We are truly living in exciting days! Never before have we had as many challenges nor as many victories! I saw a 92-year-old lady on television who had survived the hurricane in Florida by lying on an air mattress. The reporter asked if she was a victim of the storm, and her reply was a classic: “There are only two types of people in this area – the survivors and the dead! and I am not a victim – I am a survivor!” What a great attitude that I would like to say is always mine!

We are however in deep mourning! Our beloved and life sustaining “Cathy’s” is no more! We are thrilled that Cathy and Jerry will have more time for their family, but this community family will take a long time recovering from our great loss! What will Sunday dinners be like without Cathy’s? What will the Easter Sunrise Service on the Front Beach be without Cathy’s cinnamon rolls? Our many guests we host always make thier way to eat shrimp at Cathy’s! Our two daughters and two of our granddaughters found employment at Cathy’s! We ate there so often, all the waitresses knew our drink order when we arrived! We always found the atmosphere friendly, and everyone went out of their way to be neighborly, especially when the waiting lines were long! We ask for Divine Favor for Jerry and Cathy, but trust they realize what a huge hole they have left in our hearts!

Last month, we hosted different groups from around Texas. Mark and Lisa Dupree returned for a visit and a meal at Cathy’s. We were joined there by other former parishioners, David and Kelly Walker. Pastor and Mrs. Steve Linney from Fort Worth, who performed the wedding ceremony for Pastor Joane and me, came and we enjoyed Cathy’s twice! Pastor Tom and Ronda Ream and their son Seth joined us for a few days of retreat, and we made a couple of trips to Cathy’s! We have others scheduled to come here during October, but we will not have Cathy’s to treat them to. I guess Pastor Joane will have to do more of the cooking!

Pastor Joane has been ministering in other churches recently. She spent a morning at Friendship Victoria. She ministered to several people at the Empowerment Conference in Houston. She was on a “Walk to Emmaus” retreat in the Corpus Christi area and will be headed out to the Southern Border area before month’s end. She is hostessing a Mission’s Fun Run here in POC on October 29. Talk about being busy, she fits the description!

I have been asked by my peer of ministers to serve them again as Sectional Presbyter. We have 19 churches under our watchful eyes and over 50 ministers. These responsibilities require some traveling, so please pray for mercies.

The Service Club will be holding their Garage Sale on Saturday, November 5. There will be more bargains than one could carry home! Please be sure to go by the Community Center area and see the many things that will be available at bargain prices. One of the projects the Service Club is working toward is the remodeling of our Community Center Building. This is an ambitious project and will need much support, but POC will make it happen! Another project that they sponsor is our annual Thanksgiving and Christmas Food Baskets. This is an amazing task to provide a great food basket for needy families in our community. Last year, together, we supplied 50 families with Thanksgiving Food Baskets and another 50 families with Christmas Food Baskets!

Special Notice: The deadline for signing up for the Thanksgiving Food Basket is Sunday, November 6. The Baskets are scheduled to be distributed on Tuesday, November 15. We have seen many more requests for food from our Community Food Pantry than in past years, but we understand because of the struggling economy. We are expecting many requests for assistance for the Thanksgiving Food Baskets. Anyone can assist with this project by sending a donation to any of our churches, attending the Community Thanksgiving Service at 6:00 p.m., November 13, at Fisherman’s Chapel, or making a deposit at our local bank in the Community Benevolence Fund. Thanks for helping us make it happen for many!

Fisherman’s Chapel in an interdenominational congregation (which simply means that all are welcome), whose goal is to help every person of every age find peace with God for here and the hereafter. We provide Sunday Services at 10:00 a.m. for Bible Study, 11:00 a.m. for Morning Service and 6:00 p.m. for our Sunday Evening Service. On Wednesdays, we begin at 7:00 p.m. with a community meal, followed with a devotional from God’s Word. Everyone will find a warm welcome at the Chapel, and all are urged to, “Come, grow with us”!

August 2022

The 4-day voyage began from The Sanctuary Costa Grande, in Port O’ Connor. Being mid-July, it was hot but luckily, we had cover over the fly bridge and the aft cockpit from the scorching Texas sun. There were four of us, ranging from 36 to 72 years old and fishing is something we all enjoy. Our sights were set on Baffin Bay which is a mecca for trophy speckled trout. Baffin Bay has a higher salinity level than the other bays in the area. While still theory, it may very well be that this high fairly constant level of salinity may attribute to the growth of trophy trout. Early Thursday morning we filled up the 32-foot Grand Banks trawler and fired up the six-cylinder motor which has a top speed of 8 mph and away we went. We had a long journey ahead, but in addition to the slow pace we were towing a 23-foot JH Outlaw (pictured below) which in turn slowed our pace 6 mph depending on tide and current.

