The Parable of the Pool

Just some more of my thoughts. I wanted to record this where i could find it, before I forgot it altogether. About 4 summers ago we bought an above ground swimming pool, it's 16ft. in diameter and 3.5 ft in depth. The first time in the pool Wesley fought it, and even with a life jacket on he clung to me with his arms wrapped tightly around my neck and cried. With floaties, however, he was finally able to have fun and not cling to my neck.

After days of going in the pool, Wesley got really good. Then he realized that he could touch and would walk around the pool and have fun without a life jacket or floaties on his arms. Then one day we added more water.

The next time we went out to go swimming, I knew that the water was deeper than Wesley was ready for so on the way out I convinced him to put on a life jacket. He finally decided to put it on and climbed into the pool. He quickly realized that the water was deeper than before, but the life jacket kept him from going under. However, the new situation made him a bit nervous and he clung to me for a little while. But he soon realized that he was ok with the jacket on. After a while he figured out that he could stand on his tippy-toes and tilt his head up and still touch without his jacket, and off he went to have a great time.

As I watched this process unfold I couldn't help but wonder about how our Heavenly Father feels as he watches, nudges, and helps us from beyond the veil. He has given and continues to give us all the tools and help that we need to get through the trials he knows we will face.

Just as Wesley was scared the first time in the pool, we are scared as we face a trial we know is there. We cling to what we know and hopefully to the Lord, and cry, not knowing or realizing that he has already given us what we need to succeed and have fun. When faced with a new calling or new trial we are first overwhelmed with what lays ahead. But as we strive to do it anyway, staying in the pool, little by little we realize that we do have what it takes, and then we learn that we can touch, and off we go. However in life, as in the pool, nothing stays the same. Eventually the water will rise.

I'm always amazed, humbled, and feel truely blessed when I react to a prompting, or even just in keeping the commandments, I find myself prepared for a trial that I didn't even know was there. I'm sure the Lord knowing what lays ahead of us is always trying to convince us to put this "Jacket" on. " Yes, I know you didn't need it last time, but you may need it this time". And if we listen we may feel a bit unsettled or a little overwhelmed by the new situation but then quickly realize that if we stand on our tippy-toes, and tilt out heads back we can stay above the water and continue on, and even find joy in the journey. Then there are always the times we might not listen and find ourselves drowning for an instant, before we reach up and take the before offered "jacket". Thankfully even when we don't listen Heavenly Father, like mothers at the pools edge, is always there to help and pull us up. I'm so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who prepares and helps me through my trials, the known and the unknown, in this journey of life. He even knew from the beginning that we would need a savior, and prepared the way. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ.