Why I Love Coaching!

After I get done coaching the kids, if I don't have anything to do after practice I get in the water and swim for a bit. I love the water and the feeling I always get when I swim. I am all alone and everything is quiet. I love the way I feel and move in the water- I'm no longer this klutzy awkward girl, instead I feel elegant and confident! I also love the fact that in the water I am all alone and everything is quiet. This is such a wonderful time to pray and hear from the Lord for me. During my college swimming career I had PLENTY of time to have this happen and I always loved it!

Today as I was swimming I was thinking about the previous practice and what I could have done better and what we need to work on the next day. Today I worked really hard on them with the breaststroke. This is my least favorite stroke and it's also one where I feel the least confident in my ability. Because of this it was very hard to communicate to these swimmers the foundation of this certain stroke. Needless to say I was very frustrated!

One of the things I always tell the kids is how important it is to lay a foundation of having the correct stroke because that is something that you can always go back to and you will always be able to build upon. That foundation laying has been so important for me. I am not a fast swimmer but I have a good stroke and I am a hard worker- those were the only 2 reasons I was able to swim on the UNF D-1 women's swim team and that's the only reason I get can pick up and start swimming anywhere there's water and almost always get a compliment.

Then I started thinking again about how even more important it is to have a spiritual foundation in our lives. There is no getting away from this foundation- it shapes everything we do, say, or think! How can I help others lay a gospel foundation if I don't have a strong foundation myself? That has been my struggle this past year in many areas. We never get past the gospel- and our understanding of the gospel and thus our view of God affects everything, we simply can not escape that!! Circumstances reveal how deep I truly believe the Gospel of Christ. And then even how I respond to the shallowness of my belief causes me even more despair! I have learned that I must always go back to the foundation of the gospel and ask the question- how does this show me about what I'm not believing about the gospel? No area is immuned to this probing question. To the degree that I'm applying the gospel to my life is the degree to which I can help others by asking this same question and thus help them lay a strong gospel foundation.

So as I coach people in the pool and in life I am constantly reminded how important the foundation really is and how it truly affects everything! I don't even know who taught me the swimming skills that I possess now but I am so, so thankful that they took the time to teach them to me! I do know the woman who taught me the spiritual foundation that God has made me the woman that I now am- Annette Ashley played a huge part in it but God has used so many amazing women along the way to continue to remind me of the importance of the gospel in every area of my life.

This goes along with my 2 Peter post from a few weeks ago and the importance of reminding people of these things! I am excited to spend the rest of my life continuing to be challenged by the radical gospel of Jesus Christ!!

Oh and why do I love coaching? I love to see the kids get it and turn their struggling stroke into a beautiful stroke! This is the same reason I love ministering to people- sharing the gospel with them and watching their eyes light up when they get it!! To watch their struggling lives be changed by the gospel and see them transformed before my very eyes- this is just a small taste of heaven to me!