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Topic: Fishing (06/07/04)
TITLE: The BIG One! By Donna Haug 06/11/04 |
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By: Donna Haug
June 11, 2004
It was one a.m. The end of this pastor’s “day of rest” found him, as usual, just a little wired at bedtime! And to top it all off, tomorrow was Monday and he was going fishing! I dragged myself off the couch to where my husband was organizing his tackle box just one more time before bed. As I shuffled sleepily towards the bathroom I muttered, “Come on, honey! If you don’t get to bed soon you’re gonna fall asleep at the reel!”
Just a few short hours later, I groaned and rolled over as Mark jumped out of the waterbed. The rolling waves lulled me quickly back to sleep as he piled on layers of clothing in preparation for British Columbia’s morning fog and chill. It’s not that I was against fishing per se. I just happened to enjoy snoozing in my nice warm bed at 5 a.m. much more than freezing my cheeks in a little boat floating in the Pacific Ocean! Unaffected by my lack of enthusiasm, Mark hooked the borrowed boat up to the back of our car he headed off to pick up his fishing partner. Todd, a young New Zealander from our youth group, had decided to check out the Canadian great outdoors with Mark.
Before long both young men had their rods hanging out over the water as they trolled slowly along listening to the gentle slapping of the waves on the side of the boat. Occasional conversation and deep thoughts kept them occupied as they waited for the big strike. Why they won’t just admit to dozing off a little bit too, I’ll never know!
Suddenly, Mark’s fishing rod started screaming as the line whizzed yard by yard off his reel. “WHAT was THAT??”
Panic set in as Todd gunned the motor and steered the boat, trying desperately to follow Mark’s instructions. Then, SNAP! Whatever that was, it was BIG! Mark looked over Todd’s shoulder in disbelief. “Oh wow! Look at that!! Cut the motor!”
Coming up out of the water not 8 feet behind the boat loomed a large black fin rising 6 feet out of the water! It was a killer whale! (He could have called it an ‘orca’, but a ‘killer whale’ sounds more exciting!) As they looked around, a cold fear tingled in their stomachs. Every direction they turned, as far as the eye could see were black and white whales! Their little wooden boat bobbed bravely right in the middle of the largest pod of killer whales known to the waters of British Columbia! They froze in their seats and watched in awe as these incredibly beautiful and terrifyingly large creatures surfaced and dove to the rhythm of a song heard only by their Creator.
Moments later it was all over. Silence descended over them like a blanket as they stared at each other in astonishment. Knowing there were no fish left in the area for miles around after that, the guys packed up their gear and headed back to the marina. Upon sharing their tale of the “big ones that got away” with the seasoned fishermen on shore, they discovered that this particular pod had up to 94 whales at a time!
Was one of them named Kaiko? I don’t know. But one thing I do know, the God who created each of those whales knows them all by name. Even more importantly, He knows each of US by name and cares about us – even if we were the only ones bobbing in a little fishing boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He cares! He knows! And He loves!
“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me…Where can I go from your Spirit?… If I make my bed in the depths, you are there… if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast…How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!…Search me, O God, and know my heart: test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139