Swimming Lessons

The kids had been talking about going swimming, so Brad suggested to Amalie that if she wanted, she could have swimming lessons as an early birthday gift. We were so glad she agreed. Noah and I made a plan where he paid for a portion of his and then we registered. I was excited for swimming lessons, but didn't realize how much the kids would improve. Noah had taken lessons four years prior, but man, they have changed since then.

We had just gone to the pool a few weeks earlier with Amalie, and tried to teach her to swim. She refused to put her face under, refused to blow bubbles or do anything she didn't want to do. She wanted to learn how to swim, her way!

The kids were so excited the first day, but as soon as it was time to go with her teacher, Amalie clung to me. I was so blessed to have the inspiration to have Amalie grab onto her teacher's hand. For some reason, that helped her to feel confident and then she went. Phew! Very different from Noah's swim lessons where I ended up pushing him in the pool when he wouldn't go. (That, thankfully worked out well, for his personality, whereas I know it might go down horribly with some kids)

By the end of the first week, Amalie was dunking her head underwater and doing her "Barbie" kicks with her legs and "ice cream scoops" with her hands, in an elementary version of the crawl. Wow. She was even floating on her back. What? Noah was floating as well, doing a modified back stroke, treading water and doing the crawl.

We were so lucky that that weekend we had my in-laws in town and got to use their hotel pool. The kids just soared in their progress.

Watching them just filled me with pride. I knew they were trying their hardest and growing and progressing. What an awesome miracle it is. I just love having the privelege of watching these beautiful children "become". I felt a little glimpse of what our Father in Heaven must feel as he watches us struggle in our trials and reach out to Him and then start to really grow. What joy He must feel when He sees us becoming more like Him.