It's a very hot day here, so I was thinking of summer and all the things God teaches me through summer activities. And I thought of this story of swimming, and panic, and thinking you're drowning … and how Bryan taught Joelle how to breathe. So I remembered how to breathe too, when the waters seem to be closing in around me, when I want to panic, when I'm flailing about in life.
Maybe you'll find this story helpful too, and remember how to find your breath, even when you feel like you're drowning:
A FEW INCHES OF WATER
Sometimes parents are right. This was one of those times.
Joelle
paddled around the shallow end of the pool with a long, skinny floater tucked
under her arms. She made a few circles then
headed for the far end of the pool.
I
watched her go. Past the ladder, past
her sisters, past the light that marked the end of the area where she was
allowed to swim. “Don’t go in the deep
end!” I called out the warning after her.
“Stay where you can touch bottom.”
She
didn’t turn.
“Joelle!”
I
started to go after her.
My
husband, Bryan, touched my arm. “Give
her a minute. She’ll learn.”
Joelle
glanced back at me. “I’ll be all right,
Mommy. I’ve got my floatie.”
“You
could let go of it, and it would float away.”
She
turned back around away. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Stay
out of the deep end.”
But
of course she didn’t. Soon after, the
floatie had drifted off and there was Joelle, floundering, gasping, sputtering
in the deep end of the pool. Arms
flailed, water splashed. And the floatie
moved even further from her reach.
Bryan
shook his head and went after her. A
moment later, he’d hauled her back to the shallow end.
Joelle
trembled, and wailed, and hung on to her Daddy.
He
sighed. “Well, what did Mommy tell you?”
“Waaaaa!” She buried her head deeper in his neck and
refused to look.
He
loosened her grip from around him and placed a finger under her chin. “You’re all right. Next time listen to Mommy.”
She
sniffed and nodded. “I was
s-s-s-scared.”
Bryan
smiled at her. “I know. Now, let’s practice how to float, in case that
ever happens again.”
So
they did. They practiced being still,
letting her body float at the top of the water, and raising her head above the surface
to breathe. No flailing, no panic.
The
strange thing is, bodies are buoyant. Yet
people still drown with their noses a couple inches from air. Joelle had gasped
and thrashed when all she really needed to do was calm down, stop flailing, and
raise her face above the level of the water.
She
only had to lift her chin and look up.
I
wonder if it’s not often like that in life as well. We do something foolish, and we start to
drown in our mistakes. But God doesn’t
abandon us. He’s given us what we need
to float. We just have to listen when he
says to "Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV) All we’d really have to do is look up, look to
Him, and we’d find our head above water.
We’d be okay.
But
instead we panic. We flail about in fear
and desperation. And all the while God
is swimming toward us, calling out to us to just look up.
The
Bible says in Psalm 121 (NIV), “I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my
help come from? My help comes from the
LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth… The LORD watches over you … The LORD will
keep you from all harm. He will watch
over your life; the LORD will watch over
your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
God
is not far. There’s no need to
panic. Instead, we just need to be still
and look to Him.
So,
next time I feel the waters rising, next time I find myself flailing around in
fear, I hope to remember the lesson of Joelle’s trip to the deep end. I hope to remember to stop panicking, look
up, and breathe in the peace of God.
Because my Father in heaven is there with me. He won’t let me drown. He’s given me what I need to stay afloat in
all the circumstances of life.
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