Geting in Shape

I started another round of P90X today.  I want to be in shape for fishing this year.  It takes a lot for me to be motivated to work out.  I know what I want, which is to be in shape, but the motivation is not always there.

Lucky for me I have someone to workout with.  Ron, one of my professors at school, is my work out partner. He helps motivate me because I never want to tell him I don’t want to work out today because I am being lazy.  He helps hold me accountable.

I fish a lot of team tournaments and the same is true for our partners in the tournaments.  If the pattern we are running isn’t working our partners are there to help us change gears and look for something else. They keep us motivated.

The same is true for are Christian walk.  We need those people in our lives that will help keep us on track.  My friend Josh and I are keeping each other accountable.  We started a Bible study and contact each other each week to make sure we are keeping up with our reading.

If you do not have a person in your life that can keep you accountable about your walk with the Lord I hope that you will find someone.  The blessing and joy that can come from sharing what you have found interesting in your daily Bible reading and what your partner has found can be amazing.

Summer Camp

My friend Josh came to me with an idea he had.  He is running a week long church summer camp this year.  He wants me to come with him and help show the kids how to fish.  I have been excited about all the things we could do since the night he told me about it.  I love how God is allowing me to use fishing as an outlet for him.

I am excited to take some of my blogs I have posted and expand them to explain fishing and God to the young men that will be at camp.  I have been blessed with this opportunity and can’t wait to put it into practice.

Fishing can be such a great hobby and for those like me it can help us come closer to God.  I hope that if one young man comes closer to God and finds enjoyment and peace in it I will have done something worthy of God.

Not only do I have this chance to share God and fishing with these young men but my blogs are being used on the Fishing for Charities website under a section called “Chris4Christ”.  I hope that I will be able to help touch the life of those who go to the website and those that don’t have a personal relationship with God find one.

It amazes me that God can use a screw up like me.  I lived my life for a long time without the love of Christ in it, but I am honored and blessed that God has used me.  

The Ice

Josh and I hit the water Sunday afternoon.  As we pulled up to the ramp, there were two guys pulling a boat out of the river.  After we put the boat in and I parked the truck I was heading to jump into the boat.  As I walked by the guys who had just pulled the boat out they stopped me.

The guy explained that his boat had been frozen in the river for the last few weeks, the small cove he lived in had frozen quickly and he had not gotten his boat out before it happened.  The boat was beat up and looked like it had been around since the 50’s.

It made me stop and think.  We as Christians can have the same thing happen to us.  Things can start to take a down ward spiral quickly and we may not even realize we are straying away from the Lord.  Just like that guy and his boat we can become frozen in (far from God) before we even realize it.  The guy told me that he had to break a lot of ice to get his boat to the main river and run to the ramp.  We as Christians can have to break a lot of ice to get back to the Lord.  Just like the boat it is important to get out of the ice.  Having your boat sitting in the ice all winter can damage your haul and even put a hole in it.  Staying in the ice as a Christian can do the same.  We are venerable to the attacks of the devil and he can put holes in us.  We can start doing things we know are wrong and are not of God.  We need to make sure we take care of ourselves just like we do with are boats.

Friends

I know fishing is cathartic for me.  When things are going wrong in my life, I find peace standing on the deck of my boat.  Pulling in a big or small bass helps clear away all of those things going wrong.  Yet when I have friend in the boat it seems to do the same thing, even though it seems like when I have a friend in the boat the competitor in me comes out.

Sunday afternoon my friend Josh and I hit the river   fully expecting to pick up where I left off the other day catching bass left and right.  I expected it to be bassapoloza, yet when we pulled up on my hot spot I nailed on fish and that was it.  We moved around and started catching fish.  Just as the sun set we pulled back up on my hot spot and the fish turned on.  Josh and I drilled the fish for an hour after the sun went down.  I couldn’t believe it night fishing in November.

I have to admit, when Josh had more fish than me and was bringing them in and I wasn’t a fire was lit in me.  I started changing baits doing anything I could to catch fish.  Eventually I figured out the lure and retervie and started pulling them in as Josh stopped catching them.  Looking back we caught fish in a few places I didn’t expect and wouldn’t have moved if Josh had not suggested it.  I tend to get stuck in my ways.  I would have pounded my hot spot with crank baits if Josh had not suggested we moved.  We wouldn’t have caught 7 of the bass we did if we didn’t.

I was reading Proverbs 17:17 which say: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”  Granted not catching fish was not adversity per say but when you are on the water it can be.  There can be a great feeling having your best friend in the boat helping you zero in on the fish.  If Josh had not been there a great day may have not been so great.  If I had been by myself I wouldn’t have stayed out on the water as long as I did.  When the sun was going down I would have buttoned up my rods and made the run back to the ramp.  I thank God for those friends he has put in my life, and the way they challenge me. 

The value of a coach

I met with my coach Mike Harrison from CenterMark Coaching today and he talked to me about the importance of clarifying your desire and creating the discipline to achieve your dreams.

It is so very important to clarify your desires (ie. what you want to have, what you want to do and what you want to become.)  I know that I want to be a connector for people who desire to discover the best about God's nature and have a great time while fishing.

Mike said it is important to write your desires down...so here it goes:
I desire God to be big in my life
I desire to be a great husband to my wife
I desire to be a great father to my kids

In my business, I desire to help people discover God's best
In my business, I desire to help people do more "catching" than "fishing"
In my business, I desire to make a big difference for others

Finally--creating the discipline.  Mike told me that discipline is always created through empowering relationships.  "Show me someone who says they don't have discipline, and I'll show you someone who is trying to accomplish something all by themselves," Mike said.

So, I want to continue to connect with those who empower me and I want to empower them.  If there is anything that I can do for you, please let me know.  I care.

The value of a coach brings clarity and creating.  You need to have one.