Sometimes We Just Have to Get In the Pool

I am embarrassed to tell you how many months have elapsed since I used my gym membership. I don't even want to tell you how much I am paying each month for the ability to not go to the gym just because I don't feel like it. It's pretty ridiculous, really.

But yesterday, suddenly I got the urge to strap on my tennis shoes and head to the YMCA. After all, my experiment on calorie-burning-while-couch-sitting had failed miserably.

Not only did I go to the gym, but I did something even crazier. I brought my bathing suit.

I hit the treadmill first, staying on it just long enough to show the very fit old man behind me that I have no endurance at all. "Ha!" I thought to myself as I saw his smirk from my peripheral vision, "You think I'm all done, don't you?"

But, no, I wasn't done yet. I sauntered over to the stationary bike. Hoping that the seat was already at the right level for my 5'4" self, I mustered up the confidence to hop on.

Exercise has never really been my thing. As many times as I've longed for the desire to get my heart pumping, I just haven't been able to get passionate about it. The stationary bike was no exception. I pedaled for 3.3 miles (which isn't really very far on a bike, I've found) and tossed a big smile over my shoulder before heading out into the hallway. My biggest hurdle was in front of me; it was time to swim.

Only one thing remained between me and my intended laps in the pool: the big picture window complete with chairs and tables for the viewing pleasure of all the people who don't want to get in the pool themselves.

Step one: Check the status of the spectator area. Thankfully, it was empty.

Step two: Look to see how many people are in the pool. Are there super-in-shape-with-perfect-bodies swimmers gliding up and down the lanes? I was grateful that the pool was pretty empty.

So I changed into my suit and walked into the pool area. I slid in quickly and took a few breaths to acclimate my body to the cool temperature of the water.

"All right," I thought. "This is it. Remember everything from your 10th grade swim class in gym and you'll be fine."

I started off well. My front crawl felt strong and the water was soothing.

About half way across the pool, I found out why swimming is classified as one of the best types of exercise. It is HARD!

But you know what? I did it. I swam 28 lengths of the pool in a little over thirty minutes. I did the front crawl and the breaststroke, the back crawl and the sidestroke. It wasn't pretty, I can tell you that. I'm sure I amused the lifeguard, though I couldn't tell because my goggles were all fogged up. Sometimes I hit the plastic lane dividers and sometimes I had to stop and cough all the water out of my lungs, but I did it.

Reading and studying the Bible can feel a lot like that. It doesn't seem appealing, so you don't really find the time to start. It's intimidating, even harder to do with people watching or around Christians who have studied for years. When we open the Bible, sometimes we get nervous not knowing where to start or how much to read of a certain passage. We can find ourselves cruising through only to come to a complete stop at a verse that we just don't understand.

Perseverance and dedication are the key to exercise, and they are the key to our Bible study. We just have to decide to do it, not worrying about whether or not it's going to be perfect. The only way to get better is to do it in the first place, and there is always something more that we can learn.

I felt so good after swimming. I had accomplished my goal and couldn't wait to do it again. I've had the same feeling when I dig into God's Word...though I'm the one who has to make the initial decision, the beauty and depth of His Word draws me back time and time again.

Sometimes we just have to get in the pool.