Pool Times!

“Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool. Days are hot, days are cold, in the swimming pool. Side stroke, back stroke, fancy diving too….”

Sorry, that’s all I can remember… but that was part of a song that I sang when I took swimming lessons in the backyard of a big house with a funny lady who gave out Skittles, many years ago. In America, learning to swim and enjoying a relaxing day at the pool are things that we take for granted, along with many other things, because they are so readily available for us. However, here in Ghana where an underground pool is extremely hard to come by, we have been fortunate enough to expose our kids to the joys of a pool along with their first swimming lessons.

Thanks to a generous gift from back home (you know who you are), Elise and I have had the privilege of taking small groups of kids to a hotel pool in Accra for the past two Saturdays, and we will continue to do so until all have had the chance to go. It has really been a thrill to watch some of our kids, who with both feet on solid ground are as tough as they come, cling to you for dear life when brought out into the water. While the kids have been to the beach a couple of times before, the feeling of being completely submerged in water is something very foreign, and frankly quite frightening to them. In a funny way, this fear on their part has brought me a happiness that I did not anticipate. Due to their uncertainty with this new environment, the kids tend to express quite often and quite loudly that they need me… and feeling needed feels good. That is a satisfaction that I have never felt before, but I’m going to venture a guess that most mothers out there can relate. However, I must also say that I have been very impressed and proud of how quickly they have picked up the basics and how rapidly their confidence can return. It is such a fun experience that I am so glad to have the ability to share with them!

This week’s boy is someone who is quite precious to me, whose first impressions are not always the greatest, but who has a heart of gold! His name is Enoch and he is a 7 year old boy with more energy than should be contained in only one child. Though his attention span is not long and that often gets him in trouble, he wants so badly and tries so hard to do the right thing. He is a young boy whose character is solid and I can’t wait to see what the Lord does with him in the future!