Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever."

Today three of my best fishing friends and I fished as we had yesterday and will fish forever. There is such security in "sameness."

I met one of my fishing friends when she asked me if I knew where she could cut some bamboo for fishing poles for her two boys in Cub Scouts. We have fished them through college now.

I got to know another one of my fishing friends when I coached her in middle school where she was wondering what she would become. We have fished her into becoming a teacher, getting her master's degree and about to become a school psychologist.

I remember the third fishing friend's first day as a teacher. As a seasoned teacher, her enthusiasm was contagious and sometimes maddening. It is a wonder we are still fishing friends, because that rookie teacher out-fished me the very first time we fished together and most of the times since then.

While fishing together we have talked our way through how, who, what, when, where and why the way we were. All of my fishing friends are now middle-aged and I am elder-aged. As we fished, we notice that our conversations had turned from "wills" to "ills" without us ever realizing it. We were all out there complaining about our physical limitations like a bunch of old ladies instead of fishing friends.

We laughed at each other and then we made a pledge to each other. We pinpointed our rod tips in the air and chanted together: "We still stick together, while we fall apart. Ya, Ya, Fishing Friends."

Anybody know of a good saltwater, long-term care facility?

Dear Lord, I am so glad you thought up aging. I would hate to be that Adam and Eve age all my life and miss childhood and elderhood. In Your sameness, I bet You made up growing up and growing old just for fun.