August 8 devotion for 08-AUG-00

Room to Grow
Devotion for Tuesday , August 08, 2000

Selection Taken From:
Room to Grow: Daily Thoughts for Men by Keith Long

Designed specifically for men, these real-life stories demonstrate the abiding strength of Christian faith.

"August 8"

"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. �Galatians 6:1 "

A few days ago, I took Parker and his cousin Chancie to Clear Creek Lake so they could swim. I bought a newspaper and a soda and planned to sit in the shade of the pavilion, relax, and read. Neither Parker nor Chancie, both seven, are proficient at treading water, but the beach area slopes off slowly and there were dozens of people crammed into the small area. It was a pretty day, with just enough wind out of the south to rumple my paper. I turned immediately, as always, to the sports section. But I couldn�t keep my mind on the stories. Something kept telling me to watch the kids. Silly. They were in one and a half feet of water, watching each other dig for shells. I turned back to the paper. Watch. Parker and Chancie were a little deeper now, chest high, seeing who could float like a jellyfish the longest. Lots of people were around. Lots of shallow water. I turned to the editorials. Watch. Parker and Chancie bounced out to the diving dock, climbed the ladder and jumped off the southwest corner into chest-deep water. Perfectly harmless. They were having a blast. They jumped a dozen, two dozen times. I went to the classifieds. Watch. The warning kept coming. So I put the paper aside and watched. The two cousins jumped a few more times. Then, Chancie came up the ladder first and walked to the northwest corner of the dock. Deeper water. I sat up. Chancie jumped as far as she could toward the bank, came up and dogpaddled her way to chin-deep water. Parker followed her, jumping meekly off the side of the dock. With that, he disappeared. When Chancie headed to the northwest corner of that dock, every nerve in my body went on alert. This is what I had been watching for. Parker followed her off the corner of the dock. Into deeper water. He jumped and disappeared. Then, he came up, arms flailing. Then he went back under. He came back up, arms flailing, and went back under. And again. I knew he was bouncing off the bottom, but he made no progress toward the bank. My mind can�t release the image of him rising to the surface for just a second, looking bankward, searching for Dad. I was still in street clothes, but I ran to the edge of the water, shouted to a group of teens standing and talking on the dock. I was thirty yards from Parker. They were ten feet from him. Finally, I managed to point them toward my son. In a flash, they were all in the water, and Parker was okay. My spirit had provoked me to watch over Parker. If I had been working my way through the comics, if I had been studying the crossword, if I had been reading Cal Thomas, who knows how long Parker would�ve bobbed off the bottom, helpless. Maybe too long. I thank God for those kids on the dock. And I thank God that, spiritually speaking, he uses us when his other children are in too deep. We�re like those kids on the dock. God taps us on the shoulder, moves us by the power of the Spirit to notice someone in trouble, and because we are Spirit led, we respond in unison.