Skip to main content

Swimming Waters

The area I live in is surrounded by natural springs.  These are beautiful, pure, natural, bubbling water, which is very cold!  Unfortunately, being raised a city girl, my swimming foundation is a concrete swimming pool, with nice, warm water. My husband was raised swimming in these springs and trained our boys to love them.  I, however was always a bit reluctant to get into the ice cold water, so I usually sit on the sidelines.

Recently our church had a family day at one of these springs. It was clear and beautiful and on this hot afternoon, I stepped off into the water, which was way too cold for me and promptly backed out!  As only a little boy can do, my youngest son asked me to jump off the platform into the springs with him....and since he insisted that we have never done this together and hinted that he would be forever scarred if I didn't do this with him...I agreed.  With butterflies in my stomach and the dreaded anticipation of every ounce of my body being plunged into ice cold, jarring water....side  by side we jumped!


As my body hit the water and plunged downward, it was cold, but also invigorating!!  As my head surfaced and I saw the smile of my son and heard the cheers of our friends, I was so glad I took the plunge.  As I swam, the water refreshed me and felt so good!  How pure and natural this water was kept going through my mind as I floated and stroked through the water.  Why had it taken me so long to appreciate God's gift of nature?

Do you ever feel as a Christian that you are 'standing on the banks'?  Knowing there is more, but scared to 'venture out'?  As we grow in our faith and Christian walk, we can relate to stepping in with our toes or perhaps wading in to our knees.  There will be challenges and fears as we grow in the Lord  but we can keep walking with Him.  Shoulder deep in water feels wonderful as most of the body is immersed in water.  Finally we take the plunge and go under, fully surrounded and supported by water.  Oh, how I love the feeling of swimming, completely free to move through the water.  As we completely give our lives to Christ - every area, He supports us, surrounds us and in Him, we live, move and have our being.

May we  never get stagnant or be satisfied by standing on the banks watching because of our fears.  As we walk in deeper waters, God will hold our hand and we will find that "He gives us life abundantly".  Will you wade out today?

Labels:

Comments

  1. Ashley MarieAugust 25, 2011 at 3:20 PM

    That sounds like so much fun! Aren't God's creations just amazing?

    ReplyDelete
  2. JenniferAugust 25, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    Great thoughts - as were your words yesterday "at the well"! You are so gifted with sharing your thoughts! Thanks for sharing - and glad you have that memory with your boy:)

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownAugust 26, 2011 at 9:00 PM

    I don't want to be satisfied with just standing on the banks, but instead jump in to all God has planned for me.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing your commment. It is a joy and blessing to hear from you and your words are appreciated.

Popular posts from this blog

Sometimes We Score, Sometimes We Block

Our family is in the midst of little league soccer season. My youngest son is playing and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is pretty good at the sport, but what makes it so great is that he loves it! He counts the days until the next game or practice. He loves his coach and teammates. He has moved up an age level this year and the players are working more like team, passing to each other and watching out for each other during play. During the last game, my son scored two goals, they were the only goals of the game. In today's game the team scored eight goals. My son came up afterwards to me and said, "I didn't score today, but I blocked". What a powerful truth those words can hold. In life, sometimes we score, sometimes we block. Sometimes we do great things, we excel, we achieve, we meet our goal - we score! There are also times we see the needs of others, sometimes they are sad or hurting, we block their hits. We look out for them so they can score. We...
17 comments
Read more

Paths of Prayer

Today, I'm joining up with Five Minute Friday, a fun writing opportunity to connect and share a quick thought on this week's theme "Path". For many years, when coming across a Scripture about 'paths', it turned into a prayer and desire to be led down God's open paths. Through the years of life which included, marriage, keeping a home, job, raising children and as they began to explore their own paths, seeking God and His paths became a vital part of life and prayer.  As God's Word reveals God's goodness and His ways, I want to be walking - living a lifestyle on the paths that He leads.  Some of my favorite 'path' verses include: Proverbs 4:18 "But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day."   Psalm 25:4,  "Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths,"  Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your way...
2 comments
Read more

Construction, Challenges, Chaos

 Who knew something simple could erupt into something chaotic so quickly? A broken file cabinet forced us to purchase a new one. We found one online, ordered it and it arrived quickly with a do it yourself assembly book, complete with 24 part packages and 18 steps of instructions!  As we unpacked the items and compared with the instruction book, we realized a part was missing. Customer service was called, a replacement part was quickly received. Except, the screws did not fit into the holes on the replacement part. We tried again, received another part, same issue.  Meanwhile, the 24 packages of parts are spread out on my living room floor, customer service does not understand my issue, they asked for photos which were sent and now we are again, waiting for a part.  It seems every project faces the inevitable delay. My work place is undergoing a floor remodel. Upheaval, dust, packing, lots of inconvenience and depending on the work crew's schedule dictate the next fe...
Post a Comment
Read more