God made humans in his image so that the world would be filled with reflectors of God. Images of God. Seven billion statues of God. So that nobody would miss the point of creation.
John Piper
God’s sovereignty
Seven Christmas Meditations from John Piper
I found each of these short Christmas devotions really encouraging. You will easily find a place to share them in your home, your church, your classroom or your facebook wall this Christmas!
1. A Big God for a Little People—Luke 2:1–5
Have you ever thought what an amazing thing it is that God ordained beforehand that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem (as the prophecy in Micah 5 shows); and that he so ordained things that when the time came, the Messiah’s mother and legal father were living in Nazareth; and that in order to fulfill his word and bring two little people to Bethlehem that first Christmas, God put it in the heart of Caesar Augustus that all the Roman world should be enrolled each in his own town?
Have you ever felt, like me, little and insignificant in a world of four billion people, where all the news is of big political and economic and social movements and of outstanding people with lots of power and prestige? If you have, don’t let that make you disheartened or unhappy. For it is implicit in Scripture that all the mammoth political forces and all the giant industrial complexes, without their even knowing it, are being guided by God, not for their own sake but for the sake of God’s little people—the little Mary and the little Joseph who have to be got from Nazareth to Bethlehem. God wields an empire to bless his children. Do not think, because you experience adversity, that the hand of the Lord is shortened. It is not our prosperity but our holiness that he seeks with all his heart. And to that end, he rules the whole world. As Proverbs 21:1 says: “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” He is a big God for little people, and we have great cause to rejoice that, unbeknownst to them, all the kings and presidents and premiers and chancellors of the world follow the sovereign decrees of our Father in heaven, that we, the children, might be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ.
2. Calvary Road—Luke 2:6–7
Now you would think that if God so rules the world as to use an empire-wide census to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, he surely could have seen to it that a room was available in the inn. Yes, he could have. And Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family. He could have turned stone into bread in the wilderness. He could have called 10,000 angels to his aid in Gethsemane. He could have come down from the cross and saved himself. The question is not what God could do, but what he willed to do. God’s will was that though Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. The “No Vacancy” signs over all the motels in Bethlehem were for your sake. “For your sake he became poor.” God rules all things—even motel capacities—for the sake of his children. The Calvary road begins with a “No Vacancy” sign in Bethlehem and ends with the spitting and scoffing and the cross in Jerusalem.
And we must not forget that he said: “He who would come after me must deny himself and take up his cross.” We join him on the Calvary road and hear him say: “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you” (John 15:20). To the one who calls out enthusiastically: “I will follow you wherever you go!” Jesus responds, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Yes, God could have seen to it that Jesus have a room at his birth. But that would have been a detour off the Calvary road.
3. Fear Not—Luke 2:8–11
The angel said to Zechariah: “Fear not!” He said it to Mary: “Fear not!” And now he says it to the shepherds: “Fear not!” It’s a natural thing for a sinner to fear. The more guilt we have, the more things we fear: fear of being found out for some little deceit, fear that some ache we have is God’s judgment, fear of dying and meeting the holy God face to face.
But even though it’s natural, God sends Jesus with the word: Fear not! Hebrews 2:14 says: Jesus became man “that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death have been held in lifelong bondage.” Doesn’t this last phrase imply something tremendously liberating for our daily life? If the worst fear—fear of death—has been taken away through the death of Christ, then surely God does not want us to fear the lesser things in life: job insecurity, not having enough time to finish a sermon, having over for lunch someone who can’t speak English, failing a test in school, being rejected by your friends, etc. The message of Christmas is fear not! God is ruling the world for the great good of his children. Believe his promises: “Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will help you; I will strengthen you; I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness . . . Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall wear . . . Cast all your anxieties on God because he cares for you . . . The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?”
4. Rejoice!
And in the place of fear Jesus puts joy. Joyless faith in Jesus is a contradiction in terms. Paul summed up the goal of his whole ministry like this: “for the advancement and joy of your faith.” And he told the Philippians and Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, and again I will say rejoice.” Always? Yes. Not without tears of grief and pain. But still joyful. When my mother was killed, I cried for about half an hour before I could stop. But as I knelt there by my bed, I was not only grieving. I was hoping. And while it is very hard to describe, there was a kind of joy in God and his sovereign goodness that later on at her funeral I tried to express.
