I Can Only Imagine

You know life isn’t always about bass fishing. I just left my friend Tucker Tomlinson. I left San Jose around 6:30 p.m., and drove back up to Roseville thinking, man he was only fifty five years old.

I was listening to the Pastor talk about Tuck leaving this earth. We all know earth is a temporary place for us. I started to think “man life is short”. A lot of you in construction knew “Tuck”, he was the General Superintendent for San Jose Construction for over twenty years. Like Tuck, I too have been a General Superintendent for over twenty years. I think I have known Tuck for over forty five years.

Tuck didn’t fish for bass he had other passions mostly his family and his work. I was thinking as I looked around the room there must be three hundred maybe four hundred people sitting listening to the pastor. Tucker was loved and respected by everyone he met.

I started to reflect on what the pastor was saying. He was talking about leaving this earth and that where we go next will be forever. I remember a song that the” Doors” recorded back in the late sixties and the singer talked about a deep sleep, he was talking about death. The song I think was called turn out the lights. I started thinking, I wonder when I die, will there be anyone there saying good things about me? Will anyone care? I then began to wonder if I will make it to heaven. Will I meet God? “Mercy Me” a Christian rock group sings a song that I used in my Honor Bound CD last year called “I can Only Imagine”. They sing about meeting God when that time comes, what it will be like. What will God think of me?

I have changed my ways over the years. I have changed a lot. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in God all these years. I was just like everyone else. I didn’t think about, what God thought about me. I didn’t work on my relationship with God until the last few years. I think it was when I fished my first Honor Bound Tournament. I remember looking around the room thinking I am not sure I fit in. I looked at all the good fishermen and how they didn’t care what anyone thought of them. They only cared about what God thought of them. I now think that way. I now only think about what God Thinks of me. I am still the same guy in the boat who wants to win every tournament. I am still the same guy who sees that early morning sun rise and now thanks God for it. I am still the same guy who works on his relationship with God everyday.

I hope you made it Tuck. I hope I make it too.

See you on the Water,
Jerry