The Joy of Laughter

Last summer I taught swim lessons on Tues and Thurs. The season of lessons has started once again. I enjoy teaching the lessons because it is easy and good money. However there are other reasons I enjoy it. I have had the priviledge of watching a 5 year old boy overcome his fear of water and actually learn to swim. I had never started a lesson with someone that green. By the end of last summer he could swim part of a length of the pool. It was a great joy for him to be able to keep up with his older brother.

This season I have 2 little girls that bring joy to me. The first is a 3 almost 4 year old who smiles throughout the whole lesson. Even when she goes under and struggles to reach out for my hand, she smiles. Too bad that when life makes us feel like we are drowning we do not have a smile on our face as we reach out for our Saviour. We wonder why the Saviour was not there to prevent us from drowning or at least to keep us from going under further than we felt comfortable with. Nonetheless, we still smile when we are once again brought up from the bottom.
The second girl is 4 year old girl. Our first lesson was pretty silent except for her sweet voice singing O Channukah, O Channukah. Too bad I don' know those words. The lesson we had today was a very different lesson. She was laughing while letting go little by little of her extremely hard grip on my arms. The joy she was finding of the freedom of letting go. The little girl was yet another example to me in the joy she found of letting go. Do I ever find that freedom? And if I do ,do I laugh with joy or cringe in fear? More than likely letting go and Trusting , I cringe. But I have a teacher who is very capable and loving to help me laugh ,one day ,in that freedom.
A couple weekends ago we decided to get out Elizabeth's golf clubs. Of course they are plastic but her daddy sure had fun trying to teach her.