From time to time, I have the joy of helping a child learn to float. It always takes a while. First, I lean back into the water and relax and let the water hold me up for a minute or two. It looks easy, so she wants to try. I stand in the water beside her and slowly help her to lie back, but the relaxing part doesn’t come easily. She tenses every muscle, just in case. I keep reminding her that my hands are under her back and that I won’t let go until she is ready. She nods, still tense, her eyes big and pleading. We take breaks. We practice. After a while (an hour or a day or a week), she is ready. Slowly, I let go and she relaxes into the water, her little face is alight with the joy and relief of floating.
“Having faith in God is like leaning back into water, relaxing and finding that the water holds you up.” Br. David Vryhof
“Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will be held up.” 2 Chronicles 20:20
Father, I am small, too. Please teach me to float again today. Give me the courage to practice, little by little, letting you hold me up--and, with me, all the people I love and the work of our hands and our tender heartaches.