April Fishing

April is one of my favorite months to fish. The weather is great, the fish are moving up, and all is well in the world.

I haven't whacked them in any tournaments, yet, but maybe soon. So far I am in 2 place for angler of the year inthe Alabama BASS Federation Nation but I have a long way to go before the season is over.

Here are a few pictures of fish from this month. One is a monster bream and perhaps the largest bass I have ever caught, both caught Sunday afternoon in a farm pond in Shelby county (aka Cheater Pond). Lee, Hebert , Quinn and I had a fun time on the water and caught tons of fish. The spotted bass was about 4 pounds and caught at Twin Lakes.

Just being outdoors this time of year is cool. I have seen several bald eagles, turkeys, a fox. I caught a Bowfin (really odd looking pre-historic toothy fish), and 3 Pickerals (southern cousin to the Northern Pike), a few snakes and some gators too. Just a great time to be out in God's creation!

Life and Death

After reading Matt D's Blog about his Dad, I started going through the memories I had during that same circumstacnce 10 years ago. My Dad was diagnosed with brain Cancer around 1996. After years of roller coaster emotions, we were told in 1998 that he didn't have much time to live.
We have a small but close family and we gathered the whole family and went to the beach for a long weekend. We laughed and cried and spent the weekend fellowshiping together as if it was our last time together.
Shortly after, his personality and demeanor changed. He was like a different person. He had always been kind and loving and fun to be around, but the cancer and/or the treatments had caused a sharp change.
He died in June of that year. For a short time my memories were of him as he was towards the end and how his body and mind had diminished. But I thank God for the time we had before then, the time at the beach is what I remember now, happy.
He was a believer and he KNEW his destination and that his affliction would be over soon. How gracious our God is for giving us peace during these times.
Pray for Matt, pray that his family will know this same peace during this time, that they will enjoy this time together and will remember the good times.
Remember we are only here to serve him for a short time, and we will spend eternity glorifying our Father in heaven, reunited with our loved ones.
Don't wait till a loved one is given a short time to live. I especially need to remember to love and laugh and enjoy my friends and family every moment, not only when the end is near.