I am diligently thinking, praying, pondering, writing, and seeking God’s will for my life right now. Fall time is always a beginning of ministry for me, and this year is particularly perplexing for me, not only in what I do but in how much I do. I have always had the problem of thinking I can do more than I can actually pull off. But it has never been much of a problem because what I dreamed of doing and what I actually accomplished in a given amount of time were close. Now I have the problem of that difference getting greater all the time. I am trying to find the balance between desire, faith, diligence, and reality. ‘I don’t want to be constantly frustrated by my lack of energy and accomplishment, but I also don’t want to get lazy and apathetic in the name of getting older. I am praying constantly that God will lead me into His perfect will for my life. I know it is part of life, the life He created, that I slow down a bit, but how much? I also know He will give me all I need to accomplish his will for my life; I just need to figure out what that will is for me this next year.

Psalms 5:8 O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness,
Make Your way straight before me.

Psalms 25:5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day.

Psalms 27:11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a level path.

One of our freezers quit working just as I got home with 100 lbs of salmon, so our new one is being delivered tomorrow. We owned the one that quit 53 of the 54 years we had been married, so it was about time for it to die. Patty woke me this morning, saying, “We have no water.” So, after determining that our water pump was shot, I drove into Home Depoe, bought a new one, and spent most of the day taking out the old one and putting in the new one. I made about a dozen trips into Freres trying to get the right fittings. Patty praised me for taking care of my household; nice wife!

We all have days like this. My goal and commitment is that when they happen to me, I will say, “Thank You, Jesus,” “I love You, Jesus,” “You are my provider, Jesus,” “It is a wonderful day, Jesus,”
‘And in conversations with family and others, I will not be grumpy, complain, or feel sorry for myself or try and get others to feel sorry for me. Life is good, and the Lord takes care of us. We could live in Sierra Leone or Iran, but I am most blessed to live in Jefferson.

I have been gone for most of the last three months, but I got home last night from Alaska. I am home for the next nine months before I head off on some more adventures. I slept in my own bed last night, sitting in my favorite recliner right now, and got a cup of coffee from my favorite wife 😀!

I have a list of twelve things I try to do faithfully daily. I call them my “daily dozen duties.” When I am gone bicycling, fishing, hunting, or traveling, I am not very faithful in accomplishing them. I usually get four of the twelve done each day and most of the dozen done at least weekly.

I won’t bore you with all twelve, but a few of them are reading my Bible, praying, writing my blog, memorizing Bible verses, reading in a good book, riding my stationary bike, and praying with Patty. I excuse my mediocre performance on my “daily dozen duties” because of my irregular and hectic schedule and weariness. But now that I am home, my first goal is to get back on track with those duties.

The discipline that goes down the drain worst of all during the summer activities is “Eating in a healthy and disciplined way.” The result is that I have gained five pounds since July 1st. I am determined to reach my goal weight of 188 lbs by my birthday, October 27th. Feeling tired is one of the plaques of getting older; the heavier I am, the more exhausted I feel.

It is funny, but this one is the hardest of all my daily disciplines. I hope my desire for more energy and good health will motivate me on this one! Another thing that has gone down as I get older, besides my energy, is my resolve, determination, and self-control. Succeeding at accomplishing my “daily dozen” is the best exercise for me in growing in self-control. So, here we go!

I haven’t been able to watch any of the Olympics so far because we have no television and do not have much cell service where we are staying in Alaska. I have enough to get and send emails and some news, but that is about it. So I look forward to watching some events when I get home tomorrow. Those who compete and win the various events in the Olympics are a picture of discipline and training. I always enjoy watching people who succeed because of discipline, hard work, and sacrifice. A price needs to be paid if a person is going to be a winner in life. Most people are not willing to pay that price.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Our salvation from an eternity in hell to an eternity in heaven is a free gift, neither earned nor deserved, simply based on faith in Jesus Christ, but the eternal rewards that we receive from Jesus after we enter heaven are earned. They are earned by discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and hard work. The medals that those who win at the Olympics are not eternal, but the ones we win at the judgment seat of Christ are.

