Swimming Lessons Applied to Life

Dear Diary,

My dad taught me how to swim in a pool when I was a little girl. It was just one of the many skills that he felt that I needed to know. But my father has a very unique way of looking at life. He’s a pessimist, but not in a bad way. My dad’s motto was always plan for the worse and hope for the best. So because that is the way that my dad thought when he was teaching me to swim before he taught me any strokes, which of course I would eventually have to master, he thought it would be better if he taught me how not to drown first. And let me say this, this particular swim lesson was not my favorite.

I remember him saying, “sometimes the key to swimming in a pool is simply finding any means necessary to get to the side.” So my first lesson was how to tread water, kicking and moving your arms however necessary to keep your head above. But I don’t know if any of you have tried to tread water for more than like a minute, it gets harder and harder to keep your head above water. I remember my dad was just watching me tread. I did it for a while and then when I felt like I couldn’t hold it anymore, I started to panic. My body began to tense up and, my lungs started taking in fluid. I remember looking up to the sky and thinking, “this is how it ends Lord.” But before the cold depths of the pool could swallow me up, my dad reached out and grabbed me. Needless to say, I didn’t want to try that again.

But my dad told me something that I still remember to this day, “the only reason you were in danger of drowning was because you panicked.” Now I was young, but I was smart enough to know that no one on earth, especially not someone as young as me could tread water forever, and I told him so. My dad just smiled at me with that knowing smile and he said, “Tati you are not going to drown. When you are tired and you can’t kick anymore and all you are trying to do is make it to the other side; don’t panic, sink.” I looked at my dad like he was crazy, that seemed completely and totally ridiculous. How do I not drown by sinking? He smiled again and he said, “sink to the bottom and let out all of your air. When you feel the floor beneath your feet, push off the ground and you will come to the top of the water. Take a breath and look around, then keep sinking and pushing off until you reach the side of the pool. If you don’t panic you will never drown.”

I don’t know if my dad really knew how much those words would help me in my adult life. There are times when I feel like I’ve been treading water for years and I’m tired. My spiritual and mental legs and arms feel like lead. I’m putting in all this effort and I’m really only keeping my head a little bit over the water. I start to panic, tense up, make monumental mistakes. Gasping for air and grasping for straws, I get to place where I’m like Lord this is how it ends. But then I think about what my dad said, just sink. Now I’m not talking about sinking into depression or anything like that but sink into the Master’s arms, his strength is made perfect in our weakness. So, I sink, then I feel the floor beneath my feet, it feels like Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I push off that word and I make it to the top, I take a look around and I see that I can accomplish one or two goals for the day, yeah I see the side. I sink again, then I feel the floor beneath my feet, it feels like 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all of your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” I push off that word and I make it to the top, I take a look around and I see I’m not feeling so anxious today, I’m getting closer. I sink again, I feel the floor, it feels like Psalm 30:5b “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. I keep sinking and pushing off, sinking and pushing off until I finish the task that was set before me. I make it to the side.

The truth is the some of us are in better spiritual swimmers shape than others. You can do laps up and down the pool with ease and that’s okay. But even the best swimmers get tired sometimes. Some of us are just starting out, we are just learning how to make it but like my dad taught me you never have to drown if you don’t panic. Just sink into His arms, let His Word be the ground that you push off of and just keep going until you make it to the other side.

Love,

THE CHRISTIAN SINGLE WOMAN