swimming lessons

I love my pool. It can’t be put up soon enough or left up long enough for me. Granted when it first goes up in the spring the weather isn’t adequately warm to heat the water but I climb down the latter ignoring the icy sensations crawling up my spine. This isn’t hard for me as I’m always ignoring things, like stop lights and yield signs. The minute my feet touch bottom I start running in place and swinging my water barbells. Water splashes on my back and upper arms causing me to question my intelligence, (okay, those of you that know me can keep your thoughts to yourselves, please!) After a few moments I spread my legs lowering my upper body deeper into the liquid, still swinging my barbells, heating up my blood, merging with the H2O, becoming adapted to the nippiness. Or maybe I’m actually heating the pool, being the hot dynamo that I am! (Bear in mind I said keep your thoughts to yourself!)

Before long I don’t remember the frostiness of the water and I’m fully submerged up to my neck, working out and expending calories. I feel myself getting into shape, building muscles as I work against the resistance of the water.

Then the weather evolves into summer with triple digit numbers (if you are still using the Fahrenheit scale). The water becomes refreshing from the get go. I run laps around the perimeter in one direction then the other after I generate a miniature whirl pool creating resistance to build up cardiovascular health. Then I switch to leg kicks, paddling, stationary swimming (I’ll let you figure out how I do that but as a hint it requires a rope tied to the pool’s side and my waist). I sit on my noodles (long foam thing-a-ma- gadgets, not my brains) and do stationary bicycling. I mean I really use the pool for a good healthy work out.

Then comes fall with lower evening temperatures that can’t sustain the pool’s summer warmth. I enter the pool with the same trepidation I had in the spring. After a brief workout of jogging and arm swinging I’m ready to dunk myself and start stretching out the old muscles, (it’s funny how my muscles have aged quicker that the rest of me, I wonder if there was a muscle recall by the manufacturer that I missed! ) Once again, before long I’m so accustomed to the pool’s temperature I don’t want to get out. I eventually climb onto my float and just bob about on the waves I spawn by kicking my feet, getting so relaxed I have to coax myself out to get other unimportant things done, like the laundry, dinner, cleaning, ect, ect. I’m sure by October my neighbors are all wondering if it’s time to call for the men with the butterfly nets; the human size butter fly nets. Really, if I ever see men walking up the streets with a net big enough to catch people I’m locking myself inside with a weapon that trumps their net!

Now, where am I going with this story? I’m sure you’re not interested in thinking of me in a bathing suit splashing around in my back yard pool. Unless of course you’re a pervert interested in middle aged woman that look really fine! My point is, are you ready because this will really catch you off guard? My point is that swimming cycles remind me of bible studies. Wait! Don’t call for the men with the nets; remember I’m armed and dangerous.



Sometimes when I start reading the bible it’s cold and uninteresting, but when I start splashing around in the word it gets more heated up, I start swinging my arms and legs and fighting to get more of the word. Then comes summer where I’m really excited about getting into the word because I’ve built up my enthusiasm. The word has gotten hot and steaming and is ready to be served up. Then comes the fall, where I fall down on my studies and have to get re interested. Studying the word needs to be a disciplined practice with no room for excuses, sometimes it doesn’t come easy because of various seasonal distractions like football, baseball, ice hockey, parties, holidays, the opening season’s episodes of your favorite series, etc. But once I force myself to get my feet wet, then my torso, then get the word to circulate into my limbs, muscles, bone and blood I find it’s hard to put the bible down, it’s like glued to my hands, (maybe I shouldn’t eat gummy bears when reading the bible!)

So I challenge you to try getting wet this week and see how long it takes you to want to stay submerged in the word of God, floating around on his pool of love and wisdom. (That sounded to buttery even for me!)

P.S In the winter I go to the pool at the gym, even I have my limits, I may swim bare sometimes, but I’m not a polar bare, har, har.