Thin Trodden Ice

So, today I spent nearly 8 hours on top of one-foot-thick lake ice, in a pop up portable ice house with a thermos of coffee, my poppa, a fishing pole, and a little heater. I could go on and on about the majesty of nature and the miles of ice and shoreline. I could tell you about the magnitude of the sound that ice makes when it's windy and you can hear it cracking in it's depths. I could even bore you with yet another sweet little blog post, telling you to "enjoy life's simple moments" or "find quiet in your life" all accomplished through ice fishing with your dad!  ... Needless to say, I won't.

One might even expect me to make a biblical reference to John 21, where 153 fish are miraculously pulled into the boat upon Jesus' command. (Although we did manage a nice number of 62 little fishes. Without a net like Simon Peter would have used, mind you!) Again, this isn't my intention.

What I will tell you is a little story about today. For anybody who has never ice-fished, small holes are drilled into the ice about 10 inches in diameter, in which one fishes through. It's great fun, but I digress! Sometimes, previously used fishing holes freeze over slightly or are covered with fresh snow and can be very hard to see. See, I was walking out on the ice today, having a grand old time when suddenly my leg slipped. I fell into frigid water up past my knee. In 10 degree weather with a negative wind chill, this is bad bad news, very painful, and could be super harmful. Luckily the hole wasn't very big and I caught myself before I actually went down! Phew =]

I got to thinking. Man, I really wish somebody would have warned me about that stinking fish hole, or at least it had not been so concealed! (My thoughts probably didn't actually sound like that, haha.) But in seriousness, I could have saved myself pain and danger! And yea sure, I caught myself with no problem at all and I'm totally fine, but what if the hole had been a little bit bigger or the ice a bit thinner? I would have fallen submerged before I could even have realized I was falling.

To totally confuse you now, I will say that while God did not leave me an Ice Fishing Ice Hole Danger  Radar/Detector to protect and guide me, he did leave me his church. How many times have I fallen unknowingly into sin or lifestyles that God knows are not in my best interest, while I don't even realize I'm doing it? Sure, I can sometimes catch myself when I get quick to judge or tell a small lie, but what about when the big stuff comes around in life? The gray area. The big ice holes, the huge cracks in the thin trodden ice. You know, the stuff that the world tells me are sugar coated in a blanket of good  pure white snow like the fishing holes, but in reality are dangerous and harmful. Ex: sex, drugs, rock&roll (ha, I kid. You get the idea.) 

This is where I am grateful to Jesus not only for being my savior, but for humbling himself to come to this earth to establish his kingdom, the church. The church has consistently warned against the dangers and addictions of falling into sin in all of it's modern trends for nearly 2000 years, right from the time of Christ's death. Because of this, I am able to walk with confidence through this earth, knowing that if I stay close to my Ice Fishing Hole Danger Radar/Detector (Catholic Church!) I will walk with the lord.

May God bless & Keep You,

Bridget Ann