work at it with all your heart!

diligence

earnest

hardworking

dutiful

careful

persevering

That would be this boy of mine!

Yesterday,

we were at the pool

with a couple of my blessings' friends.

My youngest blessing

 had been left in

the 4 foot

to play by himself

while the three of them

were playing at the diving boards.

Blessing--"Mommy,

can't you make them come

and play with me?"

Me--"No, honey...they can go off the

diving boards for a while."

Blessing--"Well,

then I want to go off the

diving boards!"

Me--"That's fine,

 but you'll need to go talk to the

pool manager."

Blessing--"Can you come with me?

I'm scared."

We found out in talking with her that

he would have to pass the deep water test.

He had to swim from the

13 foot to the 7 foot...

using the American crawl stroke

there AND back.

AND

he would have

to tread water for

2 minutes...

(Mind you, he had just passed level 2 lessons last week...)

He eagerly nodded his head

that he wanted to do it!

So off he jumped...

He swam...

and swam...

and swam...

and swam some more!

He made it from one

end to the other!

Then he began the second

part of the test...

treading water for

 two minutes...

HE DID IT!!!

He was BEAMING
when he first jumped off!

He jumped...

and jumped...

and jumped!

He and brother
even went off
at the same time!

With diligence,
there is GREAT reward!

The clouds in the sky were just amazing!
J is jumping off the high dive :)

**************************************************

Lord,

Thank You

for the character of these

blessings that You

continue to grow

to maturity!

What an awesome

experience

to see this son of mine

desire so strongly

something that he

was able to do

with some hard work!

Use his enthusiasm

for life

as he

grows in stature

and wisdom

in You!

You have good

plans for him!

"The plans of the diligent

lead to profit."

Proverbs 21:5