“From lost and not found,
to run and not hide,
my hand inside of your hand”
– Jars of Clay, “Hand”

After Mass this morning, I gave my friend Jeff a call, and he invited me to come over and hang out with him and his famiy. I enjoy spending time with them, so I went over, remembering to grab my digital camera on the way in case there were any Kodak moments. God gave me some good instruction through the Kresses, both explicitly when I asked them about some situations I was in, and implicitly by watching them as they cared for their children.

Nikki first showed off his lego-vehicle creations, which were quite cool:

And of course little Nikki (turning the not-so-little 9 years old this week!):

After chatting inside for a while, we decided to go swimming in their pool. Fortunately I had brought some running shorts that doubled as swim trunks. I played with Nikki and little Jane in the pool, and then Alex and I had a diving contest which she got the better of. It has been many long years since I had done a “flying squirrel” dive, where you dive headfirst, bending your legs up to touch your rear and grabbing your ankles with your hands. I managed to do it again after Nikki and Alex baby-stepped me through the process (first do a “seal” dive where you dive headfirst with your arms at your sides). It’s amazing how much I have forgotten from my childhood days.

We swam for a good hour, and then I got out and ate some pizza that Sharon so kindly made. That’s when Jeff got into the pool and worked with 3 year-old Jane to help her learn to swim without her arm floaties.

Jeff was standing in shallow water about five feet from the steps going into the pool, urging Jane to swim to him, but Jane was scared and kept getting out of the water, shaking her head, and looking for her arm floaties. Alex was telling her that their Dad wouldn’t let her drown, but Jane was hard to convince.

Even though it was apparent to everyone else there that Jeff would never let her drown, it being the simplest thing in the world for him to reach her and catch her should she start to sink, Jane didn’t know this. She only knew that she couldn’t swim well, and so she had to trust her daddy to catch her if she fell. Eventually, Jane made the leap of faith and trusted her daddy, swimming out to him.

And Jeff easily pulled her in after she swam several feet on her own. She was ecstatic:

As I watched this drama unfold, God struck me with the insight that Jane needing and being able to trust in her Dad was a perfect analogy for how I need to trust in God and how worthy he is of that trust. I imagined all the angels and saints in Heaven urging me to trust in God when I am fearful, just like Alex encouraged her little sister to, and yet I have tremendous difficulty doing so. How capable our Lord is of helping me should I start to fall, just as he did St. Peter in today’s gospel when he walks on water. But I have little faith, and so trust is something I must work at.

Jeff Kress has learned this lesson much more thoroughly than I have–graces given him for being a father after God’s own heart. He has experienced first-hand, as he did again today, how his children can trust in him, and how we are little children to our loving Father.

For me, it’s just one more reason I hope to be a husband and father one day.
St. Joseph, pray for us!