There is something about fishing that is magical isn’t there? I remember fishing as a young boy with dad and my great Uncle Glenn. I don’t remember each individual fish that I caught, or the ones my brothers caught.. (well, with the exception of Shelby’s giant cat!). But, I do remember.. ‘fishing’. There is something very magical about the word. ‘Fishing‘. To a small child this word places a sparkle in their eyes.
I am sure we would all agree that fishing is all about the mystery. The excitement of going to the pond, lake, bay, or ocean. The excitement of seeing what one might catch from an underwater world that for the most part, we cannot even see!  Yes, great mystery!
Oh, fishing is a great word indeed, however it is not without a rival word. It most certainly has a great nemesis.  Another word that when placed in the same sentence together.. well you might say creates one of the greatest battles of all time!  It produces the greatest of fights, and grand frustrations… but ultimately, if we fish and fish and fish, the two end up getting along splendidly bringing us much success, and all the while teaching us one of life’s greatest lessons.  The nemesis word is ‘patience’.
Ouch!
Yes, try to teach that to a toddler, or better yet, try to teach it to them when they have a fishing pole in their hand and they are staring out at a huge body of water imagining giant sharks, whales, bass, snapper, trouts, catfish, and on and on, just swimming around their hook and bait!  Try teaching patience to them after days and days, or weeks and weeks of planning and talking about ‘fishing’. After grandma and grandpa, mom and dad have stirred the excitement pot of ‘fishing’. Try teaching patience to them when they are finally in the boat, or on the pier, or standing on the bank, and they are ‘fishing’ and catching nothing!
Teaching Patience while fishing? Are you not laughing? Oh, it’s seemingly impossible! But, go do it.. Yes, go do it.  Why? Because we ourselves learn this very lesson as we try to teach this lesson to our children. That is the best kind of lesson right? And, the rewards are amazing. Because we don’t even know when it might pay off? A mystery..  like fishing.
We teach and teach and teach, we coach and coach and coach, and sometimes it doesn’t seem like that bobber is going to sink at all. Sometimes we think we feel or see a nibble and … nothing! And it is so hard to wait, and wait, and wait. And yet even still.. when that bobber disappears.. when that bobber ducks itself underneath the top of the water… our natural reaction is to jerk that line and hook that fish… right?  I mean after all this is what we have been WAITING ON..  But, even then we have to be patient! Yes, we have to let that fish sniff around that bait, look at it, explore it, and even for milliseconds that seem like an eternity, we must wait for that fish to take the bait and then the hook. Ah, yes.. then.. then we have not only been fishing, but we have caught a fish!
So, all that teaching, coaching, and patience we are putting into your children..  well, it really teaches us.  And one of these days that bobber, that you have tied with an expert knot on the other end of your heart string,    well… it is going to  disappear for a moment… and you are going to feel that tug on your heart string.. But remember! If you jerk that line too soon… the only lesson you learn is that you haven’t learned your lesson.  Be patient people… because you no doubt have something on the end of your line, something real, something very special… and with patience, sooner than later you will get it in the same boat with you.
Be patient people… you’ll learn a lot if you teach someone to fish.