by “Can you get into the pool?” Kate asked.
“Of course I can get into the pool,” the boy replied. He proceeded to get climb down the ladder into the water below. “See?”
“Good. Now come over here to me,” she instructed. The boy made his way over to her. It was an experience that the boy hadn’t had in years. To have that much water surrounding his body was a curious sensation. Something that he would take some time getting used to.
“So, how does it feel?”
“Different. I haven’t done this in a long time!”
“Well, here. Let me show you some strokes.” She swims to the right and starts to demonstrate different strokes as the boy watches on. She goes back and forth with seemingly effortless motion.
“You expect me to do that?!”
“Well, not right at first. Let’s try this. Hold on to this,” she instructs, as they both turn to grab onto a piece of metal bar that is on the side of the pool, “and see if you can float.” He held onto the bar, and his feet went up.
The night continued on, as Kate tried to teach the boy how to at least tread water. His insecurity about the whole thing made it difficult, as he didn’t want to trust the water below him.
“Can you stick your head under water?”
“I think so. Let’s see.” He quickly stuck his head under and brought it back up. “That was weird. I was scared.”
“Why? I wouldn’t let you drown.”
“I know that, but still…”
At one point, she tried to get him to do the back float while he held on to two bars. “Okay, now all you have to do is to keep your belly button pointed to the sky. Can you let go with one hand. I’ll keep my hand on your back.” So he let go with one hand, but didn’t know what to do with it. The floating feeling was strange, and he felt he had no control. He placed his hand on her back, to get support, just as the life guard called for everyone out of the water.
As Christians, we must trust God with all of our heart. It is not an easy thing, yet with practice, turning one’s life over to Him can result in a wonder of how we ever lived without Him. Of all people, He is the One that loves us the most, and gave us His Son to die for us. Like the boy in the story, we can trust Him with our lives, yet, too often we need to have control of the situation ourselves. To give Him all things is to secure all things, so why is it so difficult? We must learn to deny ourselves if we want to be fit for His service.
