Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

This would be my first muskie. I caught it Monday night at Alum Creek Reservoir, only 20 minutes or so from my house. My buddy, Greg Hastings, who fishes for muskie competitively(ish) in a league was having his best day on the water ever, and called me at 5pm, after releasing a fish that was 14 inches bigger than the one you see me holding. Of course, I immediately cancelled my plans for the evening and drove straight to his boat (barely stopping before my car entered the water!). He'd ended up landing 11 fish that day in total. Generally, muskie fishing is a bit like salmon fishing in northern CA. You can troll 2 or 3 big lures on a big body of water, and wait for a rod to double over. The difference is that muskie have HUGE teeth and it requires a special leader, etc. Similar to salmon, a 2 or 3 fish day is a great day. An 11 fish day is NUTS around here.

My fish was 33 1/2 inches long. They only care about length here. I bet it weighed 12-14 lbs, though (but not "official").

Greg's 47 incher was caught on a lure that he'd made himself--about 8" long or so whittled from cedar, then painted and laquered, etc. Made him feel great, as you might imagine. He has a simple aluminum 14' deep V with a small motor. Nothing fancy, but it catches fish!

Oh, we also caught a suicidal "saugeye"--a hybrid fish here in Ohio that's a lot like a walleye. No idea what that fish was thinking going after what we had on.

Conflict Resolution

I'm excited about a new message series that we're starting at Journey on the Beatitudes. I've been reading the two passages (one in Matthew and one in Luke) over the last few weeks, and again came across this passage, which immediately follows the Beatitudes:

Luke 6: 27-36

27 "But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either. 30 Give to everyone who asks from you, and from one who takes away your things, don't ask for them back. 31 Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do [what is] good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do [what is] good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."

I've had multiple opportunities lately to put this passage into practice--both with individuals and on corporate levels. It really never ceases to amaze me how far one will go in the choice to serve money (mammon) vs. God. People will absolutely sell out to make a buck, it seems. Even in those cases when I feel the most mistreated, I know that I am called to show mercy. To love. To give. To expect nothing in return. To do "the right thing", knowing that it will be used against me. And mostly--to trust God. He alone is the ultimate Judge in cases such as this, and there WILL BE a day of accountability for all actions. In the mean time, I again choose to follow God's clear counsel and trust Him for the outcome. So...I wait.

How To Get the Best Pizza Deal

So, Dominos ran their commercials one too many times for us to resist, so we just ordered their new recipe pizzas to try them out while watching my brother's kids for the evening (yes it gets crazy around here when our kids are together--yikes!). The big special Dominos has been advertising: 2 mediums for $5.99 each. Pretty good deal, right? However, while on hold to place the order, the automated message announced another special for our consideration: 2 extra larges and any bread order for $19.99 Also sounded like an OK deal.
Rookies would just try to guess which one would produce the most pizza for the buck. I'm no rookie. I needed to remember high school math equations that I learned from Mr. David Stockman NOW. Was that Pi r squared? What is Pi? Ugggh.
While searching quickly online for the correct equation to use, I found the solution that saved me: some guy named Abe More placed a pizza value calculator online, calculating the exact square inches of delicious pizza when you punch in a few basic numbers. By giving the size of the pizza (12 inch, 14, 16, etc.), and the amount you paid for it, the site will calculate for you the price per square inch of pizza. Click HERE to try it for yourself. It's quite simple, but is just what I needed.
So, the results? 2 extra larges was a significantly better deal, rendering a whopping 20.11 square inches of pizza per dollar (plus the breadsticks), vs the mediums, which came in at 18.85 square inches per dollar.
And was the new Dominos pizza good? Very.

Rose Bowl Parade vs Little Big Planet

So this morning, I thought it would be great for us to watch the Rose Bowl Parade together. I whipped up some breakfast first: oatmeal with raisins, cranberries, cherries, walnuts, maple syrup, butter, and a few other things (recipe credits to my dad--he sometimes puts things together that turn out really good...this one was!). After breakfast, we turned on the parade in spite of the fact that Noah really wanted to play a new video game that he received for Christmas--it's called "Little Big Planet." After going 'round and 'round about it for a while, he decided to try a different angle that he knew I would bite on. He was right:
Noah: "So dad, can we just turn this off and pray because God is more awesome than the Rose Bowl Parade."
Me: "Yes, He is. If we turned this off and prayed, what would you tell God?"
Noah: "I would pray that we could play Little Big Planet."
He's a smart one, that Noah. He's enjoying the adventures of Little Big Planet now.