Meet Rigid

I'd like to share a story from work today, and for privacy, I'll codename the kid Rigid. At camp we go to the pool twice a week. There are multiple pool in this pool complex, including a splash zone play structure in a gradual pool that is at max 18 inches deep. Rigid does not swim. He draws stick figures on construction paper, part of his own world. Even on triple digit heat days, he sits in the shade. Then we discovered in his backpack that his mom packed him a swimsuit. So for a bonus point we coaxed him into wearing it. On that day for another five bonus points, he dipped his toes in the water, and then resumed coloring. His mom was astonished that we had accomplished so much.

And I had a new challenge, to get Rigid to go into the pool. There are some instances when kids just don't know what is best for them, and this was one of them. He had lots of friends to play with in the pool, but few friends were willing to sit and color on a hot day when the greatest pool ever was right there. I employed peer pressure and got his friends to play one of his favorite games in the pool, an imaginary pirate dragon game. He would get ten bonus points for joining them, and only had to get wet up to his waist.

At first the plan was working and Rigid was so full of excitement that he could not sit still on the bus on the way to pool. But his fears, anxiety, and personal insecurity began to get the best of him. At pool, he informed me that the plan just wasn't working out. I he did not want to get his shirt wet, and he would not take it off either. The other boys got bored of waiting for him, and went to the other pools. But I would not give up. I relentlessly coaxed and persuaded him to at least go with me to the play structure pool and look for a friend there. We only found one, and I convinced the two of them to play, in the shallowest part of the water for just ten minutes. And finally it happened. Rigid played in the pool. It was only for ten minutes. He only got the bottom of his shirt wet and refused to go near the spraying areas that would get his hair wet. But it was a tremendous success. This was likely his 15th time at this pool in three years, and probably his first time venturing in the water.

So there is a moral to the story of course. I was jogging this evening and God impressed upon me that we are like Rigid and He is relentlessly trying to get us to take a risk, jump in, and enjoy the water, representing the Holy Spirit. Rigid was content in his own dysfunction. At age 8, he was too insecure to get in the pool. But his counselor, knowing that he needs to grow, that the pool is good for him on hot days, and that he would enjoy it if he just let himself try, worked hard to draw him into the water, despite his resistance. I think that God has good intentions for us. But religion can be scary and the idea of approaching God draws out our anxieties and insecurities. I think of God as Truth and Love, having the best intentions for our lives. I think I, and many people need to take more a risk and overcome some of our insecurities and fears in life to enjoy what God desires for us. And just like the Misty Edwards song says about God: "You won't relent until you have it all, my heart is yours." In this context meaning that our hearts should belong to love and truth, not insecurity and anxiety.