Fishing with God
Hello World!
I sure have exciting news I want to share with
you! Last Christmas I sent in 3 stories I had written to Insight (Adventist)
Magazine and found out that they wanted to print one! I was beyond thrilled but
had yet to wait a few months for it to come out. So this last February my
story, “Fishing with God” was published on page three!
This
last week I have received my personal copies from Pacific Press and also found
out that they want to print a second one of the three I sent in! How cool is
that! Two stories published in one year! That one will be coming soon but I
would like to share with you my short story as it is not able to be found on
their website.
I
would also like to remind people of all ages to never pass up an opportunity.
Amazing things can happen! This was an opportunity that was ran across me just
over a year ago and here I am now! It is such a great feeling! So again, never
doubt yourself and take the chance!
Xoxo
Taylor Woodruff- Your Miss North Dakota
International 2016
Fishing with God
The wind blew mildly with a pinch of
coldness that left my cheeks and ears more red than normal. I wore an oversized
sweatshirt that reached my ankles and extended far past my wrists that shielded
the rest of my body from the cold. Undesired by my mom, my hair loosely flew in
my face because I refused to let her put it up. The smell of lake and fish
infused into my nose as I held my three foot-long, Scooby-Doo fishing
pole—ready to conquer. Perhaps my arms were still too short to cast out, but I
knew how to reel in a line like it was something I had been doing all three
years of my life.
Determined to catch a fish, I stood
as tall as I could and stared into the lake becoming hypnotized by the waves.
Just when I was getting bored of no activity, I was jerked forward by my pole.
Startled by the sudden movement, I quickly sat on the sun-warmed rocks, putting
my weight against the pull and began reeling in my first fish. My pole bent
half over and as my mother saw me desperately trying to reel in, she began to yell,
“She’s got a fish! She’s got a fish! Where’s the net?” She frantically searched
for the net and came running over. I saw the fish in the water about five feet
away.
“Reel’er
in, Tator!” I heard my family yell.
I
shouted back, “I caught a fish! I got it!”
Worried I would lose grip of my new
Scooby-Doo pole, my mother quickly scooped the well-sized White-Bass into the
net but by then I was horrified by my mother’s frantic yelling and adrenaline
that I began to cry. I no longer wanted to continue to fish. My family gave me
high fives to encourage me and the next day when I heard my father telling the
guys at the bait shop about my first fish and how proud he was, I could not
wait to get back out there again!
Though I am older now, I can still
relate to this story in many ways. Maybe it is not my mother coming to rescue
me or me reeling in a white-bass, but that God is here. Every day I wake up and
preparing myself for the days challenges—ready to conquer. Perhaps I do not
know everything, but I know where my strength comes from like a calf knows its
mother.
The everyday challenges tend to jerk
me around but sometimes you just got to plant your feet and pull back to show
who is boss, me or the “fish.” There may not always be sun-warmed rocks to
support me causing the struggle to really be testing. I find myself on my knees
desperately pulling back and afraid of losing grip. I do not want to fight
anymore. Just when I think my strength of reeling in is dying, God then steps
in with His net relieving me from the stress.
Do you ever feel as though you are
losing grip on life? I know I do, whether it is overwhelming stacks of
homework, building relationships, or where to go for college. Things stack up
and can feel crazy! I know that I am not strong enough to conquer all these
things. But I try. Then whenever God comes running in with His net, I feel a
sense of satisfaction. I hear the angels applauding in the background about my
acceptance of God’s help.
Getting older does not get easier I have found
out. The world’s pressure is tight and I
feel like I have to be responsible for all the things in my life. The line is
on me. But I have come to realize that it is not just on me, but God too. I
make the decisions on where I fish, where I cast my line, and how. But I need
someone else beside me saying “Reel’er in, Tator!” holding the net in order to
have a successful catch.
