Ava's Hero. . . or Not!!

Today a very scary thing happened.  We were swimming with some family at my aunt and uncle's above ground pool.  The water is too deep for my toddlers, obviously, to touch the bottom.  There were four moms supervising 8 children in the water.  Two of the children were 9 years old and very capable, while the other six are needing supervision at all times. 

Ava and Christian both had swimming lessons a few months ago and so they had these new flotation devices called backpacks.  Ava has two boards on hers and Christian has three boards.  They both do pretty well  as long as they have their swimmer back packs on.  I don't worry too much about Christian cause when he is in the pool, he usually has at least three different swim devices on and refuses to allow us to take any off.  However, Ava, on the other hand, loves to see how many she can take off and still stay a float.  The other day while in the pool, she asked me if she could take her muscles off.  I told her no and she said, "then, how am I supposed to be a mommy if I wear these?  I want to be a mommy."  :)  Needless to say, I informed her that she was wearing them until her feet could touch the bottom. 

So, back to today.  I was sitting on the deck cause I was thinking it easier to keep an eye on both children when I was able to see the entire pool in a quick scan.  They don't always stay close to each other and I feel when I am in the water, it is hard to manage both sometimes.  Ava and her cousin Reece had been running and jumping off the deck into the pool and then swimming over to the ladder and doing it all over again.  At one point, Ava got out to get pizza. I was sitting on the deck beside her and the next thing I knew, I heard a gargled, distressed scream and there she was in the pool with NO swim flotation device and struggling and going under.  My heart leapt up into my throat.  I couldn't reach her so I grabbed her hair that was floating on the top and pulled her up until I could get her arm.  I whipped her out and as I was doing so I caught myself yelling at her for not wearing her swimmer.  As I cradled her, I realized how scared she must be and I started to cuddle her little shaking body.  Her heart was racing and she was crying and trying to get her breath.  She told me she thought her back pack was on and then someone kept pulling her under water. She was crying cause no adults could see her.  We assured her that MOMMY saw her and that she did a good job at yelling to get some one's attention.  I had to swallow my fear and just calm her down.  Seems to be a mommy roll a lot of times.  :)

She kept saying, "no one could see me"  and "I couldn't breathe" and "why was no one saving me?"  She sat on my lap for about half an hour and then she told me she was ready to try it again but she needed mommy to get in with her.  It took her awhile to get comfortable again in the water, but in the meantime she was singing a son to me.  She often does these random made up songs with whatever is on her mind.  In her song she said , "and mommy saves me when I am under the water. . . .and she always saves me.  I love her cause she saves me and I save her when she is underwater too."  I teared up.  My little girl saw and understood that I was there for her.  I thanked God that I was the one sitting on the deck and that I was the one that pulled her out in her moment of distress. I felt God planned it that way to reassure her "mommy is here for me."  She has had a lot of hard times in the past few years where I have not always been there and she didn't understand why. I am so grateful that this was a positive experience and she trusted me enough to get back in the water with me by her side.  I also found out later that my sister-in-law, Brianna, had felt the urge to pray for all of the children's safety today in the pool on her way to the pool.  I KNOW that was God's prompting and I am so grateful Brianna followed through.  :)

Okay, so what did I get from this very scary moment in my life?? I got this.  How often do we feel as though we are sinking in our circumstances.  We can't get a breath and need air and we need help.  We feel as though we are thrashing around in an uncontrollable situation and no one can see us and no one can save us and we can't get to the surface.  We thought that jumping into the situation we had our flotation device, Jesus, but we find we didn't really ask him about it before we made the decision or maybe we haven't talked to him in awhile.  Ava told me later tonight that she thought she could touch the ground, but then her head was under water.  How often do we think we can handle a situation on our own, thinking we can do it without God and then we realize in the middle of the situation, that we are helpless and we need God more than ever.  So we start yelling out for help.  Sometimes it seems like he doesn't hear us or doesn't see what we are going through.  Ava didn't think I saw, but I did, and that was of course because God prompted me.  In the same way, I have had times in my life when I feel that God doesn't see me, but He does.  He knows what I can handle and he knows just when it is time to step in and save me.  I am sure sometimes he wants to yell at me for making the wrong choice or for giving into a temptation I have been warned about, but before long he is comforting my soul and loving me and cuddling me in his big loving arms.  He is saying, "Michelle, I saw you, I heard you and I am here."  That is enough to comfort me, but I then often have to have him 'swim' next to me for awhile until I have the confidence again to go on in life.  He is faithful though and always there.  I am so grateful for the Awesome Hero that we have in our LORD.  Glory be to God.  Lord, please help me to remember to always keep you near and to always check and make sure I have my flotation device, Jesus, in tow before jumping into the deep water.  :)