Today started like a normal day at the pool. I climbed up into the lifeguard stand and watched grown women fight over claiming chairs that they wouldn't even be sitting in consistently. All their stuff would though. A lady standing near the left of my stand got my attention. She had at least 3 blow up floats and like 4 bags full of stuff she probably wouldn't use today at the pool. Her 3 year old daughter ran circles around her as her mother began this conversation with me; her on the ground looking up at me expectantly, me up in the stand looking at the pool:
"Excuse me?" She said.
"Can I help you ma'am?" I replied.
"Uhm, can I move these two chairs into the kiddie pool area?"
Really? Benches line the inside of the kiddie pool 'enclosure' as I like to call it. It keeps the wild ones contained.
"Well, we really don't like to have the chairs moved anywhere in the pool area," 8 chairs line each side of the recreation pool, "and there is already some seating available in the kiddie pool area. It's quite an inconvenience to have the chairs moved all over the pool deck, but I obviously can't stop you," I said that as the two women who were previously fightingover the chairs to my right moved them to the farthest corner of the pool deck, right next to two sets of bleachers we have set up (why can't they just sit in the bleachers? Plenty of room to set up camp...) "honestly from the perspective of a pool employee it's very inconsiderate to move the chairs and not return them to their place at the end of the day, which is always what happens."
"Oh, right that makes sense. Okay!"
I return my thoughts to the pool. Until I hear two chairs being dragged. The sound was coming from my left.
THIS LADY WAS MOVING THE CHAIRS I JUST TOLD HER TO KEEP STATIONARY.
Disbelief. Absolute disbelief.
I shook my head in an obviously annoyed manner and started thinking about these crazies who keep moving the chairs.
Then I thought that each and every one of us is a crazy person who hypothetically, moves the chairs. I'm about to get metaphorical. Watch out. It made me think about what each of us does in our daily lives. We have been given a plan and a set of rules by God. He has the answer to everything we could possibly have questions about. But sometimes it seems, that even if He has told us not to "move the chairs" we still do it anyways, because its what we want to do. And along the way we make obnoxious sounds and complain about how hard it is to "move the chair" (when we really shouldn't be doing it anyways). At the end of our selfish journey, we realize that it's time to move on (or go home because the pool is closing) from our selfish way because it really didn't turn out to be right, and we leave a big mess for our faith and our own "Lifeguard" if you will, to clean up after us. How terrible it is that we don't listen, realize we're wrong for not listening and then allow someone else to clean up our mess, but how gracious He is to do so. What a revelation I had when I realized this. I really need to start listening when He is telling me to do something His way. But He is so patient, to constantly clean up after me when I don't.
So, all of that being said, y'all stop moving your chairs, and I'll stop moving mine, too. And listen when the Lifeguard tells us what to do. He knows best. He even tells us so.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
I'll try to post again soon. Thanks for reading again!
-Hailey
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