Hey all!! Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks!! Life just gets rollin' and I don't have the desire to connect to the outside world!! It's been really busy at the pool with various programs and help is few and far between so we are all filling in the gaps where we can!! So here is the update!!...
We are already half way through the 2nd session of swim lessons, I can't even believe it. Time is flying. I have 9 kids in my upper level class and they are all lots of fun, I am getting creative on how to push them to new levels everyday. Then I have 14 little tykes just at the beginners level and I have gotten all but one to confidently touch the floor of the pool with one hand it swim a short distance kicking on their own. You'd never think it'd be so hard to get someone to let go of your hand!!!
I have taken the swim team to swim in the ocean twice and Fridays are fun days where we play water polo or have fun relays. Getting them to show up on time is almost as hard as getting them into the freezing pool. Last week we shared a lot about how strongly God desires to know us and how much he cares about us more then we can ever begin to understand. The choice to obediently follow His word is one we must make daily but the deep satisfaction it provides our souls is more than worth it.
As I've been in conversation with a few of the swimmers that I'm closest to, I'm realizing this past year has been full of loss for them. One lost his dad, another his grandfather, another her teacher and friend and her father was also in a car accident. This past year I lost my cousin to pancreatic cancer, and it was a really hard few months. Last week five girls who had come to a camp here were heading back to Santiago when they hit a bus. The bus carried them a long distance and two were killed, and one is still in serious condition. This was shocking to the church that hosted it. It reminds us how precious life is and there are no guarantees we will be here tomorrow. We need to confidently place out lives in God's hands and believe that Christ died for our sins and truly walk through life with Him guiding our steps. Our lives deeply matter to the Creator!! Our response should be a lifestyle of thanks!!
Thats Eurcharisto. God gives us gifts every single day. In every single moment. Ask yourself if you have opened your eyes to them...and thank him for them. For the laughter and hug of a child. For the phone call from your mom. For the the breeze. The kite flying in it. The emails from friends. The families sharing dinner. Sweeping and finding a heart shaped piece of paper. For sharing jokes til after midnight. For ice cream dripping out the bottom of your cone on a hot day. For amazing grace being sung at the campfire near your house and the tune flowing in the window like the sea breeze beside it. For three people on a surf board. For hugs and kisses from friends and words of love sent back. So many things. Big and little. They all matter!!! They are God's answer to our cry for mercy.
Last week I helped with another summer long program and a girl named Tabatha really took a liking to me. We played for hours in the pool and then she helped me clean the sides of the pool and I got to ask her about God and her understanding of Christ's sacrifice for us. She is a bundle of joy joy with every hug and laugh and kiss on the cheek.
Well my friend Raul has arrived to help me with the kids class so I'm off to help Augustine and Martin and Gabriel and Valentina, ages 2,3, and 4, learn to swim. My favorite part of the day!!!
1 Corinthians 2:2...look it up. Live it.
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