Everything went to plan across San Antonio Bay and Aransas Bay however when we approached Corpus Christi Bay, the wind had come up from the South and the bay was western. The JH Outlaw is one of the finest center console fishing boats along the coast however in 3-to-4-foot swells we made the decision to forgo the Intracoastal Coastal Waterway (ICW) and head towards protected water behind Mustang Island. We quickly learned this was a great idea for the fishing boat but much too shallow for the trawler. Against better judgement we had to split up or risk sinking the JH. Joe quickly unhooked the JH and headed towards Mustang Island with the trawler going back to the initial ICW route. Finally as the sun was setting we could see the lights on the JFK Causeway. We pulled into Marker 37 marina where we would spend the night. After eating good meal at Snoopy’s and enjoying a few tasty beverages we called it a night. The next morning, we enjoyed a breakfast burrito and sausage balls that our wives had prepared before the trip. After our warm breakfast and instant coffee, we set our sights on our Baffin Bay. The excitement was back after the rough jaunt the evening prior, however when we went to leave, the boat was aground. With enough throttling of the ol’ 6-cylinder, the trawler finally broke free and started moving. We were underway!! We did pull a water line apart that was laying on the bottom, but it looked like it had been pulled apart many times before….

Our plan was to tie the trawler to a friend’s dock in the Land Cut however after Hurricane Harvey we were unsure of how much of it was left, we would soon find out. As we approached the entrance to Baffin Bay the trawlers diesel engine started to sputter; panic ensued as the engine died. At this point I realized I forgot to switch the fuel tanks.

On the horizon we could see a big squall headed our way as the wind was picking up and started blowing us backwards towards a spoil island. I dropped the anchor as fast as I could, but the wind was blowing us so fast that I could not get the rope cleated. We continued backwards until we ran aground. I removed the engine floorboards switched the tanks and got to work priming the fuel lines. After purging what I thought was all the lines I climbed out of the engine compartment to find the boat would still not turn over. At this point, I had to dig out the manual from the closet in the v-birth and realized that I had forgot the two bleed screws on the high-pressure fuel pump. It was hot, and the engine was scorching, the sweat was pouring off of us a sieve. Finally, we got the motor running again but were aground so hard the 6-cylinder motor was not enough to get us off. We tried hooking up the smaller boat to the front to try and pull us off, no luck. Then someone (Paul) had the bright idea to pick up the anchor and use the long rope to try and pull us off. The first time we tried this, the boat moved a little, we had hope! We repositioned the smaller boat again and using all 250 hp on the JH, plus the 120 hp 6-cylinder in board motor we finally broke free. Several yells went up and we were floating again. Very carefully we were headed south again. We finally pulled in to where we would call home for the next 2 days around 6pm Friday evening.

After checking to make sure we had enough fuel to run the generator all night, Cameron climbed onto the remaining dock, which was just big enough for two lawn chairs and cooked burgers and sausage on a portable grill which we had brought. After dinner and a few more tasties we all laid our heads and slept like hibernating bears as the ac was blowing snow.

The next morning, we loaded up the fishing boat and Joe took us to his “secret” fishing spot not far from the Baffin Bay inlet and the ICW. It certainly was no secret as there had to be 10 other boats already there. We all got our wading gear on and hopped out. A few specs were caught, unfortunately I only got one short. About noon as the sun was at its peak we decided to head back to the dock/mother ship to make some lunch.

After a good hot dog and cold beer, we were going to lay down to take a nap and head back out in the late afternoon as the heat was unbearable. Cameron, being the youngest out of the bunch decided against the nap and threw a line off the back of the fishing boat instead. The current was swift and just about the time the line was about to get into the pilings a spec was on, and it was a nice keeper. In the box it went, and another croaker was put on the hook and again the croaker drifted with the current and another spec was landed. At this point, we started taking turns fishing from the back of the boat until we all had our 3 fish limits.

