"Ready, Set, Go"

                                                                              

  

We are really blessed to have a place (actually a few places) that our family is free to swim on a regular basis in the summer time.

It is the next best thing to having our own pool...without all of the up keep. 

Again, we are truly grateful. 

One of the pools we frequent happens to be my favorite for several reasons.  It is ultra kid friendly.  The pool is big, really cold, and has a great slide.  The deep end has been filled in so that the entire pool is shallow.

This is especially great for me.  I don't have to be paranoid that someone is going to drown.  Ava is a great swimmer.  Zeke is just now really learning.  And Caroline...well...she is 11 years old with Cerebral Palsy.  So I kind of have to be hands-on with her all the time.

There are covered patios and swings and chairs that always make our visits so enjoyable.

Like clockwork, every summer, we spot a mama bird sitting on top of her carefully constructed bird's nest underneath the covered patio.

This summer was no different.

All summer we watched this bird sit on her eggs and do what mama birds do.

She protected them.
She never left her post.

Due to lots of rain and my mission trip we missed some time at the pool.  So those baby birds hatched without us getting to see them.

Luckily this past Monday we were able to glimpse the one baby bird that had not yet flown. 

The baby bird just stood still beside the nest.  It would stand up.  Sit down.  Stand up.  Sit down.  Ruffle its feathers.  Sit down.  Stand up.  Pace along the edge of the board.  Sit down.  Ruffle its feathers.

But it would not dare fly.

It wasn't time.

Its creator, God Almighty, had not whispered for it to take flight....YET.

We were able to go back to the pool the very next day. 

Of course my eyes immediately darted upward to the bird nest.  The nest was there just like it had been the day before.

The baby bird was not.

It had flown.

God had whispered "ready, set, go" to that seemingly inconsequential bird. 

I immediately thought of my sweet Caroline.

She is 11 years old. 

God has repeatedly told us that He plans to heal her.  I believe He will make her whole.

I believe her lame legs will walk.
I believe her mute mouth will speak.
I believe her listless head will rise.
I belive God, her Creator, will whisper "ready, set, go" to her ear and she will know to do what she couldn't just the day before.
Years of inability will not matter.  Years of faith will become sight.

As I lifted Caroline into the pool I whispered these things to her. 

I reminded her that the same little bird who was bound to the nest the day before was flying in the air today.

She giggled and laughed in her delicious way.

Her eyes met mine and we relished in the moment of believing together.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  Hebrews 13:8