Swim to the duck

It's amazing how strong people can be when they have to be.

Even at the age of 3.

I've been teaching swim lessons the past couple of weeks to a precious little boy named Carter, and he's not the biggest fan of going under the water. In fact, last week, the first thing he said to me when I walked through the door was, "I don't want to go under the water!" Obviously that lesson started off on a positive note. Would you be surprised if I told you he spent most of that lesson crying and screaming at the top of his lungs that he didn't want to go under the water? I felt bad for the neighbors and really hoped none of them were at home. Otherwise they might have thought some form of torture was going on in that nice backyard in the suburbs.

When I left that day, after enduring half an hour of tears and his attempts of trying to hit me on occasion, Carter said, "See you tomorrow! I love you!"

My heart melted.

Even though that sweet little boy had just been a terror in the pool, he was only acting so because of the overwhelming sense of fear he had. As I was getting into my car, I decided the next day I would need to earn his complete trust before he would be willing to believe he could swim on his own. So, the following lesson, I took on a new approach as we eased our way into the water with different activities of splashing, blowing bubbles, and pretend kicking our feet. And each time I made him try some form of swimming activity—whether it was using his kick board, floating, swimming to the top of the water, or swimming out to me—I found that he would be willing to do it if I said, "Well, let's just try it once first." After that, he would usually be willing to try it again another time—after he clapped for himself and told himself he was an all-star, of course.

Be bold.

I was so proud of Carter after that lesson, because he was more willing to try new things. He trusted me that I wouldn't let him drown if he was struggling, and he started to trust himself more in the process.

And then today that little boy just blew me away.

Carter has a new tiny rubber duck with a fireman hat, and he was so overjoyed as he showed it to me right before the lesson. So, after we had practiced his swimming for a bit, I thought it would be a good idea to bring that duck in the water, too. Carter would have to swim to the duck. I had never seen him so happy and willing to try, and he gave it his all as he swam from the step, and I kept moving the duck farther and farther. He swam the entire length of the pool all on his own! He almost started crying when I told him what he had just done—because I think he realized the enormity of the situation and felt like his entire life was in tremendous danger—but when I assured him it was a good thing and asked, "Isn't that awesome?!" he kept a small frown but said, "Yeah, it is."

And he wasn't lying.

Even as an innocent little 3-year-old, Carter is learning what it means to be bold. If he sits on the side and doesn't even try, he won't ever learn to swim. But if he lets courage take the wheel, and he keeps kicking his legs and using those toddler arms to drive himself through the water, he's going to get to his duck and be a great little swimmer. He had no idea he was swimming the whole pool—all he knew was that he was swimming toward me (who had the duck). And, as I kept backing up, he just kept swimming, trusting that I knew what I was doing and that he would get there and be fine.

We don't always know where God is leading us in life, and it can be scary to have to follow Him. But if we just keep swimming toward Him, trusting that He knows what He's doing and that He is good, we will get to where we need to be. There are so many great things to be accomplished in life—whether it's saving lives, impacting nations, changing careers, pursuing dreams that seem so hard to achieve, giving your heart away to another, or simply swimming the length of your own pool.

But you won't ever get the duck if you're not bold enough to take off and swim there.