Dear Fellow Children of God,
Kathy and I often say to each other, “We are SO blessed!”
We know that our Lord has been good to us with our families, in our jobs, with
our friends and our health. In many ways
God has provided the things we may simply desire to enjoy life. And we know, none of these blessings compare
to the grace we receive in Jesus.
Nothing compares to the fact that sinful people like us are forgiven and
saved. God IS so good! We are truly blessed!!
However, I sometimes hesitate to share all these
blessings from our Heavenly Father in my devotions. I know that others currently struggle with
health, with financial issues, with family troubles. God’s goodness can be hard to see in someone
else, when our own lives are painful.
So, I am careful when sharing.
Nevertheless, when our Lord is so obviously good, are we
not called to give thanks? Should we not
recognize the goodness of God? One of my
favorite Old Testament verses calls God’s people to, “Give thanks to the
LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1
and many other verses.) In 1 Thessalonians God calls His New Testament people, “Give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) So let me share a story about a reason for
thanks. Yes, a fishing story!
Earlier in July I sat down with Mary and Brandon and
compared calendars. We decided on dates to
go to the Kenai and fish for red salmon.
Yet, the times we chose were not looking good. We arrived in Sterling on Wednesday, July
22. The ADF&G keeps count of the various
species of salmon which return to spawn, in order to better manage this valuable
resource. They publish this data daily on their web page. A count of 40,000 red salmon on the Kenai
River during the peak season is ok, but not good. A count of 20,000 fish is bad. On Wednesday the count published by ADF&G
was 18,040. Horrible! Thursday morning the reported count for
Wednesday’s fish was 11,603! Worse than horrible!!
Then the weather report for Thursday was bad. In fact, I heard some talking who said it
would be dangerous to fish because of the waves. Winds were forecast at 19 mph,
with gusts to 39 mph.
So, no fish, and bad weather. It wasn’t looking good for fishing with a
pole and line, nor for dip-netting. That
is why Thursday morning I did some work around the cabin. I took down a tree which had fallen in last
winter’s weather. I repaired the roof
where the tree had fallen and caused some damage. Even though we had set this time aside to
fish, on Thursday morning fishing was only a thought, a wish.
Then, around noon I received calls from 2 friends. Fred Vasilie told me that one of his friends
had seen salmon jumping off the bluffs.
Fred told me, “I think the wind is supposed to die down. We are going to try to put in around 4:00
p.m.” Then I visited with Wayne Mize who
shared, “I hear fish are jumping. I think the wind is going to drive the fish in.” So, I talked with my daughter and son-in-law,
Mary and Brandon, and we decided that we would try too.
We got to the city boat launch in Kenai. There are times we have waited two hours or
more to launch, with long lines and angry workers. (A lady police officer once waved her pistol
and shouted at Mary and Dave Nufer and I! Then we caught no fish that day because
the commercial nets were blocking the mouth of the river! ☹ ) But, on Thursday, because of the low counts and
bad weather reports, we drove right in at the city docks, and there was a boat
ramp waiting for us, with NO DELAY!
We put in around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. The wind was still
blowing a little, and we found some waves. However, the longer we were on the
water, the calmer the wind and the waves got.
There are times I have fished with the nets from the boat
for 6, 8, 10 hours, and found few, if any fish. But we talked with Fred. Their boat got 10 fish on their first drift
down the river. Once Mary and Brandon and I figured out where to drift, and how
to tie off our nets, we started getting fish too. We only had 3 fish on our first run. But then our nets were filling. Brandon netted 2. Mary got one.
Brandon got another two in a net.
Mary got another. As Brandon was
trying to help Mary get the fish out of her net, I held Brandon’s net over the
side while steering and guiding the boat at the same time – sort of. I had two fish in the net, but could not
bring them in with one hand, while steering my boat with the other hand, and
the fish swam out. Brandon got 3 fish in
one net. We talked about how many fish we
wanted. I said that Kathy and I would
like 25 of our limit of 35. They wanted
20, but I suggested 25 for them.
However, when we got to 52 red salmon, they said, “Let do another run.” We actually did 3 more runs. When our count was 66 (we were allowed 85), I
said that it was time to stop!
