The Jitterbug

I remember summer time when school was out and the days were full and fun. Always being one that didn’t necessarily conform to basic teenager etiquette, I would often arise before the sun and slip out to the garage. I’d turn on the lights and begin to dig around in Grandpa’s tackle box. I knew the first lure of the day on mornings like this. I’d look at the Lazy Ike’s and the Rapala’s and the Hula Popper’s and I would grab a Jitterbug.

I’d carefully tie it on my line and attach it to one of the eyes of the spinning rod and reel the line up till it was secure. I’d hop on my bike and steer with one hand and hold the pole over my shoulder with the other as the gravel of the road crunched beneath the tires and the wind blew back my hair. I pedaled a little faster when I saw that the sun was beginning to peek over the trees.

I hopped off my bike and let it fall to the ground in the grass. I walked through the heavy grass up the bank of the pond as my tennis shoes got soaked. It was beginning to get light now and as I crested the hill I could see the water stretched out like glass in front of me.

I unhooked the Jitterbug from my rod and let it dangle for a second while my hands quickly became situated on the reel and suddenly, with a flick of the wrist the lure went arcing through the air and splashed noisily onto the still water. Ripples exploded around it and raced away to wherever ripples go. Then I began to make as much commotion in the water as I could as I retrieved the lure.

It was sure to happen. There weren’t many morning rituals on a summer day that weren’t rewarded with a bass blasting up out of the depths to annihilate the old plug. He’d become tangled in the hooks and fight with all his might but I almost always won.

I’d stand in the morning dew, holding the fish and removing the hooks. Then I would hold him up and look at him and admire the great creation God had made.

After all that, I’d let him slip back into the water. The wind would come up and the sun would get hot and the Jitterbug seemed to lose its magic as the sun beat down on the choppy water. That golden hour was over and it was time to take the Jitterbug home.

One day I lost that Jitterbug. I don’t remember exactly how but I do recall it coming loose from my fishing line and sitting out there floating in the water. It drifted away and I was really bummed. I never went and bought another one, not that I can recall. I only remember that one that I would borrow out of Grandpa’s tackle box.

That lure was my time and a place lure. I used it for special occasions in certain conditions. If lures could have feelings it must have felt neglected from time to time. It must have felt terrible as it drifted slowly away from me standing on the bank until I disappeared from sight.

Colossians 1:23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

I don’t always understand the role I have in God’s plan. I used to want to be the star of the show and be the one that stood on the stage and showed everyone the way. I’d get passed over and I’d get my feelings hurt and my nose out of joint and when God did decide to use me, I’d want to be put back in the tackle box. I wanted all or nothing and if God didn’t want to use me today the way I chose to be used, well, I was just not going to cooperate when he did reach out to me.

Yeah, that’s pretty much idiotic behavior on my part.

I found myself drifting away in the ripples of life. I was going wherever the wind blew me and God became someone that was more and more just a shadow on the horizon and I was a tiny speck in water.

But God never replaced me. He only created one of me. He called my name over and over again and waited for me to answer. Finally, the drifting was too much. I was so tired of not having any purpose and living snagged in the moss and cattails at the edge of life.

I longed for God to find me again and lob me far into the dangerous waters so that I could do what I was created to do.

I want to remain connected to God and stand firmly on his truth. My drifting days are over. Standing on truth has filled my life while drifting only drained life from me.

It is almost time to get up and hit the shower. Maybe I will have time to browse the Cabela’s catalog for a Jitterbug today. Summer is only a few months away.