Thursday, October 30, 2008

Summer SwimTeam

Mo's Proud Coach
Jac swimming...takin' a break on her way down
Mo & Easton (his buddy)

Briannon, Jaclynn & Jake...and crazy fun swimming

The Fly
Mo feeling the pressure


Freestyle all the way... and fast!


Okay, so this summer is very much gone.  The leaves are beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow.  The drive in to our house is breathtaking, but I couldn't miss the opportunity to tell about how much we loved summer swim team.  It was awesome!  

Our friends have been doing it for years and asked if we wanted to do it.  Morley and Briannon were super excited while Jaclynn said, "Nope I won't do it."  But after a little discussion and the fact that her friend was swimming on her team, she as well as Morley and Briannon committed to swimming even if it got "hard"...good thing!

On the first day of practice, Jaclynn LOVED it while Briannon struggled and Morley came home NEVER wanting to go back.  The other kids were swimming laps around him while he could swim barely one third the length of the pool--he was humiliated.  Because he had committed to do it even if it was hard, he stuck it out finishing with his own personal story of triumph. 

The first night, he told Kenn how much he didn't want to continue.  Kenn said, "Mo, let me see if I understand this.  You are competitive like me.  If the rest of the kids had done what you did or worse, would you have been okay with it?"  

Morley, very admittedly answered, "Yah." 

Kenn's response was, "Morley, being competitive isn't a bad thing unless you let it hold you back from learning something new.  Let me ask you something.  Did you pray before you swam?"

He hadn't.  Kenn asked him if he would take this situation to the Lord and pray that very night. The next morning he was convinced that he could endure and he committed to Kenn that he would pray each time he swam.  

In a nut shell, Morley went from being the slowest on his team to the second fastest...he went to championships and won 1st place in his consolation heats of both the fly and freestyle (meaning that he was 8th overall) as well as swimming on the A relay that took 4th overall.  

My personal testimony of prayer and faith in the Lord was strengthened as I prayed for and watched my struggling son's relationship with the Savior flourish throughout this swim season. The Lord had great things in store for our little family this swimming season--much greater that swimming better!    Our Savior stands ready and willing to grant us the ability to overcome our weaknesses and challenges if we humbly go to Him with a heart willing to trust and then work. 

2 comments:

Michelle said...

RuthAnn, I think you and Kenn are amazing parents-able to have every situation be spiritually uplifiting.

Way to go Morley! You are awesome!

It was so fun to see you guys all swim when we were out there in the summer.

Laine said...

RuthAnn, I need your email address, or better yet, your phone number. I would love to catch up, and although your blog is better than nothing, it would be so great to talk. email me at curryclan@comcast.net