So don’t oversimplify: it is not wrong to cry (weep with those who weep), but there is a joy rooted in God’s rule of love that is never overcome in God’s children.
5. Peace for Whom?—Luke 2:12–14
Peace for whom? There is a somber note sounded in the angels’ praise. Peace among men on whom his favor rests. Peace among men with whom he is pleased. Without faith it is impossible to please God. So Christmas does not bring peace to all.
“This is the judgment,” Jesus said, “that the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil.” Or as the aged Simeon said when he saw the child Jesus: “Behold this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against . . . that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” O, how many there are who look out on a bleak and chilly Christmas day and see no more than that.
6. For Everyone Who Believes
He came to his own and his own received him not, but to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to as many as believed on his name. It was only to his disciples that Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The people who enjoy the peace of God that surpasses all understanding are those who in everything by prayer and supplication let their requests be made known to God. The key that unlocks the treasure chest of God’s peace is faith in the promises of God. So Paul prays: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing“. And when we do trust the promises of God and have joy and peace and love, then God is glorified. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men with whom he is pleased: men who would believe.
7. Spreading the Light—Luke 2:17–20
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light that all might believe through him.
If you are ever granted to see that light for what it really is, you will believe it. Everybody who knows the light is like John the Baptist: we have seen the light and testify to it. We have been lifted out of the dark caverns of our sin and guilt and fear into the bright daylight of his grace. How can we help but spread the light?
To symbolize the coming of the light into our dark world and the spreading of the light through the world we will spread the flame of the Christ candle through the room.
God rejoices in his loving initiatives
I’ve recently been studying the amazing covenant promises of God and tracing them through his Word (as part of my external studies with Moore College, a subject called Promise to Fulfilment). While reading that famous passage about God establishing relationship with us and writing his law in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-36) I was reminded of a less famous but equally gracious promise located nearby. Here it is:
“They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.”
(Jeremiah 32:38-41 NIV)
These verses have been highlighted in my old NIV bible for a long time. The passage contains so many elements of grace and blessings unimaginable! God is the one who ‘inspires us to fear him’ and gives us ‘singleness of heart and action’. Our faith is a gift; the Spirit is a gift that enables us to follow him and secures our relationship with him. God gives this and does this because it brings him pleasure; he rejoices in doing good to us. We can rejoice that he has ‘assuredly planted’ us in Christ, in his growing family of believers, the Church. We have a home in heaven that Christ is preparing for us. None of this is down to us, to our own making. God graciously provided our salvation and he rejoices in it. How could we do anything else?
He knows how to make your PIECES fit
I’m really enjoying WORTH IT ALL, an album from Meredith Andrews (2013). This song (and the clip that goes with it) shows how God uses all the imperfect pieces of our life, our wounds, our brokenness, to fit together perfectly as His child, called to live for his glory. We can rest in him. He knows how to make our pieces fit!