Tim, George, and I went halibut fishing today. I have been having trouble with my main outboard motor, my big 135-horsepower Mercury. Something isn’t working right with the gas. I have been working on it, off and on, for this entire trip. So, the other day, I bought a small, 9.9 horsepower motor for backup. It is on the small side for my 26-foot dory boat, but it would get us in. Well, we launched, and the big motor wouldn’t run, so we used the little motor, and it got us out to our fishing spot in the ocean easily enough, even if a bit slow. We fished for four hours, caught three halibut, and decided to head in. In the process of trying to pull the anchor, we got the anchor rope wound up in the prop of our only functioning outboard motor. Yikes, it was a good thing we threw in some oars before we left this morning. I thought, “I wonder how long it will take us to row this boat in?” It took a while, but we finally got the rope free from the prop and putt-putted it into the launch site and onto our trailer. It is so much fun having emergencies; it keeps the day from getting boring.

While we were dealing with our dilemmas, I was praying in my head, pretty much non-stop, Lord, give me wisdom, strength, peace, and joy. I don’t pray that God will fix or change anything, only that He will give me what I need to fix, change, or conquer our problem and that I will rejoice and be positive through it all. A lot of people get panicky or grumpy during that kind of situation, and I have in the past; that is why I pray that the Lord will help me enjoy the moment and not offend anybody in the process.

In our quest for comfort and security, I believe we often pray prayers that God won’t answer. He is the one who often causes the circumstances we are in, so why would He change it? He caused it so that we will grow. But God will always answer the prayer for wisdom, strength, peace, and joy. His Word, the Bible, promises that in many places. I pray guaranteed prayers, not iffy ones.

For the last two weeks, there have been about forty people here at Tim’s Place fishing for sockeye salmon. Less than half were here for the first week and a bit more than half the second week. For the last couple of days, it has just been Tim, George, and I here. We have been getting up and going fishing at 4:00 am. Because it is at the end of the sockeye run, most people are gone, so it has been just the three of us on the dock. Yesterday, we limited out catching 18 sockeye salmon in one hour. It took us a little longer this morning, but we caught 18 again. We are going out for sockeye again in the morning, and before we leave to come home, we will get in a halibut fishing day. The three weeks I am up here in Soldotna, Alaska, is the most intense fishing I do all year. It is a lot of fun, and I will also bring home 100 pounds of salmon fillets. I have been making this trip to Alaska for about 25 years, and I hope to continue this nice tradition for another 25 years. I also work hard to make time for reading and writing, and I spend much of the time I am fishing, praying through a list of people in my head. A trip like this is relatively expensive, with the cost of one week at Tim’s place, called “Funny River Fellowship Lodge,” plus the airfare. Tim doesn’t charge me for the time I am here and usually buys my airplane ticket as well, which is a very nice gift.

God has blessed me a lot in my life. A wonderful wife whom I have been married to for 55 years, the 24th of this month, eight amazing kids, 28 grandkids, an incredibly fulfilling ministry at JBC for 50 years, and many terrific friends who bless me in various ways.

As good as my life has been, I am looking forward to heaven very much. The Bible says that what we will experience in heaven is beyond our imagination. The cool thing about my eternal future is that it is a gift from God, neither earned nor deserved. I received this free gift from God by believing in and following Jesus Christ. Many people haven’t taken that step of faith in their life. I wish I could take it for them, but I can’t; every person must decide and choose for themselves to commit their life to Jesus Christ. It seems that the best things in life are often free, but we must accept the gift if we are going to enjoy it.

I built a 26ft dory boat about eight years ago. I built it to go out in the ocean fishing. Three other guys and I towed it up to Alaska to fish for halibut this year. I will leave it up here to take the people who come to Tim’s place halibut fishing. I worked on it most of the day, trying to make it seaworthy. I built it out of wood and fiberglass. Every time I walk around it, I see something I don’t like and need to fix, but it is a good boat, and I like it, even though I am constantly fixing and upgrading something on it.

God created me as a unique person in His image. He created me with an infinite capacity to grow and change if I want to and work at it. I am sure there are many things in me and my character that God wants to change and make more like Himself. He orchestrates the events and circumstances of my life to shape and mold me into a son He will enjoy being with for all eternity.

The most beautiful words in the Bible for me are the words of Jesus when He says, “I will come and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

While in Alaska fishing for sockeye salmon on the Kenai River, we fish on docks built out over the river. The city of Soldotna has built over a mile of them. The reason was to prevent people from tearing up the banks of the river as they climbed into and out of the water, causing erosion. They are about three feet above the river and are very nice to fish off of, especially for old guys. You can note what they look like in the picture.

