Mitch was fishing off the pier when he heard someone call his name. He looked up and down the pier, but saw no one. Again, a voice called out his name, and Mitch saw a man across the lake waving to him.
"Mitch, it's me, Jesus, come on over and let's talk."
"Okay, Jesus, I'm coming right over. Let me just find a boat." Mitch was so excited! The Lord was calling his name. Quickly, he gathered his fishing gear and ran towards the end of the pier to find a boat. Mitch saw a man sitting at the boat rentals. "Excuse me, sir, I would like to rent a boat right away. Do you have any rowboats available?"
"Sure I do. I have two left for today. I saw you running down the pier, you must be in a big hurry," said the man.
"Yes, I am. I just received a call from the Lord and He is waiting for me on the other side."
"Well, you better hurry then. You sure you want a row boat? I have a brand new speed boat that could get you there faster."
"That sounds great, but I have never driven one before," admitted Mitch.
"Don't worry. I'll take you there myself. I wouldn't want you to miss talking with the Big Guy. He's very busy. You don't want to keep Him waiting."
"You're right. If you could take me across the lake that would be great! Thank you."
The man smiled, "Come on, let's go. We just need to walk down to the next pier and we'll be there in a jiffy,"
"Ok, sounds good." Mitch and the man walked quickly towards the next pier over. As he walked, Mitch began to get a little anxious. He didn't realize the pier was so far away. The man sensed Mitch's anxiety and he began to tell him a few of the local stories. "Do you see that big house over there? You know who lives there right?......."
Mitch was surprised to hear that so many successful people lived on this side of the lake. Even more surprisingly, the boat rentals man seemed to know all of them. He told one amusing story after another about their big boats and extravagant parties. Just before the two of them reached the pier, they just happened to run into Rick Townsend, the man who threw the best parties.
"Ricky, how are you doing sir?" the man said as he greeted Rick with a warm handshake.
Rick returned his smile and said, "Excellent. I couldn't be better. I was just about to jump into my boat. Hey, you two want to come along? The cooler is filled with some nice cold ones."
The man smiled. "How could we pass up such a great invitation? My friend, Mitch, is interested in getting to the other side of the lake for a big meeting. I was going to take him in my boat, but your boat is even faster. Come on, Mitch, let's cross the lake in style."
The three men proceeded down to the opposite side of the pier where all the private boats were docked. Mitch was really impressed that he was being invited onto Ricky's boat. He had never been on a boat this expensive before. He wondered how much this boat even costed. The three men sat down and cracked open a beer.
"Mitch let me show how fast this baby can go. Your going to love it!" Rick said as he headed towards the center of the lake.
The boat ride was amazing! Rick obviously knew the lake well. It was exhilarating to cross the water at such speeds. Mitch smiled and thought to himself, "So this is how the other half lives. It must be nice." Time passed very quickly before Rick finally slowed the boat down.
"So you boys want to join me for some lunch? There's a great little pull up restaurant on the other side of the lake that serves amazing food. It will be my treat."
Mitch was about to decline, when the man said, "Sure that sounds great! Mitch here wants to get to the other side of the lake anyways. No sense going hungry, right?"
Mitch wanted to say no, but he actually was a little hungry and he reluctantly agreed. As promised, the food was amazing. Rick was a very generous man and he seemed to know everyone. Everyone stopped to chat and say hello as they ate. Mitch had never been introduced to so many successful people in one day. After Mitch finished his dessert, he looked around the lake. He actually had no idea where he was. Where was the pier he was fishing on? Which shore had he seen Jesus at? Did that even really happen? Had he just imagined it? Mitch was starting to doubt himself now.
Another large boat pulled into the resturant's pier and a crowd called out to Rick. "Ricky, is that you? Come on over."
Rick smiled and said, "Come on, guys, this ought to be interesting."
The man followed Rick and then looked over his shoulder, "Mitch, are you coming? This looks like fun?"
Mitch began to follow. As he got out of the boat, he noticed for the first time the name of Rick's boat "Clever Distractions". Mitch thought to himself, "That's an odd name for a boat." Mitch stopped for a minute and wondered what he was even doing. He didn't even know these people. He thought about getting on the boat when he suddenly heard something that stopped him in his tracks.
"Ricky, Lucifer, how the hell are you guys?!"
Mitch suddenly realized who the boat rentals man actually was. How could he be so stupid? How much time had he actually wasted? Panicked, Mitch looked around the lake again. How far away had he traveled from Jesus? How did this even happen? Mitch felt his heart racing. He closed his eyes and bent his head down and from his heart he said, "Jesus, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
"Mitch!" a familiar voice yelled. Mitch opened his eyes and saw Jesus waving far down the shoreline. "I'm still waiting."
This time Mitch ran towards Jesus. He never took his eyes off Him and he never looked back.
-Susan