“Pieces”
It’s a complex puzzle you call your life
It’s an uphill climb, it’s a constant fight
And it wears you down
Feeling like you’re alone, like you don’t belong
And you won’t be loved if you don’t measure up
And you wear your scars
Like they’re who you are
It’s an uphill climb, it’s a constant fight
And it wears you down
Feeling like you’re alone, like you don’t belong
And you won’t be loved if you don’t measure up
And you wear your scars
Like they’re who you are
Give Him your wounds, your bruised and broken pieces
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rested who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit
He’s the light on the road when you’re lost in the dark
And He won’t run away if you show your heart
Wants you to believe it
You can taste that freedom
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rested who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit
He’s the light on the road when you’re lost in the dark
And He won’t run away if you show your heart
Wants you to believe it
You can taste that freedom
When you give Him your wounds, your bruised and broken pieces
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rested who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit
All your questions, all your secrets
You don’t have to hide who you are
You belong to someone greater
Than all your past mistakes and failures
Rested who He is
He knows how to make your pieces fit
You are completely known
You are completely loved
This is where you belong
You are completely loved
This is where you belong
If you’d like to hear more from Meredith, there is an hour-long special here:
An Evening with Meredith Andrews
An Evening with Meredith Andrews
Music for Revelation and a fresh vision of the Risen Lord
In the first week of January this year I spent 6 days leading music at a missions conference on top of a mountain in southeast Queensland. The conference was the CMS (Church Missionary Society) Summer School, an annual event for the mission organisation with various guest speakers and missionaries, and about 600 supporters, many of whom are advancing in years (though the younger age brackets are also well represented). The conference theme was ‘Keep Calm for Christ has Won’ with keynote bible talks from Revelation. In fact we covered the whole book in this time! Peter Rodgers, head of CMS Australia, taught us well, showing how Revelation really is a book for us, not written to confuse us but to encourage us, to comfort, strengthen and make us bold for the risen Christ who stands as Victor in the spiritual realm…now! This is the realm revealed in Revelation, the realm of things that must remain unseen until our current heaven and earth are ‘rolled back like a scroll’. Revelation looks behind that heavy backdrop curtain which is the present physical world. It reveals a giant canvas of spiritual realities, of the victory Christ has already won. Far from being a timetable for world history yet to come, the book of Revelation is largely a picture of what has taken place already. (Well, through the teaching we received it made much sense to understand that this is what John has revealed). His letter describes the giant canvas of Christ’s victory. As John takes in this visual revelation his focus zooms in on one area at a time, explaining each different aspect of the battle and the victory. Though people will no doubt continue to discuss and debate the sequence of events, and how many have already occured, we should take comfort in this revelation of the big picture spiritual reality, and not be frightened off by the endless debate which surrounds the book.
Christ has won the victory, at the Cross. No matter what the spiritual reality behind the scenes looked like at this point in world history, the outcome remains the same.
Probably the most striking vision of the Risen Christ we were confronted with comes in the very first chapter, at which John falls down as though dead!
“I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Revelation 1:12-18 NIV
This is no defeated carpenter who suffered and died and was forgotten. This is no meek and mild moral teacher. This is the blazing Lion-Lamb who lives and reigns now! He suffered as a sacrifice and conquered over the power of sin and death, once and for all. Now he lives forever. His voice and feet and mouth are more brilliant than the sun, and full of power. This is the risen Lord Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man who would receive the Kingdom and restore people to God.
Why then should we fear if we belong to him and are united with Him by faith, united in His death and resurrection? This is the vision of Christ we must hold on to in our present struggles – struggles much like those the early Christians suffered as they held onto their faith amidst persecution and ridicule. This letter was written (this vision was revealed) as much for their encouragement as ours. Let’s explore it without fear!
There’s so much more I could write about all that I learned from Revelation at the conference, but this vision of the Mighty Risen Saviour stands out most clearly. Here are some of the songs we used at the conference which have strong references to the concepts and words of John’s Revelation. (You might find them useful if you are preaching or singing through a series on the book.)
Come Hear the Angels Sing (Michael Morrow)
We belong to the Day (Michael Morrow)
See Him Coming (Mark Peterson)
Crown Him with Many Crowns (hymn)
See the Man (Trevor Hodge)
It is well (Todd Fields version of this hymn with new chorus: “God has won! Christ prevailed!”)
Let Your Kingdom Come (Sovereign Grace)
Majesty of Heaven (Chris Tomlin)
No other name (Trevor Hodge)
The Power of the Cross (Keith Getty)
Here we are at CMS Conference 2014. Music brings such encouragement!
Ps. If you have been praying for my dad Martin, thanks! Please continue to pray that he will be able to keep absorbing the food he is now eating and gain in strength. We praise God for his recovery so far! Blessings,
Ros
Waiting on the Lord
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV
Waiting on the Lord has taken on a whole new meaning in last two weeks. My family is waiting to see the Lord’s decision on my dad Martin, 85, who fell over his excited young dog on the farm, broke a rib and cartilage down front of rib cage, then ended up with in ICU with a digestive blockage and surgery. He has been in and out and back to the ICU, been sedated much of the second week – but he continues fighting on. It has been a difficult time for everyone and I would appreciate your prayers. I will probably continue to be fairly quiet on Seven Notes for a while yet.
