One week ago, today, Henry learned how to swim.

This has been a long time coming.

Four days before his 8th birthday, I prayed and prayed, “Lord, let this round of swim lessons be the ones that finally click for him. Let this be the summer that he overcomes his fear of the water.”

Last week was a week of milestones for our family. Some big and some small; but definite milestones.

I’m still processing all the things (which is why you are getting this post today); but I learned a lesson that I’ve been in the process of learning since I became a mom.

The lesson is this. Kids are going to do things in their own time. There are some things that you just can’t push or rush. You have to give them time, trust God (And in this case, trust Levi. Don’t worry. Explanation to come.)

I’ve been taking this kid for swim lessons since he was 3. While he had great, patient, wonderful swim teachers (Thank you Grace and Paul! You are a BIB reason why he is swimming sans floaties right now. All those years of positive experiences in the water, finally paid off!), we’d end each week long session with him still afraid to let go of his teacher in the water. Still not swimming.

We’d swim throughout the summer. And maybe we could have exposed him to the water more often. I felt like we went to the pool often enough, though. Yet, at the end of each summer he was still wearing the floaties and still afraid to let go in the water.

So a few things contributed to him swimming: I think a huge part of it was just maturity and growing up. Every kid is different as when it will click for them whether it comes to reading, getting potty trained, or swimming.

Also, peer pressure. Nothing motivates you faster than seeing all your friends swimming in the deep end without floaties. Parents, don’t underestimate the power of positive peer pressure.

Lastly, I think God drops people into your life to speak to you in a slightly different way than others have before. You hear it, accept it, or just connect with a person in a certain way. You may have heard a message a million times; but a speaker delivers the same message in a different way or when you are in a different place in your life and IT JUST CLICKS.

We only had 3 days of swim lessons for an hour each day. My hopes were high but realistic.

Fortunately, we started these lessons off with him fully putting his head under the water right from the get go. But as Levi pointed out, Henry had a death grip (and he does). He was not letting go.

It’s kinda hard to learn to swim in the deep end if you don’t let go of the hand in the shallow end.

After the first day of lessons:

“Levi is not going to let you sink, Henry. He just isn’t. Even if you began to sink, he’s right there. He’ll pull you up. You just have to trust Levi.”

“It’s hard to trust, mom.”

“I know, babe. That’s the whole thing, though. That’s what trust is. It’s not easy. It is hard. You can do it.”

Second day of lessons:

Levi: “Henry, you just have to make up your mind that you are going to do it and then just do it.”

And he did.

He let go.

He swam. Across the shallow end of the pool.

He then wanted to learn to dive off the side of the pool. And he did.

He made the decision to trust and he just did it.

Or Levi has some sort of magical super power. Either way, the kid swam!

Later that day he was jumping off the diving board into the deep end, without floaties, and swimming like he’d been doing it for years. I was flabbergasted. I was grateful. I was doing a happy dance. I was so proud of him. I was relieved.

The third and final day of lessons was like watching a completely different kid. Where did this fearless guy come from? Two days later we were swimming at Morton’s Warm Springs with family. We had just picked up Lily from Jr. High camp and he surprised her by jumping into the pool without his floaties. Her face was priceless. His face was full of pride.

We asked him, “What made you decide to let go and just swim?”

Henry: “Mom told me to trust, Levi.”

Are you laughing? I am. It’s taken 5 years, and I don’t necessarily think he would have been swimming at 3 if Levi was his teacher. I think it was the right time, the right swim teacher, and it was God’s plan to use this experience to teach my little guy about trust. This is the first of many times, he’s going to need to trust God. Andy and I are going to be able to use this lesson with him for years to come. Hey, God is using Henry’s swim lessons to teach ME about trust.

I hope I remember all this when my kids aren’t doing something in the timeline that I feel is appropriate or convenient for me.

Hey Mamas, as you go into this week, whatever is happening too fast or too slow in your life just remember, trust God. Are your kids taking way too long to learn a lesson or don’t seem to be improving at all? Trust God’s timing. Trust is as equally simple as it is hard.

Are your kids needing to learn to swim? Give Levi a call.