I'll Never Be Michael Phelps

One of my new teammates is a Masters Swimmer and a swim trainer. Since she was nine years old she has been competing in swim meets and does really well in distance swimming. Never having been taught to swim I asked her to train me. She has become a coach instead. I've been swimming now for about four weeks. Parts of my body ache that have never ached before but I enjoy it so much that I am a little upset I had to wait until my 30s to learn about swimming.

There are a lot of little details that go into swimming. You have to breathe and move at the same time. Most people reading this will be probably think the last sentence is a little dumb, but breathing and moving in sync while counting and making sure that all of your body movements are positioned correctly is not like walking and breathing on a daily basis. The details make the movement perfect and when the details are left out or forgotten then the stroke, the kick, the speed, etc just don't make the lap as smooth. Not only that but every time I learn something new I am being stretched in a different way. For example, I am now working on the butterfly. The kick that goes with the butterfly is called the dolphin which I have been working on since week one. I added the stroke last week and have begun to put the two together...it's killing me! I have muscles in my chest, back and shoulders that ache because I don't think I have ever used them before!

I've been thinking a lot about all the little details of swimming and how I can apply these details to my spiritual walk. See, every time I take a new stroke of faith and walk in obedience I go through growing pains and every time I forge the details of walking with Christ I ache a little more. I hurt in areas I have never hurt before. It is not an unbearable pain although, I'm sure you would agree, at times a hot bath can soothe muscle pains and help with the spiritual. But God stretches me and He pulls me as He molds me and puts me back into the form He is creating me to be. In my daily walk with Christ there are details that I cannot forget if I want my day to go smoothly. Those details would include: pray without ceasing, glorifying Him in all things, allowing the joy of the Lord to be my strength, loving the Lord my God with all my heart, mind and body; the list goes on.

To swim a good lap I have to remember all the details and when they all work at the same time my body aches a little, but the lap is smooth. To find fulfillment in Christ on a daily basis, if I remember the details of being His, knowing Him and making Him known, there may be some stretches and some aches but the day goes by full of joy.

So, no, I'll never be Michael Phelps but that's because I aspire to be like Christ and He's already given me comfort in the pain.