April-May 2022

​Steve’s Desk
 
Springtime is an exciting time for me, especially after a long and cold winter.  I can’t wait to hear the first flock of migrating birds fly over or see the first red-bellied robin perched in a tree.  These were all signs of a great memory for me, sucker fishing.
 
Suckers are a species of freshwater fish found across North America.  They spend most of the year in rivers, but in early spring, they, like Salmon, begin an annual run to their places of birth in the smaller creeks and tributaries of the river.  The swollen streams of late winter and early spring make these areas accessible to the fish for a short time each year.  These fish were a vital food source to the native indigenous people.  Fishing for these harbingers of spring was our family’s thing.  For about a month each spring, all three generations of my family would gather on the bank of a local creek, cast lines in the water, and wait for a bite. Of course, you waited in hopes of catching the biggest fish of the day, which could be a species called “Buffalo” that could top the scales at over 50 pounds.  Landing one of those was a workout and gave you bragging rights. 
 
This past week, my brother sent me pictures of he and my father standing on the bank with a few of their catches.  It made me long to be with them and return to my childhood days, even though I never liked to fish.
 
Sucker fishing was a reassurance that winter was over and spring had arrived.  It was the realization of our hopes over the long winter.  Don’t we need these hopes of what is to come to keep us going?  I know I do.
 
The Apostle Paul wrote about this hope in Hebrews 10:
 
22 Let’s approach God with a [a]sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let’s consider how to [b]encourage one another in love and good deeds, Hebrews 10:22-24
 
Let us hold on to the hope that Jesus’ Resurrection gives us.  The hope of our resurrection!  It is drawing near, have hope!