“You’d Better Hold On to Me”

Our four-year-old son Aaron was taking swimming lessons. Feeling overwhelmed with the water and size of the pool, he had a hard time letting go of either the side of the pool or the instructor’s arm. After much useless coaxing, his instructor finally told him that he would have to float on his back by himself the next day.

I didn’t realize how apprehensive my son was about this until I listened to his bedtime prayer. “Heavenly Father,” he began with a rather gruff tone of voice, “tomorrow you’d better help me float on my back by myself.”

Then his voice softened and he said: “And you’d better hold on to me.”

There are depths of meaning to those words, and I have found consolation in them many times. When I feel overwhelmed with my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and church worker, I do what little Aaron did—I stop and ask Heavenly Father to hold on to me. Linnea Ketcher, Merced, California