SWEETER THAN CHOCOLATE

It has been exactly one month since I last posted.  That is sad.

Not sad because any readers have particularly missed the blog - only one person has contacted me repeatedly over the past month to say, "You need to post something.  Go write!"

Sad because I have missed the blog.  Writing is my dessert.  Writing is a treat that I do for myself - my way of thinking through things, remembering things, enjoying things.  And a month's absence from the blog means that it has been too long since I've enjoyed the taste of dessert.  That, my friends, is sad.

Where did the month go?  Well, it was spent teaching my eighth-grader, and shuttling students back and forth to campus, and working on business for the Women in the Church (WIC) at Grace, and chasing reprobate chickens, and preparing devotionals, and cleaning out closets, and washing clothes and cooking meals, and sick in bed for a season, and not writing.  I've definitely missed the "chocolate cake" of blogging, but life has not been without sweetness.

One sweetness I've enjoyed this past month - sweet like a crisp fall apple, not like scrummylicious chocolate cake - is swimming.  Finally, after years of wishing, I have college students with class schedules that make it very convenient for me to be on campus around noon a couple of days a week.  The UTM pool is open for lap swimming from 11:30-1:00.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I'm in the water - and loving it.

I bought a new swimsuit - red, because it was on sale and red was the only color left in my, ahem, rather "voluptuous" size.  I look like one of those giant chubs of bologna puttering back and forth across the pool.  Today, I made it 32 laps.  Four more laps, and I'll be up to a mile, the distance I used to swim 10 years ago when we lived in Millington.  That's my goal for the end of the month.

I love swimming for a variety of reasons.  One:  I am very buoyant, and it is such a lovely feeling to be very buoyant and in the water.  Two: swimming doesn't hurt - not my knees, not my feet, not my back.  On the contrary, it feels wonderful.  Three:  it is quiet.  When my head is in the water, the volume knob on the world is Off.

And when the volume is Off, that means I can pray - for 32 laps, for 45 minutes - without interruption or distraction.  And I absolutely lovelovelove that about swimming.

Hit the wall and turn...lap number 7...stroke, stroke...7...breathe, stroke..."Father, thank you so much for RB and Joyce, for their friendship, for the many ways they have blessed me and my family.  Lord, please encourage them today, and help them to grow in love for You, for Your Word, for the Gospel, for each other, for the body of Christ that meets at Grace..."

Hit the wall and turn...lap 14...stroke, stroke...14...breathe, stroke..."Father, be with the Sink family as they are traveling to Japan.  Already, Lord, please be preparing hearts in Japan to receive the Gospel, so that their ministry will be fruitful..."

If you read this blog, it is very likely that you, your family, your church, or your ministry are on my mind at least one day a week, across the pool and back, stroke after stroke.  It is a very sweet gift indeed for me to have this regular time, place, and routine that allows me to stand with you before our Father's throne.

Come to think it, that's even better than chocolate cake. :)