Enough Fish
[Adapted from Candles in the Dark by Todd Outcalt]
Long ago a poor man and woman had nine children. This made eleven all of them living together in a small house.
Life was difficult, and the father used to go to the river every evening after a long day work to fish for the family dinner. But, try as he might, he never caught more than eleven fish at one time. This meant that everyone in the family was able to eat just one fish for supper.
Every day the man would pray, “O Lord, how is it possible for a person to satisfy his hunger with only one fish?”
As time went by, the man began to have other thoughts about the fish, and he wondered how he might obtain a second fish for his own dinner. There were days when he even pondered the possibility of having death in the family so that he might enjoy two fish instead of one. He was not an evil man, but was merely trying to satisfy his own hunger.
Day after day he went to the river, but always he returned with eleven fish. Then one day the man received word that one of his children had died.
Naturally, he was deeply saddened by his loss. But soon afterwards, the thought came into his head that he would, at last, have an extra fish to eat.
The next day, when the man went to the river, he was sad, but cheered by the one thought of what awaited him for supper that night. However, that day he caught only ten fish.
The man said to himself, “When I caught eleven fish, I was happy, and God provided. Now I catch only ten. So what have I accomplished?”