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"Would one of you hold this for me?" I extend a long plastic pole with a nylon line tied to one end. Something that looks rather like a rabbit's foot is tied to the end of the line. "What do you think this is?" I ask the fascinated children.

"A fishing pole!" comes their immediate response.

"Yes, a fishing pole. But it looks a little different than most fishing poles I've ever seen. What do you think I might fish for with this one?"

"A rabbit?" Obviously Maria has noticed the fake-fur item tied to the end of the line.

"Well, no, not a rabbit. But that's a close guess."

"Something blind?" That was certainly an intriguing idea. I wondered at the other thought processes going on in Henry's mind.

"No, not something blind. Whatever it is has to be able to see what's on the end of the line."

"A bear?"

"Wow! A bear? No, I don't think I'd want to try to go fishing for a bear. I might have more than I could handle.

"Actually, my cats received this 'fishing pole' as a present from our housekeeper. It's a cat toy. And it's a very unusual fishing pole, isn't it?"

Suddenly one of the older boys, whom I can always count on for humor, interrupts with his response to what one might fish for with this pole:

"CATFISH!"

"Well, that's a clever idea, Andrew," I answer, "a little different than fishing for cats. But, now that we've figured out what we might do with this pole, let's take a look at fishing in the Bible. Peter, James, and John were all fishermen, you know. However, when they went fishing they didn't use poles. Do any of you have any idea what they did use to catch fish?"

"Sticks?" (A reasonable response. "Handle it gently," I caution myself, "so as not to discourage this child who has dared to answer.")

"Well, I can see since we've been talking about poles that sticks would make sense, Jeremy, but the disciples used something else."

"Nets," comes the next suggestion.

"Yes, they used nets, great big ones. They used nets so they could catch lots of fish at once. And usually, that's what happened. But, there was a time that Peter, James, and John went out fishing and fished all night long -- and they didn't catch ANYTHING! Gosh! That would really be a long night, wouldn't it? To fish ALL NIGHT and not catch ANYTHING?

"The next day Jesus was in one of the boats with the disciples. He saw that their boats were empty and said, 'Let your nets down here for a catch.'

"Peter answered him, saying, 'We fished all night, right in this spot, and didn't catch anything. But since you say to do it again, we will.' So, one more time they let their nets down, and guess what happened? They caught a LOT of fish!" ("Catfish!" Andrew interjects, eliciting laughter from us all. Then I continue.) "In fact, they caught so many fish that the nets started to break and tear apart. The fish were so heavy and there were so many of them that the boats began to sink! They had caught a LOT of fish! Now why did they catch so many?"

"Because Jesus told them to fish there?"

"Yes, but what made them do what Jesus said to do?"

"Their love for him?"

"Yes. And what else? They fished there because they..."

"Trusted him?"

"Yes, they fished there because they loved Jesus and trusted him. Sometimes there are things in our lives that we have problems with. Sometimes we think we have to depend just on ourselves to solve those problems. But that's not true. Who can we go to with our problems? Who is always there to help us out if we will only ask and trust?"

"Jesus!" several children respond.

"Catfish!" Andrew mutters.

"You're being silly," I tell him. "And, of course, I'm NEVER silly. You KNOW that!" Most of the children realize I am teasing and grin.

"So, when we have problems, and all of us do sometimes, it's important to remember that we don't have to handle them alone. We can take them to Jesus in prayer and ask for his help. He will help us solve them, just as he helped the disciples with their fishing."