Never Swim Alone

May is a fun month.  Flowers are blooming, teens are going to proms and graduating, summer vacation begins for kids in school, just a lot of good things going on.  Memorial day usually marks the opening of local swimming pools.  This of course reminds me of one of my favorite quotes and of a message that I gave several years ago at the church where I grew up.    

Have you ever seen the movie “Finding Nemo”?

When my daughter was growing up we watched that movie over and over in our house. 

Nemo is a cute little clownfish who lives in the ocean with his Dad, Marlin.  Marlin does not have a very bright outlook on life, but with good reason. A barracuda destroyed his wife and all of their eggs.  Only Marlin and one little egg(Nemo) survived.  Besides being depressed this made Marlin very over protective of Nemo. Then on Nemo’s first day of school, he gets kidnapped by a scuba diver and taken far away in a boat.  So Marlin has lost his wife and his only surviving child has just been kidnapped.  Times don’t get much tougher than that do they?  Marlin is determined to rescue his son, so he sets out on a long journey across the ocean to find Nemo. 

Along the way Marlin meets a little blue fish named Dory.  Dory lives by a very inspiring motto that you hear her singing at various times during the movie.  Dory says, "When life gets you down… Just Keep Swimming!”.   Dory is forgetful, Dory is annoyingly positive almost 100% of the time.  Marlin often becomes irritated with her. 

How can Marlin just keep swimming in the midst of his heartache and troubles and problems?  How can we?  I will explore this in the next couple of Blooms. 

One of the number one rules about swimming is “NEVER SWIM ALONE”.  I remember as a kid when we went swimming or on field trips the adult in charge always told us to “find a buddy” so we would not get lost or in trouble.  Rule #1 for swimming is to use the buddy system. 

Did I mention that Dory went with Marlin on his journey to help find Nemo?  She had no reason to go with him.  She had never even met him before that day, yet she was willing to battle sharks, jellyfish, landmines and even be swallowed by a whale just to help her new friend.  Dory was willing to risk her life for someone she hardly knew.  Dory exemplifies the scripture in her willingness to be a friend.

Galatians 6:2 tells us to “Share each other’s burdens and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

Proverbs 12:24 says “a man who has friends must himself be friendly And there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

In order to find a buddy we must be willing to BE a buddy.  

Today I thank God for the wonderful friends he has placed in my life.  And I pray that I will be a supportive friend to them in return.  Do you have supportive friends?  Thank God for them today.  AND...

JUST KEEP SWIMMING!