Swimming lessons

*Splash*

The young girl hopped around, alone in the shallow end of a swimming pool, enjoying the feel of cool water on her skin. Unknown to her, she was slowly proceeding further towards the deeper end of the pool, while happily jumping about in the water.

Suddenly, she could no longer feel the floor under her feet. The depth of the pool increased abruptly at that point, and she plunged deep into the water.

She gasped in surprise, swallowing a mouthful of water. Panicking, she flapped her arms in desperation and kicked wildly. She didn't know how to swim! Waving her arms about, she tried to cry out in despair... but no sound emerged as she choked on another mouthful of water. Her lungs burned, and her sides hurt. The more she thrashed, the further she sank.

Finally, exhausted, she stopped struggling and resigned herself to fate. If she was to die in the watery depths, so be it. A sense of peace came over her, and she relaxed.

She sank deeper ... stopped... and started floating upwards. Soon, she could see the blurry surface of the water, and her head broke through to the air above. She coughed, and took a slow deep breath... the feeling of air rushing into her lungs brought a joy that was simply indescribable.

In her memory, she distantly recalled some lessons she'd learned on floating... To float, she needed to relax, breathe gently, and paddle slowly in the direction she wanted to go. So, doing all this, she slowly floated back to the shallow end, scrambled out of the pool, and sat at its edge.

Instead of avoiding the water, the girl made a silent resolution to take up swimming lessons. She never wanted to come close to drowning again, and wanted to be able to swim fearlessly in the deep end of the pool someday. She realised it was her wild and directionless thrashing that had caused her to sink deeper back then.

*Splash*

Several years later, the young lady plunged into the deep end of another swimming pool, one that was much deeper than the pool she had nearly drowned in a few years ago. With strong and controlled strokes, she dived to the bottom of the pool, swam back up, did several somersaults halfway through (just for fun), then swam back to the edge of the pool. Easy.

And from that experience, she learned the importance of preparation and the importance of lifeguards.

There was little difference between the shallow and deep ends of a swimming pool... same pool, same water... only the depths were different. However, the danger didn't lie in the different depths, but in the lack of preparation to go from one depth to another. If she never learned to 'swim', it would be difficult or even dangerous to go from 'shallow water' to 'deeper water'.
Moreover, she could learn to just float around ... but she could now do so much more in both the shallow and deep ends if she learned how to swim too. Similarly in life, many situations require preparation and/or 'training' ... to equip, improve, and to widen horizons ...

Furthermore, no matter how skilled and able she may have been, there would also be times that she could encounter difficulties when 'swimming' (such as muscle cramps). Lifeguards would be there to keep an eye out for her, and to help if she (or others) might be in any danger. Similarly in life, she needed to have people whom she could be accountable to, to help keep an eye out for her, keep her on the right track, and to turn to in times of need.

The young lady doesn't swim as often as she did before. However, she continues to remember the small lessons that she learned as a little girl who'd nearly drowned before, but who has now learned to swim through life.

Somewhere Out There

A picture paints a thousand words... So I'll let the photographs tell the story of my weekend... (didn't originally plan to comment that much, but so much for that ;)

~~~
Had a steamboat dinner at Danielle's place on Saturday night. Caught up with the group who helped reach out to some China friends who had come over for an Intensive English Program. Our friends from China have since returned after their one-month stay, but even though the time we spent with them was short, it would hopefully have made a difference to their lives, and the seeds that have been planted would be able to take root and grow. May tell more in another entry...

As usual, there was food, glorious food... lots of meat, so the carnivore in me was quite satisfied :)

And much sharing and laughter throughout the night :)

The guys did the washing up! Heehee (While the gals packed the remaining food and prepared the desserts)

Enoch pondered whether to stay for a movie, while David pondered the ingredients of BBQ sauce :)

~~~

Sent two friends off on Sunday afternoon. Mindy, who graduated last year, came to re-visit Adelaide for a week, and had to return to Singapore to continue work as a hospital speech pathologist. And William, who graduated last semester, and was returning back to Malaysia. Two friends who have made an impact on those around them, and have shared and spoken into the the lives of those who knew them.

It's easy to overlook the impact of a person's life. But it is at farewells that you really see the magnitude of the ties of friendships made, and the difference that one friend has made in the lives of many others. You see the closeness of the community, and the ties that have been built along the way...

There were many tears and sad farewells from those sending William off, while Mindy just smiled... After all, she'd graduated and gone back last year. It was probably difficult to leave back then, and now it probably wasn't that hard to leave again this time, although it would probably never be easy to do so. Having been a returnee too, several years back, I was struck by the pertinence of being prepared for the end of uni life. Few people realise the importance of preparing ourselves for returning back home, or even for graduating from uni... It's different, life as a returnee. How we handle it often depends on preparation, flexibility, and trusting in the plans that God has ultimately... Letting go (but not forgetting) and moving on, relying on His grace and strength along the way, and letting Him lead the path into a new chapter.

Reach out, Build up, Send back... Praying as one, for William, as he is sent back, to live out the purposes that God has for him back in his home country.

~~~

That evening, had dinner and brainstorming with OCF exco and convention reps. LaiKuannie blessed us with her mushroom soup and spaghetti... more food :) On another note, while brainstorming, passion can be wonderfully infectious :)

Also filled the house with sweet music, singing along to 'Imagine' by John Lennon, and 'Somewhere out there' from the cartoon 'An American Tail'. And I have video clip(s) of them singing, by the way ;) Hee hee...

The lyrics to the song 'Somewhere out there' sort of encapsulates the themes from the weekend... in a way. Our friends who returned to China, all our friends and returnees in their home countries, OCFers and students in different campuses...

Somewhere out there,

beneath the pale moonlight,

someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight

.

Somewhere out there,

someone's saying a prayer,

that we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there

.

And even though I know how very far apart we are,

it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star.

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,

it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky

.

Somewhere out there,

if love can see us through,

then we'll be together,

somewhere out there,

out where dreams come true.

- 'Somewhere Out There' , from 'An American Tale'

We may be far apart, but we're all still 'underneath the same big sky'. And God works in each and every one, for He transcends all physical distances and boundaries...

Slow Dance

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a
butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun
into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask
How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

~~~


Have been taking time to just live life in the real world,
which has meant occasional short disappearances from the blogging world...

So apologies for that short hiatus, it's been an intense, fruitful, interesting, eventful, challenging, meaningful, and fulfilling time. Many experiences shared, many lessons learnt... good ones, difficult ones, and much stepping out of comfort zones. May they never be forgotten...

On the other hand, I am falling deeper into debt... a very deep *sleep debt*. And the way things are going, it doesn't look like I'll be repaying it anytime soon either. Dark rings and eyebags have become quite constant companions in my life :)

It's all quite general and vague here, there's so much to say, I don't quite know where to start, haha. Will try to post more detailed updates soon... I promise :)