As a kid, there was nothing like hitting the playground and seeing a free swing! When I was a lot younger, I used to go to the park with my older sister and I would always have to wait for her to push me in the swing. By the looks she gave me, that wasn’t her favorite thing to do, but after she chatted up her friends and gave me a few eye rolls, she finally obliged.
What joy it was to have my feet free in the air and the wind blowing across my face. For me, this was the closest thing to flying, and I truly felt high in the sky on the swings.
When I grew old enough to go the park by myself, I would dart right over to the first empty swing, but there seemed to be a problem. There was no one there to push me. My sister had long given up her days of walking me to the park, and there I was, on my own with the dilemma of how to get some altitude on that swing.
Well, I was forced to do one of two things, go home without having the opportunity to swing freely in the sky, or figure out a way to get some momentum and push myself. I chose the latter. That day I made a decision to put my feet on the ground and run that swing as far forward as possible, and then I pushed my feet off the ground and I was swinging. The more I pushed my feet, the higher I rose. It was an exhilarating experience. I didn’t have anyone there to cheer me on but I felt like I had accomplished the impossible, so I savored that moment. Even when I lost momentum, I figured out how to stop and start again, each time going higher and higher. I literally felt like I could touch the sky.
I am not a kid anymore but what I’ve learned from this is that I cannot always depend on people to push me. I have to find the courage inside of me to push myself. God has already given me the momentum that I need to get me going and to achieve my goals. Psalm 139:13-14 reminds me of this, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (NIV) God put in my exactly what I need to swing high.
There have been times in my life where I felt like I needed people to push me in order to move higher. The ones I was waiting to push my swing were the ones much like my sister, rolling their eyes because they knew if they pushed, my swing might just have gone higher than theirs and so they either hesitated to push or just didn’t push at all.
I wanted a push in ministry, a push on my job, and a push in my education. All this time, I had everything I needed in me to push myself. Once I started doing just that, pushing myself, that’s when things started happening for me.
I have had many starts and stops in my life but God’s Word has encouraged me all the way and allowed me to swing my feet a little harder and each time I have gone a little higher. God has been pushing my swing all along. He has had my life planned out long before I aspired to swing high. I was never doing this thing by myself. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out; plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (MSG)
To swing high in life, you do not need people to push you as much as you need to push yourself. The greatness in you and knowing that God is with you is your momentum. So put your feet on the ground and run that swing forward and push off so you can Swing High!
Deborah Woolard is a single mother of three from Raleigh, NC and she currently resides in Charlotte, NC. She is an ordained & licensed minister and she serves as the Youth Director at R5 Church. Her love for writing, especially poetry is one of the many ways God allows her to use her gifts for His glory. Her poetry can be viewed at https://m.facebook.com/gracefullydsignedbydeborah/.