Tonight, a fairly large family was fishing on the far end of the dock, not far from where we were fishing. It was only the grandpa fishing; the rest watched, talked, and horsed around. We heard a splash and looked up to see one of the kids, probably about five years old, falling off the dock and into the river. The water was about three feet deep at the edge of the dock, but the Kenai River is glacier-fed and very cold and flowing rapidly. The kid was gasping for air, thrashing around, and obviously very shocked by the freezing water. The Dad immediately jumped into the water, grabbed his son, and hoisted him up to the dock. The whole thing happened in just a couple of seconds.

I thought the kid would be cold for a bit and maybe a little traumatized by the experience, but I bet his Dad is a hero in his eyes, at least for a while. If the kid had floated down the river where I was standing, and no one had rescued him at that point, I would have jumped in and rescued him, but reluctantly, knowing how cold the water was and how wet and miserable I would be afterward. I would have jumped in because it would have been the right thing. The Dad jumped in because he was his Dad, and that is what Dads do. Dads are protectors and rescuers.

God, our creator and Father, rescued us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. He became 100% man, was tempted in every way and to the extent we are, and never sinned. Jesus was nailed to a cross, and while He was there, the Father took all of our sins, put them on Jesus, and punished His own Son for our sins.

If the son who fell into the water, between gasps, had said, “Dad, leave me alone; I can take care of myself,” when he floated by me, I would have just waved and thought to myself, stupid kid!

So many people ignore God and refuse the free gift of salvation offered to us by our heavenly Father, because they think they can take care of it themselves, stupid people.

Life is full of transitions, some good, some not-so-good, and some bad. You graduate from High School, start your first job, get married, move, go on vacation, retire, get a new job, go on a fishing trip, and so on. We look forward to some events with great anticipation and dread others. Some we wish would never end, and others we can’t wait until they end. Some of the transitions we plan, and others just happen, whether we want them to or not.

All of creation is an illustration of life. Looking at it is a manual for living life if we really think and make an application. The seasons of the year and the various daily weather conditions are like our lives, constantly changing. When it rains, we wear a raincoat; when it gets hot, we wear shorts; when it gets cold, we wear a coat.

In life, there are some basic guidelines or rules for living; in the various transitions, events, and seasons of our life, make adjustments as needed, and don’t get locked into one way of doing things or running your life. In every new situation, work hard at learning and growing in wisdom and character. Trust God, who orchestrates our life for maximum growth. Ask Him for strength and wisdom. Rejoice always, and never grumble or complain, no matter how terrible a new situation or event might be; it short circuits all of the above.

For the last two weeks, I have been living in Soldotna, Alaska, fishing for Salmon ten hours a day and catching a lot of fish; it is a taste of heaven for me. I would like it if it would last longer, but in a week, I go home, and a new transition begins. I will preach on Sunday and Wednesday nights, teach leadership classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and study and write sermons, lessons, and books. I enjoy the ministry life very much and am more excited than ever for it to start because of this stint in Alaska.

We pulled my 26-foot dory to Ninilchik, where they back boats into the surf with big four-wheel drive skidders. Our plan was to get launched and then go out and catch halibut. The night before, I had watched several videos called “Deep Creek Carnage.” There were videos of launches and reloads that went bad. The boats got swamped, rolled over, and damaged extensively. We got to the beach, and the surf was higher than my weather app said. We drove an hour to get here and wanted to catch some halibut, but I started thinking about those videos. We sat there in the pickup, looking at the surf, trying to decide what we were going to do. I thought to myself, “Don’t be a chicken. Go for it.” Just then, one of the skidder drivers came to the window and said, “We don’t recommend that you launch today.” Oh well, “thank you for making up my mind!”

Sometimes, the line between being an overly cautious chicken that does little because of the fear of something going wrong and being reckless is hard to discern. I have tended to be impulsive and reckless in my life, and I have had many adventures and things going wrong because of it. But I think that the person who isn’t afraid of failure will accomplish much more with their life than the person who waits for perfect conditions to do something.

I have noticed that the older I get, the more cautious I am in my decision-making.