Most fishy tales are probably tall tales about the one that got away. Mine are just the opposite in that I have never had any luck with fish in any capacity.
For instance, the last time I went fishing, I fell into Bull Creek. That wonderful experience is in my story, “In the Creek.”
My woeful fish tales started at a very young age. You see, my mother always had a fish tank. They were not the little round bowls just big enough for one fish. Oh no. She had the big elaborate color-coordinated fashionable fish tanks.
Let me tell you, the rocks and all the decorative pieces she placed on the bottom of it exactly matched. Even the fish placed in it were color coordinated. Needless to say, she was very proud of it. That is until the day her tank stunk.
I’m talking you had to hold your breath while in the room with it. And there was a strange white substance in its water.
Immediately, she went about cleaning her fish tank. I remember her working very hard on it all day. Best of all, she managed to save all of her fish.
Once it was over, she tried to figure what had happened to her precious tank. That’s when I fessed up that I had poured a glass of milk into the water. I thought that if it was good for me, then my milk had to be good for the fish too.
While I didn’t get into trouble, I learned the hard way that milk and fish tanks don’t mix.
Then came the day my dad went fishing and caught a big mouth bass. When he came back home, he showed it off to all us. As for me, I was terrified of it. It was nothing like the little fish in my mom’s tank that I had almost killed with a glass of milk. To me, dad’s fish was a hideous and stinky monster. But my horror wasn’t complete until my parents wanted to take a picture of me holding it. I promptly told them I was afraid of it. Their reply: “It’s okay. It’s dead.”
Like that was a big help.
But, being a good child, I did as my parents said. Yep, that’s the picture with this article. To this day, I remember holding the string and being scared and disgusted. If you have any doubt about, that just look at my little face.
“And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” John 21:6 (KJV)
This happened after Jesus’ resurrection. The men had been fishing all night and weren’t having luck catching any. They were ready to call it quits until Jesus spoke to them.
At times, we also give up or become discouraged too quickly. Jesus showed them what can happen when we obey Him and don’t stop. So, don’t gauge your lack of success by a failure or two. Until He tells you to stop, you keep casting your net.
As for my husband and daughter, if they happen to catch a large fish, they know better than ask me to pose with it. That is, unless they have lots and lots of chocolate.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you