I was doing some building in our backyard for our grandkids today. In fact we had about 6 of them here and they were helping me with the promise of a big payday for each of them. They don’t know anything about minimum wage so they are pretty excited about a couple of bucks each. We were putting up treated 2×6 borders with big wood chips and 3/4 inch gravel inside of the borders as play areas. It turned out very nice if I do say so myself. While I was screwing a screw through the treated 2×6 boards into long wooden stakes that I had driven into the ground the cordless drill I was using slipped off the head of the screw and the bit that I was using went through my thumb. Whoooooeeeeee that hurt like the dickens. I normally would have said crap with great emphasis, but being aware of all the grandkids around I didn’t say anything. I pulled the bit out of my thumb and wrapped it with the tail of my t-shirt that I was wearing and yelled at Patty to come help me. She poured hydrogen peroxide on it on the top of my thumb and the foam came out the bottom. She put a bunch of band aids on it, told me how tough I was and sent me back out to finish the project. We did get it done and it looks super nice. The grandkids will love it, and there is some of my blood on the boards. It is interesting to me how powerful the desire to be a good model to my grandkids is and how effective that desire is to give me motivation and strength to be super good around them. I want my life to be a powerful influencer on people around me all day long, every day so that they will want to follow Jesus.

God is omnipresent, He is everywhere, considering the size of the universe God is very big. In light of that, there is a Bible verse that I have memorized and I meditate on it several times each day, it is Matthew 10:28-29 where Jesus says, “are not two sparrows sold for a cent and yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Heavenly Father. Also the very hairs of your head are all numbered by God. So don’t worry about things in life, you are worth much more to God than many sparrows”. God knows everything, is every place, and yet he knows me in great detail and I am worth much to Him, very much. I want to believe that to the core of my soul, I want to understand it completely, and I want to live and think always in light of the truth in it. Occasionally I begin to fret a bit about things I can’t control, when I do I choose to pull this verse out of my memory and think deeply about it over and over until it controls my thinking totally and then I have great peace.

A group of 31 of us headed up Mt Adams, (elevation 12,270 ft) this morning at 5 am. It was cold when we started and by the time we had hiked for two hours it was very cold with very strong winds of 40 miles per hour with snow and sleet. The cloud cover was so thick that you couldn’t see more than a dozen feet. We got to the 8300 foot level and hunkered down behind a pile of rocks to get out of the wind, eat a bite, and warm up a bit. Most decided to push on up some more and a few decided to head back down because of the cold believing it was just going to get worse. I was among the group heading back down. The ones who headed up made it to the 11,000 foot level and headed back down. Every one made it back down to the trailhead where our rigs were parked but we were one climber short. Nobody knew where he was as we talked about the last place we had all seen him. On his way back down the mountain he got a bit disoriented and missed the trail that led back to where we all were. He walked 4 or 5 miles past where we were at the cars. Eventually he came out on the road the led up to where we were, and a car came along and picked him up and delivered him to us. In the meantime we had sent 4 of our fastest climbers back up the mountain looking for him and when he showed up we were able to contact the 4 rescuers from our group with a radio that the lost had been found!! We arrived home late and very tired but it was an adventure packed day in spite of not making it to the summit. Next year!!

I got a very big hardcover Cabella’s Fall catalog in the mail today complete with tabs for all the major areas of sporting goods. Because it was the Fall edition it majored on hunting and camping supplies. It totally messed up my schedule that I so carefully thought out this morning and wrote down for the day. After all it takes a couple hours to do justice to such a fine piece of literature. Besides the time that was used up diligently looking through the catalog I found at least a dozen things that I can’t possibly do without if I am going to have a totally succesful hunt and camping experience this Fall. The price tag on those indispensable items is going to make my wife cry or maybe get a little irritated or maybe a lot. Our anniversary is coming up in a month, I wonder what she would think if I got some for anniversary presents! Just kidding, really! In the New Testament Paul said that Godliness with contentment was great gain. I doubt he ever read through a Cabella’s catalog! Paul also said that coveteousness was the same as being an idolater. Whoooeeee, they stoned people in the Old Testament for that sin. Well, I guess I better throw my Cabella’s catalog in the recycle bin before I start sinning to much more. I wonder if there is a support group for Cabella’s catalog addicts?

The book of Proverbs makes a really big deal out of being a wisdom seeker. It also says that of all the things that we can seek, wisdom is the most valuable. When we have wisdom we will have a good marriage, we will raise good kids, we will be financially secure, we will accomplish a lot with our life, we will have good relationships. The major key to growing rapidly in wisdom is to be teachable. Seems like an easy thing to be, but my observation of people over the years as a pastor is that there are very few really teachable people. The reason is our pride. Pride is almost like this independent being or force inside of us that controls our thinking, words, attitudes, and responses to people. This force that has grown very strong inside of us at a very young age has as its goal to project an image of a perfect self. Attentively listening to, and learning from advice, correction, counsel, and reproof is very hard to do with this force constantly working against it. We have to choose as an act of our will to be seekers of wisdom and very teachable from others especially those unsolicited incounters with people who see us do things and then give advice or correction through out the day. Only very aggressive wisdom seekers will respond with a humble, teachable spirit in those situations. The choosing to be a humble, teachable, wisdom seeker should be an every morning commitment. If we keep making the commitment every morning, pretty soon we start to move gradually in the direction of actually being that kind of person. Pride inside of us is an awefull thing. We must conquor and overcome it.

