Our family recently took a vacation to Navarre Beach, Florida down in the panhandle and it was actually just what the doctor ordered. Number one, spending time with family is just about my favorite thing to do, and second, listening to the waves, burying my toes in the sand, and playing around with our grandchildren from sun up till late in the evening leaves all of your worries in the rolling ocean tide. Well our one granddaughter, Ivy Ann wanted to spend more time in the pool area while I wanted to be down in the ocean most of the time, simply because as I explained to Ivy, if all we wanted to do was swim in a pool we could have done that without driving 10 hours to the beach. That worked with an eight-year old about like me explaining why it’s important to eat leafy green vegetables instead of chicken nuggets! That whole back and forth with Ivy did make me think quite a bit about the paradox of swimming in a pool or swimming in an ocean such as the Gulf of Mexico, and that led to today's Flat Tire Ministries thought for the week.
For me, the choice was a no-brainer. I love snorkeling, diving into the waves, and trying not to get overtaken by the "Big Kahuna". There is nothing like laying in a chair under an umbrella watching and listening to the waves as they crash and then roll almost right up to your feet. To see the expansiveness of the ocean and realize that even beyond the horizon the ocean’s waters can carry us around the world is a day dreamer’s paradise. For Ivy, on the other hand, I guess the pool offers a certain level of comfort and safety that she didn't feel while she was out in the ocean. The likelihood of a wave knocking you over and rolling you up on the beach, the inability to see the bottom of the ocean, and the fact that critters such as jellyfish and sharks live there can make for a certain degree of reluctance and hesitation when interacting with the ocean. A swimming pool has boundaries, offers clear visibility where you are swimming, and markers on the side walls of a swimming pool offer information about how deep the water you are getting ready to swim is. I can see where pools would probably be more appealing to a child, it’s just to me pools offer a limited amount of opportunities to challenge yourself and the opportunity to explore and experience a new wave almost constantly doesn't exist in a swimming pool.
We face this same choice in life. We can choose to stay safe and swim around in the pool knowing where we are going, or even more so limiting ourselves with boundaries that keep us in a "safe zone". In our life's swimming pool we like to be able to see where the bottom of the pool is and to have signs on the side that warn us with "No Diving" and "No Lifeguard on Duty". Pools keep us safe with chemicals to balance the condition of the water and in some cases pools even have heaters that control the temperature of the water making it more comfortable and inviting. No wonder Ivy wanted to stay in the pool all day!
Life is safe in the pool, if we aren't good swimmers we stay in the shallow end and ladders or steps are easily accessible if we want to get out of the pool, but life wasn't meant to be so measured and "safe". We make progress by challenging ourselves out in the waves of life. When we don't know exactly where the bottom is and we have to exert extra effort to keep from going under that is where we get stronger and we learn to swim a little better or else. Sure it’s safe to swim in life's wading pool, but we weren't created to swim inside a four-cornered watery box.
I'll have to admit when I would finally agree to head up to our property's swimming pool it was quite a bit easier to supervise Ivy. I didn't really have to worry about her getting carried off with the tide or Jaws surfacing at any moment so I could almost nod off a little while she played in the end of the pool that wasn't over her head. But, that's swimming, not life. I don't want to live a life that has set parameters that keep me from moving on to bigger and better waves. I want to swim out to the place that's over my head and then ride that Big Kahuna in to the beach. Where’s your Big Kahuna? Are you swimming in the kiddie pool of life and limiting yourself and your capabilities? If you need some swimming lessons on how to challenge yourself and to move on out of that box you are doing laps in then make the move to get out of the pool and in to the ocean that is waiting for you to make the dive! You are not alone, our Heavenly Lifeguard is always with us. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
Going deep! Coach Carter
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