It is hot! Sweltering hot! Weather advisory hot! There is joy in the relief that a swimming pool brings to a hot and weary body.
My kids are spoiled... but grateful... they were raised with our best friends having a pool in their backyard. And then... our neighbors had one, too. The public pool was never a big draw from them. They didn't like the crowds. They had the people they knew best to share their summer days. What a sweet treat is was. We made forever memories. We are still making memories at Club Leander.
I can't imagine having no way to cool off in the extreme heat, but many are at risk in these days of temperatures in the 90's and climbing. It is good to check on elderly neighbors and the sick. They may need some assistance.
Our power has been out a couple of times this summer. We are grateful the problem appears to be fixed, just in time for the heatwave. Even with the comforts of air conditioning, there is something special about a dip in the pool. Perhaps, it is because so many senses are impacted. The touch of the cool water, the warmth of the sun, the scent of all things green and chlorine... and the giggles that go along with a splash. A pool is one of the highlights of summer.
I can't help but think of the poor, lame man at the pool of Bethesda. Every time the healing waters bubbled... he couldn't get there fast enough to be the one healed. Then he encountered Jesus. It is recorded in the Gospel of John:
"Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed!" - John 5:1-9
"Would like to get well?" That is like asking if a person worn out by the heat if they would like a dip in the pool. Yes! Yes! And, again, "Yes"!
Rest, respite and restoration come through Jesus when we put our trust in him and bathe ourselves in the wonders of his love, mercy and grace. Do we relish His mercies like we do a cool swim on a hot day?
Today, I am grateful for swimming pools... and Jesus.
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