When I left the pool back in October, I can honestly say I didn’t really expect to be in an aquatic environment until I was back in America. I found myself missing it often over the course of the last few months.
When we showed up to Lasting Impressions for ministry this month, I was surprised to see a pool at the camp. I was SO excited.
It got even better though when our host asked me to teach swim lessons to the preschool kids. I about died because my heart was so full.
As I was having them jump in at the end of class today I was laughing because of their reactions. There were of course the kids that jumped in without a doubt of a hesitation that I would catch them at the bottom. There were the kids that were so scared to jump; they wouldn’t let go of my hands, and then there were the in between kids that had to be reassured that I would be there to catch them.
Yesterday, our team was asked to share a message at afternoon seminar for the campers. We looked around at each other wondering who would volunteer. I could feel what the result would be but after confirmation from two of my teammates, I knew that it was going to be me.
Public speaking is something that I am not a fan of and by that I actually mean I’m afraid.
After much time spent with the Lord though, I felt confident enough to step in front of a crowd of high school seniors to teach them the little that I know about leadership.
Being new to the camp, we have had to go through orientation on a lot of the activities we may have to do while leading campers. This included things like team building exercises or new games to do to grow the campers.
Last week before the campers came, we had the opportunity to help Chelsea practice belaying on the power pole by of course taking part in it. Gulp. Heights. That’s my fear. I was firm in the fact that I wasn’t going to participate, and I was perfectly content in that. That is until my whole team decided they would actually do it, and the Lord decided that was a good time to talk to me about not letting fear run my life.
Yep. I got up and did it. I can’t say I did it without grumbling, and I probably wouldn’t do it again, but I decided fear wasn’t going to run my life.
I was pondering that thought as I was helping these little preschoolers jump into the pool. The Lord reminded me that sometimes it’s okay to need to hold His hand as you jump, but other times it’s way more fun when you just trust Him and jump without hesitation.
