After an Evening Swim

After partaking of a delicious Indian supper (I daresay I think I'm doing pretty well with some of these ethnic foods) and doing some clean-up, we headed to a beach to cool off. It had reached 90 today.

It was only the second time that we've been to a beach this summer. The boys and I went several days ago; they swam, I didn't. It was a bit too cold for me to brave yet.

The lake wasn't exactly warm tonight, but I was hot enough to keep pushing through the cold. It did feel quite refreshing.

It was the first time the boys have been able to swim out to the raft with me (or that I've been able to swim out to the raft since usually I have to stay shallower to watch the boys. I treaded (trode?--my spellcheck doesn't recognize the word "treaded") water for a while as they did some jumps and watched other families playing on the raft.

Wispy clouds brushed across the sky as I floated on my back. Seaweed (why do we call it seaweed when it's in a lake?) fiendishly grabbed at my feet.

I'm drawn to water. I love to swim, kayak, canoe. I love to hike through wooded/mountainous areas where a stream runs through. I love to walk along Lake Superior. Ghost River in Alberta is still one of my favorite places I've hiked along.

When God created the heavens and the earth--before He even said, "Let there be light"--there was water. It's fundamental to life. The majority of all life on earth is made up of water. I think in some ways, water connects with us spiritually.

Much like food, the Bible is replete with stories and events that involve water: Noah and the flood, the Israelite's exodus from Egypt, Psalm 23, Jesus' baptism, the river that flows through New Jerusalem. Baptism is as central to the faith journey as communion is. In the waters of baptism we are changed. When we come up, we're not the same as when we went under.

It took me a little while to get fully submerged tonight. I'm not always good at just diving under in cold water. I tend to wade out slowly until the water's deep enough where I have to just get wet. But the water was quite cold--we've had a long winter and it's been quite rainy lately. So it took time for me to go under, but once I did it was quite comfortable. We were in for a while--until the sun was setting behind the trees.

Water is refreshing, renewing, relaxing. I love summer because it means time at the beach, camping at a lake, and hiking along a river. I look forward to family swims the rest of the summer. And to more refreshment on hot summer days.