To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken who He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity He takes up again and gives to humanity. “I am come,” He said, “that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” “Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 10:10; 4:14; 6:54.To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment. “If a man keep My sayings, he shall never see death,” ” he shall never taste of death.” To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” John 8:51; Colossians 3:4.

The Desire of Agesby Ellen G. White - 1898

OFFERING OURSELVES AND ALL THAT WE HAVE TO GOD, AND PRAYING FOR EVERYONE O Lord, all things in heaven and on earth are Yours.

I want to offer myself to You as a free-will offering and continue to be Yours forever.O Lord, in simplicity of heart I offer myself to You this day, in humble submission as a sacrifice of everlasting praise and as Your servant forever.  Receive me with this holy offering of Your precious body, which I make to You this day in the presence of angels invisibly attending, and may this be for my good and the good of all Your people.

I offer to You, O Lord, on Your propitiatory alter, all my sins and offenses that I have committed before You and Your holy angels from the day when I first sinned to this hour, so that You may consume and burn them all with the fire of Your love, blot out all the stains of my sins, cleanse my conscience from all offenses, restore to me the grace that I lost by sinning, forgive all offenses, and receive me mercifully with the kiss of peace. What can I do for all my sins but humbly confess and lament them, and unceasingly implore Your mercy?

         In the old days, back in the early 70’s before taking up residence in the Ozark Mountains everybody we could get to come would get in their modes of transportation and head to the White River. It would be cars, trucks, busses and Air Streams all headed in a caravan to some agreed upon spot on this 150 mile trout stream. Our meeting place might be the trout dock at Bull Shoals, under the Cotter bridge, across the cattle guards to an exclusively private Ranchette camp area, the mile long trail down Matney Mountain or Calico Rock. It depended on who and where everybody was coming from that made that all important final decision. The leaders of the pack came out of the “Rock” a.k.a. Little Rock with the notorious group from Outdoor Outfitters. Just to name/remember a few: Jon East, Sammy Abraham, Tommy McDade, Johnny Wilson, Kim Kimball, Gary Green, Charlie East, Larry Watts, Gus Gross, Travis Rowland, Ricky Verser, Crazy Ed is a short list of who would make the trek. The list of girls was much shorter, because there were not many of us that wanted to suffer the consequences. Just as soon as we shut down Outfitters on Saturday afternoon it was off to the wilderness somewhere. It typically depended on how much time we had to kill, either a day or sometimes a week at a time. We would justify this madness by “having to field test” all the goodies from the store i.e., tents, sleeping bags, hiking boots, knives, freeze dried foods, and fishing equipment. That was our mission statement or so we told ourselves.

          On one of my first experiences fly-fishing in the snow on the White River was with 4/5 generators running. The most amazing event took place that I have ever witnessed. For some unknown reason all of a sudden the trout started jumping out of the water and frolicking about in the air. As though to be playing with the snow flakes. They were honing in on the snow as if there was a hatch of some kind going on in mid-air. I would like to see you match that hatch! This river system is not known for its dry fly fishing because our aquatic food chain is so prolific underwater.

          The nymphing is second to none with crawdaddies, sculpin, scuds, sows, minnow bait and worms by the ga-zillion to choose from. So to witness this event of the trout actually turning their attention to the space above them was unexpected to say the least. We actually could not even fish for the show that was being displayed before us. That particular trip we did get what we ask for and were stuck on the river bank for ten days. Thank G-d all the equipment i.e., sleeping bags, gas stoves, tents and pot of chili got us through one of the hardest camp trips I’ve ever experienced. The chili did take on a new personality everyday as stuff was added to have enough to go around. That included, to find out when we reached the bottom, sticks and things from the fire that it hung over from the start. It is a wonder it didn’t kill us, but somehow we survived.

          I am thankful that it isn’t necessary to get stranded here to enjoy fishing in the snow now days. All I have to do and you too for that matter. Is come up and stay in one of the many places offered for lodging and simply go out to fish for the day. Back in those days there were not many places to stay where we landed and of course lodging indoors would not allow us to put our equipment to the “test” either. Plus in the frame of minds that we were in from being couped up in Outfitters all week, we would have probably been thrown out anyway. I am sure there are some of you out there that still fit that category; I see you from my deck when watching boats pass by my home on the river. I just couldn’t get it out of my blood from all those daze gone by, so I moved here. Come see us when you need to get your minds right and unwind. We have it all on this little island in the middle of America called Arkansas.

See you on the river!
Rebecca