Just one more cast...

My dad, Loren Fox, was a bi-vocational pastor who loved to fish. Fishing was his escape from the world, and gave him peace. If it was a Saturday between March 1st and October 31st, there was a good chance we were at Bennett Spring State Park.

As a child I would endure the 100 mile trip there and back. It was easier after I could read, they would just buy a new Archie comic book...a digest, typically...and I would be good to go. I became the queen of "how much farther is it?" and that, too, died off when I figured out certain landmarkers. At the park I was a "Junior Naturalist" at least 5 times. There wasn't a nature trail in the area we hadn't walked, a nature center display that my mom and I hadn't covered or a hatchery fish that went hungry with us around.

There came a point in every trip where I became restless. I would be ready to move on to the next thing or ready to eat or just ready to be home. My mom would send me out to talk to Dad, in order to find out how much longer he would be. The answer was almost always, "one more cast." Dad loved to "roll cast" as he would flyfish for rainbow trout. The only guarantee that Dad would actually stop fishing was when the whistle blew. I can't tell you how many thousands of casts took place after that phrase was said. I'm sure he had the intention of stopping...but it was hard to quit. A lunker might be waiting at that next cast, and when you're in a place you love, doing what you love...well, it's hard to stop.

There are days where I would rather just throw my hands up in the air and say, "enough's enough." I make it a goal to not say "it's just not", but there are times when things seem just so hopeless. Feelings are so deceitful. Faith is what keeps you saying, "Lord, I don't understand what is going on, but I trust you." Just like my dad, who was hopeful that the next cast would reward him with the fish he desired, we have to keep holding on to hope. Don't let the world (or a child) distract you from giving God the attention he deserves. He is faithful. Keep trusting and believing, despite the circumstances you find yourself in. The help you need is waiting there...just one more cast can make all the difference.