I am playing my own little version of Throwback Thursday. I invited someone to pick a number between 1 and 500. My friend Heidi picked 231; this, kids, is post 231. And I don't know why I'm surprised to find God extremely in the details. What I wrote almost three years to the day ago is exactly what I needed to hear right now. I hope you hear Him speak to you, too.
Click here to read Humbled Again.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The Water Calls
She stood on the deck, feeling the cool textured tile beneath her feet, wondering how it would feel to get back in the water. What would it mean? Would she be a swimmer again? Would she just be someone who occasionally showed up at the pool, not often enough to be a familiar face to the regulars? Did it matter what the others thought she was?
She poised on the edge, adjusting her goggles, her heart beating a bit faster as the water seemed to consider her as well. She closed her eyes and felt her arms slicing through the aqua glass surface in the rhythm her body knew but her mind had tucked away. A swimmer was who she used to be; that person had been packed up with other pursuits that hadn't seemed practical or realistic.
Sitting on the edge, her feet breaking the surface of the water, she slowly slid her body into the waiting depths, the temperature stealing her breath for a moment. She splashed some water on her arms, held her breath and ducked her head under. Stalling. She knew she was stalling. The other side was further away than she remembered.
"Give it up. You're not as strong as you used to be. You don't belong here anymore." She shook her head, trying to escape the grip of fear and panic that was just as tangible as the water she was standing in. She steadied her breathing and adjusted her goggles one last time, knowing there was only one way to silence the self-defeating voice in her head. She knew whose voice it was and knew it didn't belong to the One who called her to the pool.
Setting her mouth in a thin line, she stretched her arms out in front of her and kicked off from the wall. Left, right, left, turn and breathe. Left, right, left, turn and breathe. She continued the cadence until her fingertips grasped the wall at the opposite end of the lane. Removing her goggles, she turned and looked back to where she had stood only moments before. A grin spread across her face and she knew she was back where she belonged.
She poised on the edge, adjusting her goggles, her heart beating a bit faster as the water seemed to consider her as well. She closed her eyes and felt her arms slicing through the aqua glass surface in the rhythm her body knew but her mind had tucked away. A swimmer was who she used to be; that person had been packed up with other pursuits that hadn't seemed practical or realistic.
Sitting on the edge, her feet breaking the surface of the water, she slowly slid her body into the waiting depths, the temperature stealing her breath for a moment. She splashed some water on her arms, held her breath and ducked her head under. Stalling. She knew she was stalling. The other side was further away than she remembered.
"Give it up. You're not as strong as you used to be. You don't belong here anymore." She shook her head, trying to escape the grip of fear and panic that was just as tangible as the water she was standing in. She steadied her breathing and adjusted her goggles one last time, knowing there was only one way to silence the self-defeating voice in her head. She knew whose voice it was and knew it didn't belong to the One who called her to the pool.
Setting her mouth in a thin line, she stretched her arms out in front of her and kicked off from the wall. Left, right, left, turn and breathe. Left, right, left, turn and breathe. She continued the cadence until her fingertips grasped the wall at the opposite end of the lane. Removing her goggles, she turned and looked back to where she had stood only moments before. A grin spread across her face and she knew she was back where she belonged.
"He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24
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