I am going to pedal my exercise bike for an hour every night this week and also I am going to do 15 squats each night with a bunch of weight on the bar. One reason is that I gained 4 lbs on the salmon fishing trip to the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska and I want to lose it quick, and the second reason is that I am climbing Mt Adams on Saturday and I want my leg muscles toned up for the grind up that 12,700 ft mountain. I am still in pretty good shape from my bicycle trip to Portland, Maine and I have ridden the exercise bike regularly and often since then so I think I am going to make it to the top. I have climbed Mt Adams a number of times over the years, and my observation is that making it to the top is mostly mental rather than physical. Climbing Mt Adams is a choice, but many major challenges that come into our life are like climbing a mountain but we didn’t choose them, they just showed up in our life. Some people conquor the mountains that come into their lives, but most do not, they quit. Just like climbing Mt Adams these major life trials are overcome mostly by the way we think. The way we think when we hit the very steep grade at the 10,000 foot level up to the false summit is what determines whether we make it to the top or quit. Our flesh that is programmed from birth for comfort starts screaming at us in our thoughts as we hit the grind at the 10,000 foot mark. I decide before I start climbing what I am going to choose to think when my flesh starts complaining and whining. “I can make it to the top of this Mountain as long as I don’t quit, just one step in front of another, it won’t be long now and I will enjoy the great feeling of being an overcomer, you can do it Duke, one more step, one more step, be a winner, it will feel so good being on the top knowing I made it.”

I am sorry that I have not written my blog for a few days. I was out fishing in the Kenai in my waders in water up to my waist and I hooked a sockeye salmon. In the process of fighting him and inching my over to the bank where my net was I tripped over a rock and fell in. I lost the fish, got soaking wet, and my IPhone that was in my coat pocket got wet and quit working, and that is what I was doing my blogs on. I just got home a couple of hours ago and I am getting caught up on chores around the house, reading, and writing this blog. The run finally came in and we had one day of hot fishing. We came home with about 40 lbs of sockeye fillets each, which is about 30 lbs less then last year, but we had a great time fishing and falling in the water anyway 😄 We are already making plans for next years trip. The best part of the trip for me was having my grandson Josiah along. Sometimes 14 year old boys are kind of wimpy when it comes to getting up at 2 am and being on the river 16 hours a day fishing hard with few fish to show for it, but Josiah was a trooper and never grumbled or complained once about being tired or bored. He fit in well with the other 9 men on the trip and acted like a mature adult instead of a like a silly kid. He made my grandpa heart proud. One of my character goals for the trip that I wrote out before we left was to act happy all the time even when we only had a couple hours of sleep because of fishing late and getting up early, not catching a lot of fish, and the normal stuff that happens between 10 men living together in a little cabin for a week. I think I did alright, way better than previous years for sure even if not perfect. I discovered that when I worked hard at acting happy, that I felt happy, I felt better physically, and I had more energy. That discovery, if I don’t soon forget it was worth the trip even if I had caught zero fish.

We got up at 4 am to go fishing for Sockeye Salmon on the Kenai River in Soldtna, Alaska. This is our 5th day of fishing and the “Run” has yet to happen. Usually the 15th of July is the peak of the run. 2 years ago there were 238,000 fish that came up the river in one day on the 15th, and today the run is about 13,000. As I think about it, it is a lot about expectation. I went on an all day salmon fishing trip in Oregon and the 5 of us that went all caught one fish, and we were very excited about the great day of fishing and catching. Yesterday the 12 of us that came on this trip caught 13 fish between us and we were greatly disappointed because that is not what we expected. I am going to work at choosing my expectations so I am excited and grateful when they happen, and they will happen because I am going to choose expectations that I can control. My expectation for today is that I will have a great fishing experience because I will enjoy the challenge of trying to catch fish, I will enjoy the river and the creation of God so obvious in Alaska, I will the escape from the normal responsibilities of life and be refreshed and refueled for great accomplishments in the days ahead, and I will enjoy the fellowship with friends who are enjoying this adventure as well. My enthusiasm because of fulfilled expectations will have a positive influence on the other guys on this trip instead of being a drag because of my disappointment, especially my 14 year old grandson.

Patience is the number one requirement to really be a devoted fisherman as well as an undying hope. Real fishermen enjoy the fishing experience whether they catch fish or not. They want to catch fish “a lot” but the “hope” of a big run tomorrow keeps them motivated, and the effort made to catch fish that aren’t there is enjoyable.
Sort of like waiting for Jesus to come. I truly expect that tomorrow is the day He will come, and I try to live accordingly.

We are getting ready for the evening fishing. We typically will fish from 6 pm to midnight but we have our headlights so we are prepared to fish all night if the fish are in…

Not a lot more fish came up the river today but enough more so that we put about 30 salmon in the freezer, 36 is our group daily limit, so we were close. We are getting up at 4 am planning on the run coming in strong tonight. We worked hard for our fish today spending about 12 hours fishing. As I said yesterday , I think a lot while I am fishing and today was mostly thinking about what next10 years held for me. My desire is that the next 10years are more effective than the previous 38 years. I thought a lot about my responsibility to make this happen. I know that accomplishment is a partnership with God, His part and mine. I want to make sure that I understand my part and faithfully, diligently do it well. It is sort of like fishing, I can’t make the fish come up the river but I need to be ready when they do and be diligent and have the skill to catch them. Boy, I hope getting up at 4 am is worth it!!