Fishing with my sons

So I took Trey on his first river fishing trip on Saturday. We had an absolute blast! Trey was saying how much he enjoyed it because "it's just you and me Dad". We enjoyed several hours of fishing together at various spots on the river. He caught one pretty nice brown but mostly just enjoyed being there and being able to cast out and reel in on his own. Towards the end we were fishing near Vivian's park and I kept asking him if he was ready to go home and he said, "no dad, I could stay here fishing all day!" ... That's my boy! I was very proud of him for how quickly he learned how to do things on his own and how patient and diligent he was all morning.

On Labor Day (2 days later) I took Trenton to the river. We pulled up around 6:30 am and immediately after we got out of the car it started pouring rain. I asked him if he wanted to go home instead of getting drenched in the rain and he replied, no dad! I want to fish!" I was a proud father that day!

I had a little tender mercy as I fished with him that day. I had been praying silently that Heavenly Father would allow him to catch a fish (as I did with Trey when I took him but he caught one a little sooner in the trip) . We had gone for quite some time and despite all of his diligent efforts and at least 30 tree and bush snags on the side of the river he still hadn't caught one. Finally he hooked into a beautiful rainbow and he got it all the way in and then as I reached down to put it on the stringer it flipped off the hook and was gone! I was not a happy camper! But even worse I was just waiting for Trenton to respond to me the way I did to my father when he lost my prize fish in the river when I was younger. I remember getting so upset at my dad and blaming him for losing my fish. 

I was thinking, "here comes karma! Here comes the yelling!"  However, to my surprise Trenton responded to my apologies with an "it's OK Dad." It may sound small but I was and am so grateful for that response from Trenton. It gave me piece of mind and he demonstrated maturity well beyond his years (I don't know if I could even be that calm today if someone lost my fish). Just a few minutes later he was able to catch another and I just felt that The Lord was showing both of us that he knew us me loved us. It was a very sweet experience. I was so grateful to have the opportunity and privilege of being with both Trey and Trenton each on their own and to see their special, sweet, strong spirits. I am so grateful for the privilege of being a father and being blessed with the opportunity of being around these fine young men that The Lord has entrusted to Amber and myself. They are most certainly a chosen generation and I feel blessed to be a part of their lives and to see how The Lord is aware of them and shows his mercy and love to them and to all of us.