things he said," "jokes he laughed at," "people he's helped" etc. he figures out he's in the room that holds his life story and tries to get rid of the bad things that he did but destroying the cards but he can't do it, the cards can't be destroyed. then Jesus comes into the room and begins reading the cards and the author is filled with terror and greif. Jesus is saddened but writes His name over the cards in blood to the protest of the dreamer, and when He is done, He says, "it is finished," and leads them out of the room. in the book it is much more descriptive and elegant, but that is not what this blog is about. in the email i've heard that it was by a high school kid who wrote this as a class assignment, and after turning it in, died in a car accident. well, i guess that did not happen as the dreamer is still alive, so if anyone remembers this story, please check out the true version, it is by joshua harris.

but it was reading this that made me decide to write about what was probably the most terrifying experience i've had. it oddly enough isn't one of the "near misses" i've had in my life, though some of those were scarier than others. before beginning, i will note that it deals with the supernatural, which i know some people don't believe in. though i do believe in the supernatural (God, angels, demons), i don't know how much i should read into this.

this story takes place in the late winter of 2007, i can't remember exactly what day or month, but i think it was november or december, cuz i know it was cold outside.

i remember being awakened to the sound of my keys rattling. many thoughts ran through my mind at once. one was that my keys were attached to the belt loop on my pants which lay on the floor by my bed. another was that i was laying on my side facing a wall that didn't look quite right. i thought that i was at camp but the wall did not look right, but did fit my room at home and realized that i was actually at home rather than camp. and finally, that there was a strange feeling that someone was standing behind me in the open room.

i didn't want to turn to see if there was someone there, but almost felt like i should. just then i felt a gentle and cool breeze blow over my back. it was one of those breezes that comes in the summer when you are too warm, blowing in from the window lightly billowing the curtains and feels simply amazing. it was the most amazing breeze i had ever felt.

it was then that i realized it was winter, and the window was closed. as quickly as i thought it, the breeze turned icy cold and run all through me. i've heard that when a demon is around and working, the temperature seems oddly cold and frigid. i knew that there was a demon behind me and was about to turn to face it when it entered me. i tried to move but it seemed the demon was forcing me still, i couldn't move without great force. i tried to yell, but when i opened my mouth, nothing came out. my whole body began to tingle, and though it didn't hurt, it wasn't pleasant. i managed to force my arms apart slightly and perhaps even turn a little. in my mind i was yelling at the demon to leave, calling out in the name of Jesus to cast it out. it did after a few traumatizing moments, but it did leave, and i relaxed. and then i woke up.

it really had been a dream within a dream. i've had those before, but this one, dream within a dream or not, was the most realistic one i could remember. it was 4:30 in the morning when i actually woke up, and i had two more hours to sleep, but i was afraid to go back to bed. i stayed up for half an hour and prayed fervently. i did eventually drift back to sleep, and have not had another dream like it since. i was definately scared, thankfully it was only a dream. i don't know what the dream means, if anything, but one thing i can affirm is that there is power in Jesus name.