STAYING FOCUSED FOR SUCCESS

Knowing it could be many hours before getting out of my deer stand or even seeing a deer, I nestled into my seat and patiently waited for the sun to rise. While sitting in the darkness I reminisced of previous hunts and felt certain there were deer sneaking all around me. Finally, the sun began to rise, just as it has for the past 31 deer hunter opening mornings. 

As the darkness gives way to the light, my eyes and ears go to work. My head slowly pivots from side to side like an owl scanning for field mice. In recent years it takes a bit longer for my eyes to focus. 

An experienced hunter could see many possible deer in this picture

In the twilight everything looks like a deer; the short oak tree with its brown leaves, the trunk of a fallen pine tree; even my own shadow looks like a deer. My ears pick up sound as well; the flutter of a chickadee’s wings swooping overhead and the woodpecker looking for breakfast in a dead tree.  I also hear a red squirrel chattering away; maybe to warn me of an approaching deer or maybe to warn the deer of me. Nevertheless, I am completely focused on my immediate surroundings. My eyes zoom in around each tree and behind them looking for any movement. As the sun continues to rise the frost begins to settle on my shoulders and everything else in my life fades away; it’s just me and the woods. I know that the longer I stay focused on my objective, the higher percentage of success, so for countless hours I continue to focus on the woods in front of me and nothing else. Now, if only I had that type of focus in other areas of my life.

Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter til the full light of day. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

WELCOME THE OPPORTUNITY

It was the last day of the Trout fishing season in Wisconsin, so my good friend, Scott, and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful autumn day and go fly fishing. The plan was to go immediately after church. We both had our gear ready and waiting in our vehicles. Once the church service ended I swiftly got out of the pew, kept my head down, and made my way to the back of the sanctuary for a subtle exit. Wouldn’t you know it, someone had a question about the church’s heating system. After spending a bit more time than planned, we finished the heating system tour. As I headed toward the exit, another guy stopped me and had a question about tools he wanted to borrow. I kept the conversation to a minimum until finally, there was a clear path to the exit. I joined Scott outside, we loaded his gear into my truck and we were finally our way.

Scott had a secret spot we hadn’t fished before and he wanted to start the day there. He has a lot of secret spots and thankfully never blindfolds me while in route…maybe because I’m driving.

As we pulled up to the secret spot there was a vehicle already parked there. Hmm, some secret spot, I thought to myself. In addition to the vehicle, the shore leading to the bank of the river was covered with “No Trespassing” signs. We headed further down river to another secret spot. The next location looked perfect; the sun was shining on the water, making each ripple look like twinkling stars. We geared up and hit the river bank. The fishing was pretty tough; there were plenty of trout in this river, however they weren’t attacking our flies liked we wanted. Over several hours a half dozen trout were landed, photographed, and then released back.

Since the fishing was slow, my attention drifted to other things around me. (Side note, I collect agates, which I consider as just another of the many ways to enjoy the outdoors.) While maneuvering the bank of the river I was looked down to check my footing and there it was…an agate. I scooped it up and tucked it into my vest.

The day seemed to be filled with opportunities that I hadn’t planned on.

Colossians 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward others, make the most of every opportunity.

NOT OUR TIME

I love the anticipation of planning a trip!

It had been a couple of years since my longtime friend, Matt, and I got away for a weekend of fishing together. It’s mind blowing how quickly time flies by. Anyway, we coordinated our schedules and made plans to fish Lake Superior on Minnesota’s North Shore. Everything was coming together; we checked fishing reports the weeks leading up to the trip and gathered up all the gear we’d need. The anticipation was really building!

Weather and wave forecasts are very critical for a trip like this. Strong winds and storms can create some monstrous waves on Lake Superior, and my 17-foot boat does best in waves 2 feet or less. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the initial forecast was calling for storms and strong winds. We did have a backup plan if the winds and waves were too high on Superior, but storms meant ugly fishing anywhere nearby. We were due for a weekend away and after some consideration decided to go regardless of the weather forecast. As the days passed and the weekend drew near, the weather forecast started to look better. Matt and I drove up Friday after work, and my older brother was going to meet us Saturday morning. We arrived at the cabin and started getting everything ready for the next morning of fishing. We were up late into the night catching up before we decided to call it a night. The alarm was set for 5:15am so we could leave for the lake by 6:00am.

“BRYON, IT’S 6:03!” Matt barked in the darkness from his bed.

I love the sunrise on water

Anticipation turned to hysteria as we jumped from our beds. I checked the alarm; I had set it for 5:15 pm! We threw items into a cooler, loaded a bag of food, and grabbed some last-minute gear. Thankfully, most of the fishing gear was already in the boat and the landing was nearby.
We met up with my brother, launched the boat, and were leaving the harbor by 6:40am. The three of us worked efficiently together and had six lines set up by sunrise, which by the way was spectacular.

Waiting for any fish to bite

It turned out to be a gorgeous day. The lake was remarkably calm and peaceful; in fact, too peaceful, the fish weren’t biting. We tried different locations and tactics, but nothing worked. On Sunday, Matt and I even tried a different lake; still nothing. It didn’t matter how bad we wanted it or how hard we tried, the fish just weren’t biting.