Thank you all for being such a caring Blogging family!
(Below you can see my dad Martin on Boxing Day 2013, his 85th birthday, with the 5 grandkids – mine are the three at the back. You can also read about him on this post: 23 Things my dad taught me ).
Blessings, Ros
Christmas celebrates Christ’s victory
This post comes courtesy of The Blazing Center, and is brilliant explanation of what we are celebrating! Merry Christmas!
Jesus is for people who hate Christmas
Sometimes I think my heart is two times too small.
Don’t get me wrong, I really do like Christmas. I like getting together with my family to open presents and sit around the tree and watch reruns of Seinfeld and The Andy Griffith Show. I’m happy when it snows on Christmas. I like seeing tastefully decorated houses. Heck, I even like some Christmas music (don’t get me started on “Mary Did You Know?”).
But Christmas often brings out the gloomy side of me as well. I’m reminded of one of my favorite families who, because of cancer, no longer has a dad around the house. I’m reminded of some of my favorite people who, after many years of patiently waiting, are still single. I’m reminded of my sister, who has been dealing with migraine headaches for years without much relief. I’m reminded of my own ongoing battles with intense physical anxiety.
After the tree is down and the wrapping paper put away and the music silenced and the egg nog polished off, all the problems still remain. I think one of the reasons we cling so tightly to Christmas is that it helps us forget about our problems for awhile. For a few, brief days, everything seems as it should be. We long for a white Christmas because the snow covers up all the mud and muck.
My propensity toward Christmas gloom is one of the reasons I am so grateful for Jesus. Not in a “Jesus is the reason for the season,” kind of way, but in a, “Jesus is a holy warrior,” kind of way.
This morning I was reading in Matthew 8-9. In these chapters Jesus cleanses a leper, heals a centurion’s servant, heals Peter’s mother-in-law, calms a storm, drives demons out of two raving madmen, heals a paralytic, raises a girl from the dead, heals two blind men, and heals a man who is unable to speak. In the comments section of The Gospel Transformation Bible it says:
Wherever Jesus goes he brings the reign of God, and where God reigns, the invisible powers of the universe in rebellion against him are banished and left powerless to do anyone ultimate harm…Since believers are united with Christ, they share Christ’s victory over evil.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the true meaning of Christmas. Wherever Jesus goes he brings the reign of God! Christmas is ultimately about the kingdom of God coming to this sad, broken, sin-marred world. Christmas is ultimately about a baby who would grow into a mighty warrior – a warrior who would crush Satan, undo sadness, defeat death, and ensure that it would be always Christmas and never winter.
Listen closely. For just a moment, tune out the Christmas music and television commercials. Do you hear that slow creaking and cracking noise? It’s the sound of Satan’s skull being slowly crushed underneath the foot of our conquering Savior. Now we suffer. Now we experience cancer and migraines and anxiety and singleness and sadness and loneliness and poverty. Now we are afflicted by sin and Satan and our flesh. But not always.
Ultimately, Christmas should give the most hope to those who hate Christmas. Things won’t always be this way. As it says in 1 John 3:8, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Those are such sweet words. Christmas is a celebration of war! Jesus himself has declared open season on Satan. He came to destroy all the works of the evil one. He came to wipe away tears and heal broken bodies and lift up despondent hearts and drive out fear and destroy loneliness.
If you’re feeling gloomy, take heart. Jesus is for those who hate Christmas.
Snowflakes – who knew?
While the Southern Hemisphere swelters in humidity and great overdoses of sunshine, our friends in the North get to enjoy a spectacular reminder of our Creator’s intricate designs. These snowflakes are magnificent – though at times I suppose they can cause chaos and lots of work. Whether you are neck deep in snow, or not, I’m sure you’ll enjoy these macro snowflake images!
