One stressful day, Eric Fellman and his sons set out late in the afternoon to do a little fishing. As he backed the boat into the water, Fellman realized that he had forgotten to unhook part of the trailer from the boat. The boat tipped over and began to fill with water. As Fellman jumped out of the car to survey the situation, he accidentally hit the electric lock, locking his keys inside the still-running car.

Everything was a mess! Most of the live bait had escaped into the lake, the boat was almost full of water, and their lunches were effectively drowned. Eric's natural instinct was to get very angry and throw a fit. That's certainly what his sons were expecting. But suddenly, he wondered what Jesus would do in his place.

He realized that Jesus must have faced a similar situation when he ran into the fishermen who had just come in from a disappointing night of fishing. Although they had given up for the day, Jesus convinced them to go out again. And, of course, they caught a whole boat-load of fish. With this thought inspiring his mind, Fellman figured out how to pop open a window and unlock his car. Then he proceeded to unhitch the boat.

Although they only had three minnows left for baiting their hooks, Eric and his sons set out to fish. Within minutes, Eric got a tug on his line. Twenty minutes later, after a fierce tug of war, he reeled in a gargantuan large mouthbass. His sons were ecstatic. And all the excitement and good memories never would have happened if Eric Fellman hadn't consciously decided to change his attitude and start all over.

We are not mere puppets forever jerked around by our emotions. We can take control.