The Fishing Trip's Grand Finale

If there's a scripture I rely on, live by, practice, use in my blog posts, and appreciate, it's Romans 8:28 "ALL THINGS work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes." It seems to be that scripture.....at the end of the day or at the end of the trial or at the end of a fishing trip that never fails to prove so true.

If you've read my "fishing trip" posts over the last several days, you've read how awesome our first couple of days were, lots of fun and fish. We caught so many fish by 8:30 am on the first day that we were releasing more than usual. I saw a couple fishing and they weren't catching anything, so I took one of those fish over to them and asked if they'd like to have it, and they replied "Oh no! We have a freezer full of rainbow trout that were 2 to 4 pounds each that we caught at Beaver's Bend at Broken Bow, OK." They were delighted to give me so many tips about what to fish with and where at Beaver's Bend. For years, we've come to Lake Tenkiller and the Illinois River at Marval Camp because it was a place Papa and I found and we all enjoyed every year with the kids and grandkids, but this news made me think "Maybe it's time to diversify!" I told Larry and Staci and we agreed that we should go check it out sometime.

The next morning we got up early for another day of fishing but the dam gates had to be open for the next several days to release sufficient water to keep from flooding which meant our trout fishing there had come to an end. We made the best use of our time having fun otherwise, but then we realized, we need an alternative location should this happen again, so yesterday morning, we were packed up and ready to go for yet another adventure. We drove straight to Beaver's Bend. And adventure is what we found.

Along the way, we found such incredible beauty in the Ouachita Mountains -- so it was photo opt time!

Then, as luck would have it -- NOT -- we don't believe in luck -- we believe "as blessings and favor of God would have it", a Beaver's Bend Park Ranger was just sitting at the side of the road so we pulled over and he gave us everything we needed to know about where, when and how! We drove to cabins on the river and checked them out. We went to a State Park restaurant for lunch and met the former owner of the bait and tackle shop -- lived here all her life, that gave us every tip she could on best places to fish -- when and where. We were enjoying eating outside where we found out a bag of water will keep flies away, that squirrels are tame enough to come right up to your table for scraps, and that fried crocodile is delicious. Yes, they have crocodile at Beaver's Bend -- but they've never heard of a single person being harmed by them.

Our adventure even included a trip to a Blue Bell Ice Cream Shop where we found out if you let your kids get rowdy there, they'll be served a shot of coffee and given a free kitten. LOL!

The grand finale of our day was Payton & Alexia singing "What Does the Fox Say?"

We all decided this day just may be rated as the BEST DAY of our mini-fishing vacation. Isn't God so awesome to continue to prove He cares enough about what we care about, that He overloads us with proof that He really does make what would seem to be an upset of plans and a detour from what we thought our agenda should be......FOR GOOD! He really is such a GOOD GOOD FATHER!!! Our God is an awesome God!!!

Celebrating the Cycle of Life

Day 6 of 365 Photo -- Celebrating the Cycle of Life --  Meet Emma, who I'm holding, and her friend, Max, who Lexi is holding.

Events in the last couple of days were planned by my granddaughter, Lexi, whose goal is to attend her Dad's alma mater, Texas A&M, one day.  And, she plans to study and graduate as a veterinarian. I remember as just a baby how much she loved animals and had no fear around them.  She's been an equestrian horse rider and she LOVES her little 6 pound Yorkie, Emma.  Two days ago we went to the Vet to get Emma checked out to be sure she would be okay to have another litter of puppies, and, indeed, she got a clean bill of health.  So yesterday, I had the joy of being with Lexi and Denise Gerrich  to take Emma to be with her mate, "Max".

Max is a 4 pound darling Yorkie.  It was love at first sight, and the rest I'll leave to the imagination.  But I watched my granddaughter, who is quite typically a laugh-a-minute comedian, be poised, supportive, involved, and listened to Max's very knowledgeable owner explain, in detail, the process of breeding.  She has been breeding Yorkies for many years.

I'm so thrilled I "seized the moment" for this beautiful experience.   I was amazed as I saw my granddaughter go from her usual quirky and hilarious self, to a very mature, logical and tender pet owner (responsible and caring).  I was witnessing, first hand, the cycle of life -- in my granddaughter and her little Yorkie:  birth, growth, maturity.   I saw God's cycle of life for creatures and us -- in such a profound way.  It made me think once again about the magnitude of His genius.  He created fish, reptiles and birds to be born alive or hatched from eggs.  And I thought about the WOW  animals (like a butterly) that they go to bed looking one way and wake up a different creature. And I thought about animals....and US.

God is such an AWESOME God, and the more I get to know about Him, the more He astounds me.   The more I study His ways, absorb His presence into my very being.....He shows up in my world and keeps giving me  "AHA" moments like I had yesterday.  I urge you to go to that place as often as you can -- you don't need headphones, a trip to some exclusive paradise location, a yoga experience, a church or synogogue to find Him. You'll find Him, like I do, in MOMENTS -- those moments when we open our eyes and heart to His wonders all around us.  #SeizeTheMoment #AwesomeGod