It was a “God Thing” — My Five Dollar Challenge






A few weeks ago at my church, Memorial Baptist Church in Killeen, our pastor, Bro. Ken, challenged us all to take action “meet a need”.

Jordan with a 2.25 pound largemouth caught from out of school of bass feeding on shad on topwater around 10:15am

Bro. Ken went one step further and “primed the pump” by giving a $5 bill to every person who wanted one to invest in meeting a need in the local community.

Of course my challenge was somehow going to relate to fishing!! I had a great dad both as a boy and well into my 30’s. When I lost my dad in a tragic accident, I realized how much he meant to me. For whatever reason, since that time the Lord has given me a heart for boys without dads — to encourage them and help them build confidence.

I decided to ask the Lord to lead me to a boy without a dad. I wanted to take him on a 4-5 hour fishing trip on my boat to Stillhouse or Belton Lake.

I would put the $5 of gas in the tank and make this trip happen whenever the right boy came along.

That Sunday evening, I crafted an ad which I placed in the “Free Stuff” section of our local Craigslist in order to let the community know I was making this available. The ad simply would not post correctly on Craigslist despite electronic confirmation messages to the contrary. I experienced the same difficulty in posting on Monday, and again on Tuesday. Finally, around 3:30pm on Wednesday, after three more attempts earlier that day, the ad “took” and appeared on Craigslist as intended.

Nearly instantly, I got a text from a man in the local area which read: “I just wanna commend you for offering a fishing trip for boys without a dad!! Too many nowadays aren’t introduced into these kind of things anymore. Thank you! Well God bless you and your church for challenging you and I hope someone will take your offer.” That was encouraging!!

Next, just 5 minutes later, a man from Lewisville called and said he thought I shouldn’t post anything on Craigslist potentially leading to a meeting between a child and an adult. I tactfully thanked him for his input, expressed to him that we’d just have to agree to disagree and hung up. That was a bit discouraging.

So, I suppose the public’s vote was now tied. I needed a tie-breaker!

Then, about 10 minutes later I got another call from a man by the name of Dee who lives in Academy. He told me of a boy in Heidenheimer whose name is Jordan L. Jordan is 15 years old and is an only child living with his mom. Jordan’s dad was a truck driver. He was killed 9 years ago in a trucking accident. It’s just been Jordan and his mom making it together since the accident.

About 8 minutes after Dee phoned me, I received another e-mail from Craigslist stating that my ad had been flagged and removed (probably by that naysayer from Lewisville!!!).

It dawned on me that I had prayed for just the right person for this trip, and that in the brief 15-20 minute window that this ad actually appeared on Craigslist, that person had been identified.

Dee passed my information on to Jordan’s mom, Ann. Ann and I spoke by phone later that evening and arranged a fishing trip for Jordan when school let out. That trip took place last Thursday, June 6th.

I met Jordan and his mom, Ann, at the boatramp at 6:30. Jordan is a pretty quiet young man — very respectful and unassuming.

We fished on Stillhouse and landed 42 fish. We caught white bass on topwater in the early morning (Area 160/205), then caught white bass using downriggers in the mid-morning (Areas 876 & 842), we dabbled with some sunfish up in the shallow (Area 231), then found some largemouth bass feeding on topwater in the late morning (Area 870). Prior to this experience, Jordan had done some pond fishing, but nothing quite as extensive as today’s trip.

After I get through this busy summer season, we agreed to link up again in the fall or winter for some more time together using tactics different from the ones required in this warm, early summer season. I’m looking forward to that.


TALLY = 42 FISH, all caught and released

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TODAY’S CONDITIONS:

Start Time: 6:30a

End Time: 11:00a

Air Temp: 69F at trip’s start with very low humidity.

Water Surface Temp: 81F

Wind: Winds were ~4-6mph from the NNE in the wake of a disturbance that brought early morning thunderstorms just north and east of our area.


Bob Maindelle

Holding the Line Guide Service

254-368-7411

www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com

Salado, Texas