A few weeks back, Hannah Grace asked to try joining the local swim team here. She's been going to swim team practice for a few weeks and tonight they had their first swim meet practice. I had never been to a swim meet or a swim meet practice. We were more of a baseball, football, and basketball kind of family.
This was new to me. The practice is important so that the swimmers get a feel for lining up, diving in at the sound of the start button, getting the feel of competition, and those kinds of things. I did not know there was a bullpen in swim meets. There are no bulls or relief pitchers in the bullpen. I think that's where the swimmers hang out that are not currently swimming. I did not ask someone why that was called a bullpen, but that would be a good question it seems to me. The swim meet is mostly the swimmers competing in different races. They suggested that we write what races Hannah Grace would be swimming in on her arm. That turned out to be a very helpful suggestion. That way, she did not have to keep up with papers or try to remember what race she was in. Just a glance down at the arm and there's the info. It's kind of like a quarterback glancing down to get the plays.
Hannah Grace enjoyed her first swim meet practice. The parents and coaches were very encouraging people. The swimmers did a good job of cheering for each other. They swim a lot. Hannah Grace swam in about 6 races (that's more than a real meet, but they needed to get times on the swimmers). She swam about 175 yards freestyle and 100 yards backstroke total. She was pretty tired and hungry afterwards. We were also proud of Joel. He did a great job of cheering for his sister.
I did not notice the tree on her head
Backstroke Hannah Grace
One thing I noticed about the swim meet was that it was not necessarily the first person in the pool that won but the person that finished first. Some would go strong for a while and then fade in the end while the stronger swimmers would catch up and pass them. Of course, this is what the practice meet is for; to let the swimmers kind of figure out how to pace themselves and things like that. The cool thing is that all the swimmers finished. Nobody quit in the middle of the race. Nobody quit because they got tired (though they were very tired). Everyone finished.
There is a great lesson that we adults can learn from these young swimmers. Finish strong! Don't quit. Don't give up. If someone is doing better than you or worse than you, keep doing your best. You will help the team by doing your best. Our "team" is the body of Christ. We have too many that get tired, discouraged, or see something else they would rather and get out of the pool, in a manner of speaking. They quit or get very weak. Some quit by stopping church attendance (or get very sporadic and are not contributing much), attend but simply go through the motions, quit striving to be Christlike, quit trying to lead others to Jesus, quit their marriage, quit forgiving people and I think you get my drift.
We might see Jesus tonight or tomorrow. We don't know how many days we have left or how much time before Jesus comes back. Let's finish strong! 1 Corinthians 15: 58- Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Continuing on for the abundant life
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. Smiles
2. 1 Corinthians 15:58
3. God is a giving God
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