So, on a day when the weather was supposed to be bad,
when there weren’t supposed to be any fish, God provided a bounty for our
freezers! And there was no drama at the
docks, no wait, no hollering, no cursing, no guns! We have 132 fillets vacuum sealed in our
freezers.
I do not believe that the good things in life are a
coincidence. God has taken care of us
beyond imagination (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
when He sent Jesus to save the world.
BECAUSE He has taken care of this biggest need, because He loves and provides
for us, I trust that the seemingly smaller blessings are from our Heavenly Father.
I do not want to receive this blessing and not say
thanks. There could have been no fish –
again! There could have been big crowds
and angry people at the docks, again.
The weather could have been dangerous and blown us off the water. Instead we ended up with freezers full of
fish. We are so blessed!
I tried to tell Brandon, “It’s not always like this, you
know – good weather, few people, LOTS of fish.”
He replied, “But, it is when I’m here.” 😊 God is good! Thank
you Lord for your love and provision.
Thank you for Jesus!
A Child of God, Thanking My Lord for His Grace and Love
and Provision – Even for Fish!”
Pastor Rockey
P.S. I am now
serving as Vacancy pastor at Anchorage Lutheran Church in Anchorage.
·
Bible class –
o On
Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. we are studying the book of Ephesians downstairs
in the fellowship hall, using the CPH “Lifelight” Bible Study. There are still
some lesson books available. Class
begins at 9:00 a.m. downstairs in the Fellowship Hall. On August 2 we will continue studying Ephesians
2.
o Lay
Ministry Classes – I am teaching a class on the Sacraments AFTER worship
on Sundays. However, in addition to our Lay Worship
Leaders, others may attend if they wish.
In the coming weeks we will study about Baptism.
Other Activities of Faith:
I am again taking a two-year
journey with my Lord, by reading through the Scriptures using the “Today’s
Light Devotional Bible.” On Monday, July 27, I read 1 Kings 9 and 10,
about the glory and wealth of Solomon’s kingdom.
You are welcome to join in
this journey of reading God’s Word. You
may also contact me at 907-841-4066 if you have any questions about these
readings. Or send an e-mail question to jonrock53@mtaonline.net I have
received questions and comments about the readings. It is always good to
consider our Lord’s love and guidance. I will TRY to answer, but some things only
God knows!
P.P.S. Friends, Family Fun and Fishing!
·
Yard and Garden – Again, my Garden is
doing ok. Everything is soggy with
all our rain. Some plants are
struggling, though we have lots of greens, and should have good potatoes and
raspberries.
o Also,
A MOOSE FOUND OUR SWISS CHARD! Here is a
picture of the muddy hoof print, and the topped off chard plants. https://photos.app.goo.gl/X2ZHhdLKzNnxFiTv6
o Our
peonies are finally starting to bloom. Here
are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/nQixcpPSLS6SeuzU6
·
Friends and Fishing –
o Here
are some pictures of the cabin, my dog Mat, and the work I did to repair the
roof. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y5FR8qQbuJtjJh9H9
o Here
are dip-netting pictures from Thursday, July 23. https://photos.app.goo.gl/5keyz5TJhL4NJJEM6
o Here
are pictures of us cleaning the salmon on Friday, July 24. (Actually we finished on Friday
afternoon. We started cleaning Friday
morning from 12:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Total cleaning time was about 6 hours – WITH HELP! https://photos.app.goo.gl/WxwQxyVaeLGmFKtj8
o Here
is a picture of one of the fillets as we put them into our freezer. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gxi5TPmU22wGC1FD7
*******
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of
August 2019 from serving as full-time senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church
in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously entitled,
"Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me to
continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing.
However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys
Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor
at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to
receive it. (I finished for now serving as Assistant to the Pastor for
First Lutheran Church in Gainesville, FL. I am now serving Anchorage Lutheran
Church as Vacancy Pastor.)
So, if you stopped receiving
these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now
receiving these devotions and do not wish to receive them, please let me know,
and I’ll gladly remove your name from my distribution list. My e-mail
address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these
devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Vacancy Pastor, Anchorage Lutheran Church, Anchorage, AK
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church, Palmer, AK
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1
a)
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