“As fascinating as macro photography is, most of us think we can’t do it because it requires specialized equipment. Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov, however, is an inspiration to aspiring amateur photographers everywhere – he created a home-made rig capable of capturing stunning close-up pictures of snowflakes out of old camera parts, boards, screws and tape. His pictures give us an enchanting close-up view of snowflakes that we could never hope for without specialized equipment.
The wonderful thing about snowflakes is that no two are alike. Their extraordinary diversity diversity stems from the many small changes in temperature and humidity that they experience while freezing on their way down to the ground. Their six-sided symmetry occurs because the crystalline structure of ice is also hexagonal. All of these many factors come together to create beautiful shapes that are almost always unique.
Kljatov’s rig creates the sort of photos that might otherwise require lenses or other equipment worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. And the pictures he creates with this rig look absolutely amazing. For more information about how he did it, check out his blog post.
Stunning Close-Ups of Snowflakes by Alexey Kljatov
Bethlehem’s Supernatural Star
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:2)
John Piper writes: “Over and over the Bible baffles our curiosity about just how certain things happened. How did this “star” get the magi from the east to Jerusalem?
It does not say that it led them or went before them. It only says they saw a star in the east (verse 2), and came to Jerusalem. And how did that star go before them in the little five-mile walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem as verse 9 says it did? And how did a star stand “over the place where the Child was”?
The answer is: We do not know. There are numerous efforts to explain it in terms of conjunctions of planets or comets or supernovas or miraculous lights. We just don’t know. And I want to exhort you not to become preoccupied with developing theories that are only tentative in the end and have very little spiritual significance.
I risk a generalization to warn you: People who are exercised and preoccupied with such things as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal. You do not see in them a deep cherishing of the great central things of the gospel — the holiness of God, the ugliness of sin, the helplessness of man, the death of Christ, justification by faith alone, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the glory of Christ’s return and the final judgment. They always seem to be taking you down a sidetrack with a new article or book. There is little centered rejoicing.
But what is plain concerning this matter of the star is that it is doing something that it cannot do on its own: it is guiding magi to the Son of God to worship him.
There is only one Person in biblical thinking that can be behind that intentionality in the stars — God himself.
So the lesson is plain: God is guiding foreigners to Christ to worship him. And he is doing it by exerting global — probably even universal — influence and power to get it done.
Luke shows God influencing the entire Roman Empire so that the census comes at the exact time to get a virgin to Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy with her delivery. Matthew shows God influencing the stars in the sky to get foreign magi to Bethlehem so that they can worship him.
This is God’s design. He did it then. He is still doing it now. His aim is that the nations — all the nations (Matthew 24:14) — worship his Son.
This is God’s will for everybody in your office at work, and in your neighborhood and in your home. As John 4:23 says, “Such the Father seeks to worship him.”
At the beginning of Matthew we still have a “come-see” pattern. But at the end the pattern is “go-tell.” The magi came and saw. We are to go and tell.
But what is not different is that the purpose of God is the ingathering of the nations to worship his Son. The magnifying of Christ in the white-hot worship of all nations is the reason the world exists.”
(http://solidjoys.desiringgod.org/en/devotionals/bethlehem-s-supernatural-star)
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A true story of rescue, grace and timing
This is the true story of an event which happened to me at the local pool in 2004. I hope you will enjoy the reminder of the preciousness of life, as I did!
The Lesson
While some may call it fate or destiny, others would call it “divine intervention”. Whichever the case may be, there are times when you know that you are moved by a hand greater than your own. For me, such a moment remains unforgettable:
It is like any other late summer afternoon at the local pool. Chemical fumes overwhelm me in the steamy enclosure. The scene assaults my senses: the dirty, steamy windows, the huge rust marks on the ceiling, the mould which grows thickly on wet pavers beneath my feet. My toes cringe! My ears ring with squeals of laughter, screams of defiance, legs kicking and the instructor barking out commands. All this is accompanied by the unsettling drone of the pool equipment.
A dozen small, gleaming bodies swim tireless laps in the choppy water. The instructor spurs them on. They bow to her will entirely. My two eldest girls are among them, showing great resilience to perform this wretched task. Is this fun, or some form of torture?
