One day my dad and I loaded up in the old orange Nissan pickup truck he drove for the better part of my lifetime to go fishing at the Fayette county lake a few miles from my little home town.
As we sat along the bank and baited our hooks a young boy, perhaps just a little older than me, came over and took a keen interest in our fishing. Me, being painfully and shy and self-conscious as a child, sat quietly hoping he would lose interest and move along. My father, being the portrait of charity and kindness, invited the boy to have a fishing pole and fish for a while with us, which he did gladly.
My memory can't piece together many details of the number of fish we caught, or how we bid farewell to our stranger companion, I think his mother may have eventually come calling for him. But as we got back in my dad's old truck and drove home I remember telling my dad how I wish he hadn't invited that little boy to fish with us.
I remember he said something to this effect - "Son, that boy may not have a daddy that will take him fishing..."
It was about all he said the whole drive home, and it was all he needed to say. I've never forgotten lessons like that.
Tonight I stood on the banks of a lake out in the country with a half dozen or so Ukrainian orphans. They each had fishing poles in their hands.
I thought about the lessons I learned some 25 years ago, as I tied hooks, fixed reels, untangled lines, showed a few the perfect spot to throw to, and how if you slide your hand over a bream's head to hold him, his fins won't get you when you are taking the hook out... All things I learned because, you know, I had a daddy, and a good one at that.
We fished a while and then had some barbecue with other friends and families that had gathered along side Bridges of Faith to fellowship with this group of kids from Ukraine.
As we got in the car I thought about how in the joy of fellowship I had forgotten that there are eight or so of those children who won't have a family to take them home and tuck them in. Who belong to no one, and who after this grand adventure to America may not experience again the sweet fellowship of families or the joy of an evening out in the country... I won't stun you with statistics for the children who age out of Eastern European orphanages. But I urge you to pray for these kids, pray that someone will take them in and make them part of a family. I encourage you to consider donating to Bridges of Faith and making opportunities like these trips possible for orphans in Ukraine who stand little chance of a normal life after aging out of their institution. And also, I encourage you to be and extension of God's Grace to the children you come in contact with daily, you never know the lesson they learn that will stay with them for a lifetime.
I am forever thankful that I was shown what to do when I'm standing along side children who might not ever have a daddy.
As we sat along the bank and baited our hooks a young boy, perhaps just a little older than me, came over and took a keen interest in our fishing. Me, being painfully and shy and self-conscious as a child, sat quietly hoping he would lose interest and move along. My father, being the portrait of charity and kindness, invited the boy to have a fishing pole and fish for a while with us, which he did gladly.
My memory can't piece together many details of the number of fish we caught, or how we bid farewell to our stranger companion, I think his mother may have eventually come calling for him. But as we got back in my dad's old truck and drove home I remember telling my dad how I wish he hadn't invited that little boy to fish with us.
I remember he said something to this effect - "Son, that boy may not have a daddy that will take him fishing..."
It was about all he said the whole drive home, and it was all he needed to say. I've never forgotten lessons like that.
Tonight I stood on the banks of a lake out in the country with a half dozen or so Ukrainian orphans. They each had fishing poles in their hands.
I thought about the lessons I learned some 25 years ago, as I tied hooks, fixed reels, untangled lines, showed a few the perfect spot to throw to, and how if you slide your hand over a bream's head to hold him, his fins won't get you when you are taking the hook out... All things I learned because, you know, I had a daddy, and a good one at that.
We fished a while and then had some barbecue with other friends and families that had gathered along side Bridges of Faith to fellowship with this group of kids from Ukraine.
As we got in the car I thought about how in the joy of fellowship I had forgotten that there are eight or so of those children who won't have a family to take them home and tuck them in. Who belong to no one, and who after this grand adventure to America may not experience again the sweet fellowship of families or the joy of an evening out in the country... I won't stun you with statistics for the children who age out of Eastern European orphanages. But I urge you to pray for these kids, pray that someone will take them in and make them part of a family. I encourage you to consider donating to Bridges of Faith and making opportunities like these trips possible for orphans in Ukraine who stand little chance of a normal life after aging out of their institution. And also, I encourage you to be and extension of God's Grace to the children you come in contact with daily, you never know the lesson they learn that will stay with them for a lifetime.
I am forever thankful that I was shown what to do when I'm standing along side children who might not ever have a daddy.
1 comment:
WHAT an impactful story !!!! Thanks for speaking up and sharing your life !!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the pic of you in the 147 tee ... thanks for participating !!!
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