The Fisherman And His Family.

Good Morning, Everyone!

I'd like to introduce you to a dear friend of mine. This is Art.



Art is a really cool guy.

He is a Bass-Pro fisherman who travels the big ol' US of A with his Triton boat and his dog Astro.

This is Astro:



I met Art many years ago. (Gee. I'm trying to remember how we met. Hmmm. I'll revisit that thought later.) Anyway, we met several years ago, while the two of us were single and looking.

Now, from the get-go, it was obvious that Art and I both had an affinity for Kingdom purposes. We both had an adventurous heart, and a desire to see lives impacted by the Love of God. We also had a penchant for talking on the phone whislt driving cross-country, headed in two different directions at once.

Yep. Art and I developed one of those whatchacall Lifetime Friendships.

So, it was only natural that at some point, our life paths would shift, one of us would get married (that'd be me), and Mississippi would become a rest stop for the ever-popular fisherman.

It has been very beneficial to have Art stop by.

Art fixed our shower head with an innovative technique that eluded my Genius GilGuy.

Art introdouced us to Joshua, and we introduced him to . . .well, what it might possiblly be like to belong to a pre-made family of five ~ yes, I said FIVE individuals.

You see, Gil (never been married, no children) married me, the widow with four children. (It was quite a feat of faith, but one he was willing to take becasue I am the woman of his dreams!) Every time Art would visit us, or we would visit him, it was ComedyCentral because, let's face it: Marrying a woman and her four children is challenging!

However, we successfully modeled how God can build a house, blend a family, and create pure joy in the process.

We inspired Art.

He decided to give it the ol' college try.

He met Laurie.

Laurie has four children.

Art asked laurie to marry him.

Laurie said yes.

Now Art has a pre-made family of his own! This week, we all joined together as one big happy family. We took pictures.

This is Laurie and her second oldest daughter, BriAnn:



This is Laurie's youngest daughter, Mikayla:



and finally, Laurie's son, Justin, pictured here with Art The Fisherman:



The moral of my story is this:

Never give up on your dreams.

Value the people who come into your life.

Expect the unexpected, and life life large.

After all, you never know what type of fish you might catch; what bait you'll have to use; and how the road will unfold before you.

Art the Fisherman now has a Family.

He's a really cool guy.