As part of my rebranding- I’ve decided to add a few more blog posts to my rotation.  I want to give you all a chance to know who I am, what makes me tick, and what my life looks like.  I’ll be sharing little snippets (like today’s) to let you delve a little bit further into my world.  It may be something that inspires me, something that has challenged or changed me, or just something quirky. I hope you’ll enjoy these posts as much as I do!

My Momma Sue

I grew up with a mom who swam wherever we went.  Staying at a hotel with a pool was a necessity on vacation.  Their hours of operation were regularly fudged for the extra swim.  Even now, she’s almost always the first person you see swimming the lake in March, and the last in October.  Our family has a plethora of hilarious stories about her love for swimming.  She’s climbed over a few fences to swim, both figuratively and literally.

I never understood swimming, growing up.  The idea was just so boring- you can’t talk, you can’t listen to music, you can’t travel- you just swim.  It’s just you and the water. The end. Every now and then, I would swim laps with her in the pool or sometimes even the lake.  She swam circles around me- still does, actually.  I never got hooked, and I always preferred a raft to goggles.

Then, last summer, I grew frustrated with the inconsistency of my running and workouts.  The Floridian temperatures were unrelenting.  I would wake up too late to run in the morning, and evening plans habitually botched the idea of a night run. I was in search of an outdoor summer workout unaffected by the scorching heat.

So I swam.

And I thought I would hate it. I thought I would get bored instantaneously.  I thought I wouldn’t be able to swim very far.

I was wrong, very wrong. I didn’t swim fast, but I could swim. And it was wonderful. I discovered the magic of the water—the escape from the hustle and bustle.  Unlike other workouts that involve other people, music and conversation, I found myself getting lost in the rhythm of the laps.  I got to process my thoughts without distraction.  To pray through requests I had been putting off.  To refocus my day.  Unlike the naivety of childhood, when the cares of the world and responsibility were far too distant to contemplate—my heart now not only can appreciate the break, but welcomes it.

The water is soothing.  Each touch of the wall and turn brings a new, rippling wash over my body and mind.

I remember watching my mom getting out of the pool as a child, looking so uplifted and rejuvenated.  Even now, when she comes to visit, I still see her smile grow and her face light up as she eases out of the water. I understand that smile now, or at least a part of it. And that delights my heart.