The next day, Sunday, we woke up too head back. Cameron got in Joe’s boat and headed for Bird Island Basin which is on Mustang Island. He planned to meet Chelsea (Cameron’s wife) and Flory (Joe’s wife) who had brought Joe’s truck and trailer down. This meant we would not be towing the fishing boat which slowed us from 8 to 7 mph and burned more fuel. When we crossed the Corpus Channel, we tried several times to call Port A for a slip reservation, but they never answered the phone, so we continued and set the GPS to POC. With the help of everyone driving the boat and the long summer days we got across San Antonio Bay just before dark. We met two barges and talked to them, thankfully no problems. We finally pulled into the Sanctuary slip at 10 pm and Janet (Paul’s wife), Chelsea, and Flory were there to meet us. We unloaded the food and drinks and left the rest for in the morning. This was one of my best trips on the trawler and the first one with a fishing purpose that was not in the gulf!!

Lee Bryant, Paul Lair, Joe Chatham, Cameron Lair

The “Hall Squad” came back to POC recently and had lots of fun playing in the sand on the beach. They live in Austin, and will be coming back soon for more beach time and fishing.

Weston, age 5

Miss Riley, age 7

Carson, age 8

Parker, age 11

Perseverance is not a popular word in these times. We want what we want, and we want it right now! Many have not grown past the childhood stage and continue to believe that whatever they desire should be served to them immediately! When we want to make a great impact on others’ lives, we must learn the importance of patient endurance.

We have learned that whatever comes our way, we must conduct ourselves in the proper way – the way that is right before God. When we do what is right, we must expect that it will never be pleasing to everyone. There are those who want to oppose right living – they want to “live and let live” without regard to correct or incorrect behavior.

Perseverance will require a combination of at least two ingredients:

First, we must learn the importance of pace.

I am told that in a marathon, it is not uncommon for runners to consider dropping out somewhere around the 21-mile mark. This reminds me of my Junior High School days when I ran track. I could break the five-minute mile at that time, that was a great accomplishment! I would often go to track meets and have no one who would run against me. On one such occasion, after I had been awarded the first-place ribbon for the race I did not run, our coach told me he wanted me to run the half-mile race. I responded, “Coach Davis, I have never run the half-mile and have no idea how to run that race.” His response was, “Erny, just run it twice as fast!”

I had drunk a lot of cold water and was just lounging around, awaiting the end of the day and the bus ride home. But, foolishly, I agreed and began the race as always just staying with the pack. But, I reasoned, if I am going to have to run this twice as fast, this pace is far too slow! I sped up and only one runner tried to keep my pace. We were far ahead of the pack, but he did not have the stamina and stopped running about half way. I was way out in front! I was focused on my “should do pace,” and not on my “could do pace”! Pace is all about what one does before they hit that mental and physical well that will halt the forward progress. My “could to pace” was how fast I could run. My “should do pace” would have been much slower and would have given me the appropriate reserve to finish the race.

With only about a fourth of the race to complete, I began feeling the cold water making me extremely nauseous. I “heaved and heaved, and heaved” while trying to finish the race, and did finish it, but in third place. The great lesson learned was that I needed that day to stay with the pack who were experienced runners and not try to “run it twice as fast”!

In real life, we have to embrace a healthy pace that will allow us to keep going and to finish strong – not having to stop and “heave” along the pathway!

Second, we must understand purpose.

Purpose is the “why” behind the “what”. It is the reason we signed up to run that marathon. It is our motivation for accomplishing the goals we have set for ourselves. When we focus on our purpose, we are inspired to keep putting one foot in front of the other to continue our forward progress.

There is no one who has not considered quitting. Even Jesus asked his Father to please allow Him to quit and not have to face His crucifixion! “If there is any other way, Father, please allow me to escape what is before me, but not My will, but Thine be done,” Jesus prayed. The only thing that drove our Master forward was by reminding Himself of the “why”! For this exact purpose, He came to earth – to pay the price for our sins! Never quit – consider why the race was begun!

By practicing pace and purpose, we will be prepared when we hit the metaphorical 21-mile mark. It inevitably happens when we are doing something worthwhile. Pace will provide the energy to keep going, and purpose will give us reason to keep up the pace!

Just a reminder there are flag disposal boxes at Coastal Bend Marine and at the POC Volunteer Fire Dept. Please dispose of your old flags there.

The Boy Scouts pick them up and dispose of them properly.

Thank you again, Troy Beaudry, for making these.