Miracle Stories
The Unforgettable Swimming Lesson
by Dan Blankenship
I can remember the day I learned how to swim like it happened just yesterday. Of course the reason I recall the event so well is because it wasn’t actually a planned lesson. Yes, I was one of those lucky people who mastered the art of treading water through a sudden introduction to an excess of the molecules surrounding my entire body.
Let me start at the beginning.
My father, searching for a good paying job after leaving the Air Force, moved from Alabama to Indiana in the late fifties and took a job at one of the local steel mills. By the time I was born, the steelworkers union had become a strong organization. And when I was just a young tike, the union had pushed through almost thirteen weeks vacation time for some of the steelworkers. This allowed my family to travel and enjoy this amazing country we live in. From California to Maine, there is not much of this country I have not had the opportunity to examine first hand.
Many of the hotels where we enjoyed luxurious accommodations, of course, had nice swimming pools. I do not remember my exact age, but I do remember that I was quite young – possibly four or five years old – when I discovered that it was possible to slip through the inflated swim ring that had kept my head above water time after time during my visits to many a concrete pond.
I lined up in front of the deep end of the pool, as I always did, ran a few quick steps, jumped as high and far as I could, and waited for my small body to cause a huge splash, which would completely soak my parents with over-chlorinated water. I don’t think I ever managed to get a drop of water on them, but they liked to amuse me with wild stories about how my incredibly gifted splashing abilities had nearly drowned them. I didn’t even comprehend the meaning of the word drown.
When I hit the water, I immediately realized something had gone wrong. Normally, I would go slightly under the water, and then the air-filled swimming ring would return me to the surface, which kept me alive and well for future splashing assaults on my parents. But this time, something had gone incredibly wrong. The inflatable ring had failed to keep me safe, and as I torpedoed toward the bottom of the deep end, I remembered that I had heard humans couldn’t breathe water.
Looking up from the bottom of the pool, I could see blurred, puffy, solid white clouds just beyond a large donut. Only it wasn’t a donut. It was the ring, safe and sound at the top of the water. And it was then that I realized that I was on my own.
Having never tried swimming before, I was unsure about what to do next. Then I remembered that I had seen my father actually float on the surface of the water just by leaning back and letting his legs float up so that he was level with the water. As I lay there on the bottom of the pool, valuable seconds passing by, I realized that floating might work for my father and the inflatable ring, but it was not an option for me.
Unsure of why my parents had not jumped into rescue me at this point, I decided not to waste valuable energy trying to figure out their lack of motivation. It was quite possible that they were still recovering from the giant splash I had sent their way. If I was going to survive my predicament, it was going to be by my own doing.
Now here is where things got weird. Even though I was in a situation I had never encountered before, with absolutely no idea of what to do next, a sudden calm washed over me. It was as if an angel had jumped in the water with me, gently guiding my thoughts and actions. First, without even knowing exactly why, I planted my feet firmly on the bottom of the concrete pool and squatted down low. Next, I looked for the closest wall of the pool, which was to my left. I then pushed off from the bottom of the pool with all the energy I could muster, and from out of nowhere, I decided to start waving my hands down toward the floor of the pool, the same way a bird flaps its wings. I also started moving my legs, almost in the same way as when I rode my bicycle – the one that still had training wheels. I noticed the clouds weren’t so blurry now.
When I got closer to the wall of the pool, I used my left hand to pull myself up faster. The wall was made of very rough concrete, which allowed me to get enough traction increase my upward momentum. If I had a time machine and could go back and look at my face during that moment, I am sure I would see a giant smile spreading across my face. As I reached the top of the water and sucked in a much-needed breath of fresh air, I realized that I had actually been under water only a few seconds. My mother and father were right there to ask me if I was okay.
I don’t remember my exact response, but I do remember that was the day I decided to introduce my inflatable ring to a new home. Today, I imagine that former necessity, having served its short-lived purpose, is buried under thirty-five years of garbage and dirt, possibly even an 18-hole golf course created by a new country club. A country club with a swimming pool, possibly. And, quite possibly, as this story is being read, there is probably a youngster jumping into the deep end, completely unaware that he is about to experience his first swimming lesson, whether he wants to or not.
It was this unplanned swimming lesson that taught me a valuable lesson about life. We often see the situations we find ourselves in as hopeless, scary, and never-ending. Whether it is the death of a loved one, finances completely out of control, or a relationship that has fallen apart, we often forget that we must hold onto hope. Psalm 42:5-6 (NIV) says, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed with me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
When I get into situations that seem insurmountable, I remember that day at the pool. I remember seeing the blurred clouds above the top of the water, and I think about how I believed that I would never see them as they truly were again.
I remember how a few seconds felt like many minutes. And I remember the fear and bleakness easing away as I decided to hold onto hope.
I remember having a strange feeling of regret for doubting that my parents were on the way to rescue me. And I remember the extreme joy of seeing them at the edge of the pool.
Romans 5:1-11 (NIV) encourages us, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Is there any tragedy or predicament that our God can’t overcome?
I don’t know if an angel actually helped me learn to swim. But I am sure of this; upon entering the glorious Kingdom of Heaven, if I ever run into an angel who claims to have been my swimming instructor on that fateful day, I will have to give him a nickname that accurately describes his performance some thirty-five years ago: Hope. I hope he doesn’t mind.
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