Last week, my family and I went to Disney World and had an amazing time. Eight days away from home, Seven nights in Orlando, Six days in the parks. It was awesome.
We rode some great roller coasters (props to the Imagineers for Expedition Everest…great ride, guys), got soaked on Kali River Rapids, were blown away by the shows, amazed at the parades, and truly welcomed by some of the 50,000+ employees of Disney World. I made some memories with my kids and my wife that I will enjoy for a long time.
One of the most vivid memories from my trip, though, had little to do with my family…it actually took place in the deep end of the swimming pool (very cold swimming pool) at the hotel where we stayed. I took my kids down to the pool on Wednesday morning while Amy took a break and headed to an outlet mall a few miles away. When we arrived, their was only one other family at the pool…with two kids huddled up under their towels, a mom trying to enjoy a book in the one part of the pool deck that wasn’t shaded, and a dad that was gliding through the pool like an Olympic Swimmer. It quickly became obvious that this was not the guy’s first time working out in the pool with a hundred laps or so. He swam effortlessly from one end to the other. It was natural…comfortable…and well-suited for this guy. After twenty or thirty minutes of on-stop swimming, the gentleman headed toward the shallow end and slowly made his way up the stairs where he grabbed his crutches and carefully walked/hobbled back to the hotel room with his family.
As he headed toward the lobby, his body jerked and shuffled and wobbled with each step. His legs were essentially useless to him…with only slight movement in one knee while the other leg acted as nothing more than a third crutch. He was almost completely crippled from the waist down. Life outside of the water was difficult…a sharp contrast to his life in the water that I had been observing for nearly half an hour.
When I left the pool that morning, I was challenged by what I saw…challenged to create environments where people could feel comfortable…where life was “easy” and “effortless”…where people could escape their broken realities for a little while. The next time you show up on Sunday morning, take a few seconds in the parking lot to consider who might be showing up that morning. You never know when someone might spiritually “hobble” through the front door looking for a place to “explore faith” a little bit…looking for an environment where they can be comfortable and take some time to understand the steps in their spiritual journeys…looking for a place to “swim” in the incredible presence of a holy God.
Then, as you walk into Youth Middle School, figure out how YOU can help make that environment a welcoming place for the broken people all around us. You will be amazed at who will show up for a morning like that.