I take to the tranquillity of the shallow end of the pool, with my youngest daughter. Though not totally water savvy, Bekky exudes a confidence well beyond her three years. She dives through the waves and pops up a few metres away. With sea-green eyes and an infectious smile, she helps me ignore the suffocating atmosphere that clings about us.
The swim instructor paces at the end of the pool. She notices Bekky’s exuberance and suggests I challenge her to “swim” the length of a small pool nearby. Feeling I too must obey, we head for the small pool, seven metres long and hidden in a secluded alcove. The chlorine fumes are even thicker here, hovering over the water as a solid mass! My toes test the water. The temperature soars by degrees. We plunge in, regardless.
A young mum sits beside the pool, cuddling a baby. She watches her little daughter, bobbing up and down behind us. I turn away.
“Swim to me Bek, come on!”
She needs little convincing. She leaps through the thickened air and carves a path through the waves to me, to safety. I point her to the side ledge of the pool. She clambers onto slippery pavers.
“Don’t run!” I warn. I could more easily hold back the tide than curb such enthusiasm. So begins an endless cycle of jumping, swimming, running . . . Her confidence grows with each moment.
The heat and fumes combine to bend my awareness of the scene. The little girl in the corner behind me continues to splash and play. Her mum lies the baby down on the pavers for a nappy change. Perspiration drips from her brow as she awkwardly shifts her weight to avoid falling in the pool.
Bekky jumps into the water again, the hundredth time. She certainly will catch up to her sisters soon, and join those serious swimmers in the other pool. Yet there is a growing impatience within me. When will the instructor be done? When can we escape? I need some air, and water – to drink!
Glancing over my shoulder I notice that the mum has finished the nappy change and is dealing with her baby in the pram. The small girl in the water has stopped splashing and is floating peacefully on her back.
I turn back to Bek, to the arms and legs wildly splashing. She could never lie still long enough to float peacefully like that . . . .
In that split second, horror grips me. I spin back to the small girl. She is rolling side to side! Her nose is centimetres beneath the surface of the water! Her arms float loosely, feet sink slowly. There is a deathly stare in her eyes!
I look to her mother. She simply smiles! She doesn’t know her daughter is struggling for life, a metre away!
How long these moments take, I have no idea. And where is Bekky? Time stands still. I scoop the child from the murky water. I hold her up before my face. She stares blankly at me. I call the mother, with words I do not know. The girl stares, her face glistens with beads of warm water.
I lay her down, on her side, on the pool’s edge. What was that first aid acronym? There are no signs of life, just a questioning look in those deep brown, almond-shaped eyes. Her mother speaks. I don’t understand!
I thump the small girl’s back.
A splutter?
A cough?
I am beside her on the mouldy pavers. I lift her up, her face on my shoulder. The instructor will know what to do. As I take a step, a wave of warm vomit and water pours down my body. She is alive!
It is a long walk to the other end of the pool. The instructor is surrounded by little bodies. The girl vomits twice more as we walk, emptying herself of the deadly liquid that almost took her life. Her mother trails behind us.
The instructor looks up, puzzled. She knows this child is not my own. And where is Bekky? I discard this thought.
Hastily I explain what has happened.
“Stupid woman!” The instructor says, of the mother.
She takes the girl and wraps her in a beach towel. She sits her down and checks her over.
”You need to get her to a doctor!” The instructor commands the mother.
“No English,” she stammers.
We look around for someone who may be able to translate. A woman steps forward through the gathered crowd of children. The message is passed on, we hope. My own daughters look at me strangely. Bekky appears suddenly by my side.
The little girl sits by her mother. She looks to me briefly. I smile.
Soon they gather up their gear and leave. I remain with my own girls to pack up. My head is swimming. A thousand thoughts crowd for attention.
What if I hadn’t . . . . ?
Now as I lay in bed, searching for sleep, the face of one little girl remains before me. She stares, questioning. Her face is seared into my memory. I am content, knowing that I was in the right place at the right time, for at least one moment. I helped save something so precious that words can scarcely describe it.
By Ros Barrett
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