Faith: Get A Bigger Frying Pan

There is a story of two men who went fishing. One man was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.

It is said that the experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing this man waste good fish. "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked. The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan." *

I can't help but wonder how many times I've thrown back a big fish this year. We're talking about faith (it's so much easier to talk about it than to have it, isn't it?) in our women's group. All the dreams and plans for the future can start to seem impossible and overwhelming, but it pays to remember not to be so closeminded that we don't see the big picture.

How many of us are like that fisherman? Throwing back the extraordinary mate, big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities? Is our faith too small? It's easy to laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan; yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?

Yesterday I decided to stop focusing so much on how big problems may appear to be - and instead remembering that God is bigger than all that.

You can do all things through Christ - Philippians 4:13

Definition of a Pastor

Here's the poem I read to my husband during EMF's Pastor Appreciation Service:

Who is this man wearing the white collar?
He is more than meets the eye.
Tending faithfully to his flock,
He is - simultaneously -
a counselor, visionary, husband
brother, son, listener, friend
identifier of potential
seeker of wisdom
and a holder of hands.
He is multidimensional, multitalented and multifaceted.
He is the regular guy
sporting RocaWear and a gold chain
While at the same time sharing the burden
of his sheep's pain.
He has tasted
the bitterness of betrayal
and the sweetness of shared joys.
Led by the Holy Spirit,
he is the imparter of God's vision.
He is the fighter (when he needs to be)
and the encourager any time he speaks.
Don't focus on the collar or the hats he wears.
Rather -
the heart of the man.
In doing this
you will understand -
the Definition of a Pastor.

(c) Jennifer L. Torres