I find that frequently the lessons I learn the hard way are the lessons that most profoundly affect me. I am not a strong swimmer, but a few years ago, I decided to take a swim in deep ocean waters. When I left the shore, I convined myself I was strong enough to swim. I watched people around me swimming. They were strong and skilled. The other swimmers understood how to negotiate the rhythms of the waves much better than I did. Before I realized it, I was a long distance from the shore. When I turned and tried to swim back to the shore, exhaustion set in.

While it was hard for me to admit, I was no long swimming. I was thrashing. The waves were crashing and I was swallowing water. While the water tried to pull me under, swimmers passed me by and seemed unaware of my struggles. They were so intent on their own survival, they couldn’t even see I was drowning. I grew weaker.

I saw some swimmers I knew and called out to them. They swam over closer and saw how weak I was. I was losing my battle for survival and about to drown. These swimmers tried to help by telling me how to change my swimming technique, but never offered to pull me to shore. These swimmers were too busy criticizing my decision to swim and my poor swimming ability to keep me from drowning.

Finally, a friend recognized my perilous situation and swam over to me. My friend didn’t offer advice about how to swim or question my decision to swim. My friend recognized that I was drowning and that while I was drowning was not the time to debate the merits of my decision to swim nor discuss my swimming techniques. My friend offered words of encouragement and took hold of me refusing to let me drown. The most interesting part of my friend’s decision was that she was not a strong enough swimmer to pull me to shore. Yet my friend refused to let go.

My friend saw my dad on the shore and called out to him. My dad immediately notified a life guard. My dad and the lifeguard brought a boat out to rescue me. My dad pulled me from the water and brought me back to shore. I was safe again.

While this story is a parable, it is a story about what I know about both my heavenly father and my earthly father. I have been blessed to be the child of a wonderful father who has protected me and loved me throughout my life and who has more than once pulled me out of the “ocean.” Because I have been blessed with an earthly father who loves me, I have a much better understanding of my Heavenly Father who loves and protects me. The greatest gift any earthly father can give their children is an understanding of the love of a Heavenly Father.