This weekend my son had a swim meet. If you don’t have kids in swimming, let me fill you in on what meets are like. They are chaos. They are loud. They are eternally long. You sit the entire day on a hard bench while chlorine-filled air burns your corneas and wet kids drip all over you while they run back and forth to say hi to their parents. Smart parents sit outside in the hall and pop into the pool area just in time for their kid’s heat. We didn’t figure that out until midway through the season. You wait for hours at a time between events for your child to swim three or four times, each lasting about one minute. Then you go home.
3000 kids packed into a pool
Saturday I woke at 5 AM. I drove for two hours through snow drifts taller than my van for two minutes of swimming.
As a parent it’s easy to be frazzled at these meets. Especially when your day begins by being yelled at by the coach for being late. I was discouraged and cranky but I slapped on a smile and feigned enthusiasm for my sweet son who, after trying and rejecting multiple other sports, really likes swimming. And I do love watching him swim.
When my son’s event was starting, I picked my way through the crowd to get to a seat. It dawned on me that the pool area was uncharacteristically quiet. I looked up and saw the swimmers from the previous heat waiting in the water but I couldn’t figure out why they weren’t getting out of the pool. Then I noticed a swimmer who was all the way across the pool, arduously making his way to the finish.
He had some physical limitations and his back had a sharp curve. His stroke was labored. His cheeks were flushed. It was slow going. The other swimmers on the deck noticed him too and slowly started cheering and encouraging him. The crowd of harried parents realized what was happening and collective applause gradually built. Whistles rang out from the crowd. It took him a long time to make it. When he touched the wall the room went wild.
I bawled. (I’m a crier.)
In that moment we were all drawn together and inspired his achievement.
Two assistants lifted him, winded and smiling, out of the pool while the rest of the swimmers waited patiently. He cheerfully said, “just another minute guys” as they set him into his wheelchair. I bawled some more.
Later I had the opportunity to chat with and congratulate this swimmer out by the concessions. He was beaming. He was just one of the gang. His mom told me that was his best time ever and purchased him an overpriced t-shirt to celebrate. I was so proud of him. I was proud of our sport which honors personal achievement. I was proud of his mom for braggin’ on her son.
I am so glad I got to be there. I have seen the Youtube videos of moments like this but to actually be in the room as part of the crowd was something I will never forget. It’s a privilege to cheer someone on during a personal challenge.
I think of those who cheered me on when I was aiming for a goal, or when I was struggling, tired and wanted to quit. Friends, family, and strangers who encouraged me helped me keep going and I am so thankful.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Our lives can remind me of a swim meet: chaotic, fast paced, loud, and at times painful. Like my drive to the meet, sometimes it can seem like we are never going to get where we are going and get yelled at when we get there. But life is also punctuated with daily opportunities to stop what we are doing and cheer like mad. And those moments allow us to be part of something special.
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:13
Encouragement is a life source in our world where everyone struggles and its easy to get discouraged. It protects us from becoming hardened by this world and draws us together. I hope we can be a people who are intentional about encouragement. I hope we never forget to cheer each other on. Because when we do, everyone wins.
“An anxious heart wears a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Proverbs 12:25
Post script…because I like braggin’ on my kid, too . . . the next day my quiet reserved son smashed his own personal best by shaving 17 seconds off his 100 yard breast stroke and took first for the meet. His dad bawled. (He’s a crier, too)
This cutie also scored an overpriced t-shirt.
