Nearly every week, I write a story about something that’s happening in my life. Usually it’s current. Sometimes, as the Lord leads, I dip into my Memory Bank and share something that happened awhile back.

Occasionally I get an e-mail from someone with whom something just kinda “clicks”. I explain to Pat how I came to get acquainted with “my new best friend”.

Well, I had such an experience recently. My new best friend from Oregon asked for information on my CD, “Grandma’s Songs”. When I sent him the information, I asked him how he happened to come across my site. He replied that a friend of his wanted the words to “I Won’t Have To Cross Jordan Alone”. He did a search under that title and “Grandma’s Songs” was one of the results. I sent him the full words to the song.

From that point, we just kept swapping e-mail, sharing something of our lives and history. We began sharing prayer needs and victories. He truly became my newest best friend.

One of his requests involved his dilemma about what he believed was God’s calling to full-time writing. However, he had a rather large tax liability with which to deal. I reminded him of the story in the Bible where the disciples went fishing and got tax money out of the fish’s mouth.

As you know, if you’ve been a reader for very long, I very seldom ever use material from other folks in my Inside Out writings. However, I just couldn’t pass up sharing this recent testimony from my friend. Written in third person, I’m quite sure you’ll be blessed. Read on:

Once upon a time there was a journalist who retired and moved from sardine-can Southern California to free-swimming Quines Creek, Oregon (where God spends His holidays).

As the journalist knew it would, annual reckoning time came and he had to figure up his taxes. The amount of money he had put aside (after paying his tithes and offerings) was only half enough and he faced the dismal prospect of finding a job in the state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate.

More than needing to find a job (after five decades of hard work), the journalist needed to reserve time to finish books God had commanded the writer to write.

The journalist’s new best friend offered a word of hope from the Bible: God needs to send you fishing. You know, to find a fish with a gold coin.

The journalist avoided saying what might easily have come to mind (Great; another spiritual lesson for a time when I need real help) because the word resonated within his soul.

“God, send me to your fish or send your fish to me,” the journalist began saying aloud.

He even got his friends into the act. “Pray that God sends me a fish with a gold coin in its mouth or sends me to find the fish.” They all thought the example to be great.

Meanwhile, the reporter had to file his income taxes and submit to a repayment plan. But the reporter didn’t have the income for the monthly payments and had no idea where the money would come from.

The reporter spied an ad in the newspaper for a job he could easily do. But because he was new to the area, he needed some local references with impeccable backgrounds. Nudged by the Holy Spirit, the reporter got up earlier than usual one morning and went to early prayer meeting with the pastor of his church. The reporter told his need and asked the pastor and youth pastor if they would pray that he catch the fish with the gold coin in its mouth or find a job, whichever God wanted.

“Fine,” the pastor said, “But let me tell you about my dream.”

The pastor then recounted how five years ago he had started a regional monthly newspaper in the large rural area where he, the reporter, and maybe 12,000 other people lived. The church grew and the paper, which the pastor loved, was taking up a lot of time. The pastor had been praying for an editor for the paper. He had a dream of finding somebody who could begin with a small salary, who loved the area, and who could help make the paper and area grow. He couldn’t pay much, but if the journalist were interested in the job, the pastor would spend more time raising advertising and increase the newspaper’s income and the journalist’s salary.

The job was right up the journalist’s alley. The initial salary, while small, would be enough to pay the monthly payment to the federal tax man. And it would provide a way for the journalist to meet more people in the community and tell the world what some of God’s people were doing. The mini ster would have more time to minister and tell people what God can do.

The journalist smiled. The fish with the gold coin had been right in his back yard. But the strangest thing of all, was that the pastor considered the journalist to be the gold coin.

Who else but God could turn a gold coin into a fisherman and a fisherman into a gold coin?

IT’S PAPAJ AGAIN! I’m quite sure that my new best friend and I would both be interested in any insights you gained after reading this story. Please use the “Leave a Reply” box below and respond.

SOME SELECTED RESPONSES TO “WATCH YOUR CABOOSE”

– THIS has been my “blessing” for the morning. You KNOW how I “ALWAYS” feel about your articles and “insightfulness”. Your “analogies” and the things the Lord gives you ALWAYS fascinate me. For some reason, I was PARTICULARLY blessed by the “reader’s responses”. I couldn’t help but think about HOW GLAD I am that you are receiving the ‘encouraging thoughts’ and “PRAYERS” from so many in regards to you and Pat and “de sick house”. I thank the Lord for ALL of the WUNNERFUL CHristian brothers and sisters HE gives us to ‘hold us up’ before Him in thoughts and prayers and encouragement.

– Well, you have done it again my friend… made my day. ! I will print this out so B__ can read it when he comes home from the Florida Keys.

Much like the other person who wrote, I do not know just exactly how to pray for you and Pat and your mold problem other than to say I feel bad about the entire deal, and hope that two people as nice as you deserve to get back into the house soon; however, I know that our Heavenly Father knows His own business and will solve this problem in His own time. Just hope that the two of you can hang on a little longer. I am also praying for your dear mother daily and also your granddaughter.

– I’d miss MY kitchen, too. Tell Pat I really understand. Still praying and believing that God’s answer IS ON THE WAY!!!

– Wow, as usual, PapaJ, you come up with some very profound statements, and this is truly one of them. Loved the caboose story. God bless ya!

– I believe that thing that use to be coated with mercury, a mirror, allows us to see our caboose. However, we, at times, distort the true image creating something entirely different than what God wants us to see. If we focus on God, neat, the true image comes shining through. Maybe I ought to make a commercial. What do you think? 🙂

– I love your stories. They always make me think. If we could look back at our caboose and have no regrets, it would be so neat, but, unfortunately, most of us have done many things that shouldn’t be forgiven. God loves us anyway and takes us back if only we ask. Isn’t that wonderful?????

– I liked the roundhouse, I almost forgot trains had those. I think God has one of those roundhouses for us, so that when we repent, He spins us completely at a right angle and sends us out again in the right direction. 🙂

– Just before reading your story about the trains and how the one train could see its own caboose I had the experience of seeing my own caboose. Let me explain. I’ve been really seeking God and growing spiritually and looking to God. Anyway, without realizing it, I sort of got a “I’ve finally got it together.” attitude. Nothing wrong with feeling good about walking in God’s will. However, we still need to keep in mind first and foremost we only can do all things “through Christ.”

Anyway, a certain situation came about in my life and I fell flat on my face. When I got up and dusted myself off, the thought came to me, “Oh, yeah, I can’t do this in my own strength and I’ve still got a lot of spiritual growing to do.” In other words, God showed me my caboose! It is good for us to know who we really are without Christ. To get a glimpse of that caboose and realize the only reason we can go anywhere is because we ride in the great engine of Christ’s strength and power.

– We appreciate the way you keep us informed re: Pat, your house, etc. The caboose piece reflects what B__ and I are doing: looking over our lives, organizing lessons learned, reflections, photos and documenting memories. >From this viewpoint, we’re learning. And, between us, when we go to be with the Lord, we don’t want to leave a lot of unnecessary sorting out work for our families.