Life can be like that too - things don’t always turn out the way we want, but fishing with friends is always worth the trip!

Acts 1:7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” 

IT'S NOT TOO LATE

Have you ever heard someone say, “Labor Day means that summer is over”? I hear it every year, and every year it drives me crazy! Now, if you’re a teacher or student, summer vacation is over, but that doesn’t mean summer is over. This year summer ends on September 22; that’s three weeks past Labor Day. Maybe I’m a little touchy about this subject because summer goes by fast enough in the upper Midwest, and I’m not about to give up on it just because the kids are going back to school.

I don’t like to give up on things before time is due. Enjoy what’s left of summer, because fall will be here and the harvest season will begin. When the harvest does arrive, what will you reap? Have you been sowing? There’s still time! Thankfully, we humans don’t have to follow Mother Nature’s seasons of growth and harvest. It’s never too late to finally tackle that list of things you’ve been wanting to get done or learning new ways to better yourself. Start sowing and reap the benefits of your harvest.

What do you want your harvest to look like?

    

                                                       

Galatians 6:9-10 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE

The day came to move our oldest son back to college, and since this was the third "move in" day for him and we've become pretty efficient at moving him, we knew there would be plenty of time to see the sights. This particular location has several lakes nearby, including Lake Superior. My son and I planned to go fishing in the afternoon, while my wife and younger son toured a local mansion. The town seems to have something for everyone, which is good because we all have different personalities and interests. Plans for fishing changed to boating on Lake Superior, so while my wife and younger son saw the sights from land, my oldest son, his girlfriend, and I saw the sights from the water. At the end of the day, we met up for dinner to share the afternoon's stories (because we all like food).

Of course, thinking about that day and our different interests, my thoughts turned to trees.

Pine trees, palm trees, apple trees, and maple trees. What do they have in common? Yes, they’re all trees (the answer is as easy as it seems). They all have a root system, trunk, branches, and foliage, however they all look very different from one another and provide different things. Some provide fruits or nuts, most provide shelter to animals, and all provide a uniqueness to the landscape. What if all trees were exactly the same, how dull would that be? Same goes for friends and family; we all have a purpose.

Isiah 64:8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

A CHILDS IMAGINATION

Growing up, being around my cousins was (and still is) a good time. There were a lot of us so, of course, we were usually sent outside play, which was fine by me.

One of those times, several of us were running around outside and decided to re-enact The Wizard of Oz (not sure why, maybe it was the time of year where it had recently played on TV, or maybe because we were kids and that was all the reason we needed). One of the older kids assigned characters to each of us; I don’t recall which character I was, probably a munchkin or monkey…nothing cool like the Tin Man or Oz. Before we got too far into our characters, we needed to create the tornado scene. My cousins' house had a hill on one side, and the plan was to roll down the hill to simulate being in a tornado. So, when we got to that part, we all lined up at the top of the hill and rolled down. Yes, only Dorothy was in the tornado, but we were kids and all of us wanted to experience the tornado. After rolling down the hill, we all got up, dizzy and wobbling into one another. After we got ourselves together we continued re-enacting the rest of the movie. It was a very fun and imaginative time. To this day, I remember rolling down that hill with my arms tucked in, rolling for what seemed like for miles, seeing the sky, the earth, the sky again, until I reached the bottom.

 

                          How we imagined it.                          

       How we actually looked...thank God for imagination       

Many years later while visiting my cousins, I looked up at “tornado” hill. Thinking back to that day, I walked to the top of it and with one large step I was at the bottom. The massive hill of my youth was actually less than 3 feet tall and 3 feet long. Oh, to have the innocent imagination of a child.

Matthew 18:3 Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

WHO'S INFLUENCING YOU

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Jim Rohn

Recently, my sister-in-law, my wife, and I were taking a casual boat ride along the shores of a lake up north. It was a beautiful evening! A bald eagle swooped down in front of the boat and then flew up into a pine tree and perched there for a while as we took several pictures. We continued on, enjoying the lush landscape bordering the lake. Eventually, we came to an area of pine trees that had a few leaning out from shore, away from the crowd; it reminded me of my life in high school.

Most of my time in high school was spent with four other guys, and we would get into trouble…a lot of trouble. It didn’t matter if all five us were together or if it was just one of us, if something bad happened, we were all presumed guilty. That’s where I learned the term “guilty by association”. I wasn’t too concerned when I was presumed guilty for something one of the other guys did because we always looked out for one another, and they would take the blame for me as well. The principle and vice principle of our high school knew us very well. Needless to say, the road I was on didn’t have a lot of promise to it.

During summer break one year, on the 4^th of July to be exact, a friend of mine introduced me to her friend. Well, that friend of hers became my girlfriend and has been my wife now for almost 25 years. Having a steady girlfriend immediately changed my priorities; I wanted to be a better person. My buddies noticed it right away. They gave me a hard time, of course, but they knew how important she was to me. There is still distant contact with one of those guys, but I wouldn’t change where I am today. Sometimes it only takes one person to make a dramatic difference in your life and change the course of your path.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.