Guest Post: “The Green Diving Ring”

This a post by my friend and brother Kevin Behnke (aka “Kbu”).  He’s an old college buddy turned Husband, Dad and Pilot.  I value his relationship, his inspiring walk with God and his words of wisdom.  Please enjoy:

Being a father has been one of the most rewarding and wonderful gifts God has given me in this life. I have learned so much about life by, simply observing my son play. This past weekend was no different. When I walked in the door from my early morning flights I was knocked back like I am most weekend days by the little man’s full speed running hugs from our living room to the front door, usually followed by the question…”daddy can we play?” That day it was, “daddy can we go swimming?” I promised after we’d run a couple of errands, we’d pick some pool toys up on the way home and go swimming.

The toys he chose were Batman goggles and colorful diving rings. We couldn’t get home fast enough to play with his new toys. Our whole afternoon was spent diving for those rings. Finally daddy needed his break. He asked if he could keep swimming while I watched. He continued to throw the rings out and then dive after them. On one of the throws the green ring was thrown a little deeper than he’d dived before. The ring laid on that fine line where I felt he could try and dive for it safely, so I encouraged him to go for it, each time he’d come up and say “I almost got it daddy”. After the 5th time with no luck at grabbing it, he took a break on the pool step, looked over at me with a pondering expression on his face…I figured he was going to ask me to come in and get it for him. Then by my surprise he asked me to use the pool broom to fish the ring in closer so he could dive down and get it. I got quite a chuckle watching my little 5yr old maneuver the 8ft pool broom under water. HE DID IT! He pulled the ring close enough into the shallows were he could dive down and grab it.

The little man was so proud of himself, he felt so accomplished after he picked his green ring up from the bottom of the pool. As most parents do, I affirmed him with the “good job buddy, I knew you could do it”. In that moment the sensation of the proud father came over me and I couldn’t help but get that cheesy smile parents get (if there were an audience I’d a said “yep that’s my kid”!) In the next moment I looked up into the blue sky and said, “thank you God for letting me be his daddy”!

If we can get excited in simple things our kids accomplish, I can’t help but imagine how excited God must feel when He sees one of us work so hard using the tools He provides for us so we can dive down and grab that green diving ring in our life. I am sure he chuckles too, watching us maneuver or 8ft pool broom around too!

What resonated with me in watching my son grab his green ring is to never give up when the challenging tasks we face seem unattainable. Sometimes it helps to take a break and sit on the pool step of life for a moment, take a look around, because God may just have our pool broom on the side to help us grab our green diving ring!