IN MOTION
Copyright 2012 Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Quote: "Listen to what I say, and put it in motion!"
Coach Mariah Hutchinson, Kansas City Blazers
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| Swimmers Hold up American Flags During National Anthem |
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| Daughter Faith, Granddaughter Emily and Daughter Sarah |
Swimming is a sport with a language all its own. It's a world where "butterfly" isn't an insect, "heat" doesn't refer to temperature, and "DQ" isn't an ice cream store.
· Butterfly is one of four competitive racing strokes, and may be referred to as simply: Fly.
· Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle are Competitive Racing Strokes.
· Heat is a division of an event - when there are too many swimmers to compete at the same time.
· DQ (Disqualification) is a violation of the rules which causes a swimmer's time to be discarded. Disqualified swimmers cannot score points in the event for which they receive a DQ. DQs are determined by a meet official.
We're a family of swimmers. I've attended swim meets for more than 40 years, and learned swim lingo in the 1960's when my brothers (Bret & Terry) and my sister (Gloria) swam for Clayview Country Club in Liberty, Missouri. My brothers earned college scholarships for swimming and diving.
My firstborn daughter, Kristin, swam competitively for Susquehanna Swim Team in Independence, Missouri, in the 1970's and early 80's. Some of the swim-team-moms and I went to the pool early each weekday morning (one hour before the kids' practice) to get in our own one-mile swim.
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| Daughter, Kristin & Granddaughter Emily Grace |
Participating in swim team throughout the years has given our family numerous benefits. We have maintained a love of swimming.
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| Daughter Faith Swims Freestyle and Grandson Joshua Swims Breaststroke |
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Grandson Caleb, Granddaughters Emily and Megan, Daughter Sarah
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Swimming:
ü Is both an individual and a team sport.
ü Is a great form of exercise that burns calories and is easier on joints than higher impact sports.
ü Increases confidence.
ü Gives children the opportunity to strive for excellence and set benchmarks. All these skills translate in the classroom.
ü Presents young athletes opportunities to learn from their mistakes - even though a DQ (disqualification) can be irritating and heart-breaking.
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| Granddaughter Emily Grace, Daughters Faith & Sarah |
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| Daughters Faith and Sarah at our family tent in the team crash site. |
My husband, Ed, and I forced our four children (Kristin, Benjamin, Sarah and Faith) to take swim lessons. Our grandchildren (Joshua, Emily, Megan and Caleb) also took swim lessons. Our teenage daughters, Faith and Sarah, and three of our four grandchildren (Joshua, Emily and Caleb) swam on the same summer swim team, the Oak Grove Gators.
Parent volunteers help at swim meets.
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| Caught Ed asleep! Swim meets go on for hours! |
Kids go from tent to tent at swim meet crash sites.
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Grandson Joshua, Daughter Sarah, and Husband Ed under our tent at "crash site."
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I bought white boards to write down events to
keep our four swimmers' schedules straight.
"I like to swim freestyle the best," my seven year old grandson, Caleb said, "I like to eat snacks like cereal, frozen grapes and strawberries. I play with my friends at swim meets when I'm waiting for my turn to swim."
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| Grandson Caleb Edward |
"My mom and dad made me swim," said my 10 year old granddaughter, Emily. "I don't like practice. I like talking and playing with my friends."
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"Swimmers take your mark! Get set! Go!"
Granddaughter Emily Grace dives off the starter block at a swim meet. |
"I try to improve each time I swim," my 12 year old grandson, Joshua said. "The time is printed on the back of the ribbons we earn, and I keep track. I hang my ribbons up on a bulletin board in my room. My fastest time is in breaststroke."
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| Grandson Joshua Taylor |
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| Grandson Joshua - IN MOTION! |
"I'm in it for the ribbons, but not for the reasons you might think." said my 17 year old daughter, Sarah. "I like collecting all color ribbons. I don't care what color they are. Blue is for 1st place; red for 2nd; white is 3rd; yellow is 4th; green is 5th, and pink is 6th. I have a rainbow of ribbons in my room."
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| Daughter Sarah Zheng-Kang |
Sarah is so relaxed when she swims competitively. It looks almost effortless as she glides through the water doing backstroke. She's very graceful, and her tall (5 foot 6 inch) slim body is a advantage to any would-be-swimmer. Sarah is busy with high school and has a part-time job, and has chosen not to swim competitively this year.
Our 17 year old daughter, Faith,
has only been swimming competitively for two years,
and it has taken her life in a new direction.
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| Daughter Faith Fu Ju |
FAITH: "Swimming is my passion. I tried other sports like volleyball, basketball, and track, but swimming makes me feel free. I have been a member of three swim teams: the Oak Grove Gators, the Blue Springs YMCA Penguins, and now the Kansas City Blazers. Gator's Coach Kate introduced me to the basic swim strokes. Penguins' Coach Christine trained me physically and mentally. She helped me build endurance to swim one mile in each stroke at each practice. Coach Christine saw my heart and passion for swimming. She was the first coach who recognized my potential. I love that woman. She encouraged me to pursue my dream of being an Olympic swimmer...no matter how small in stature I am (5 foot 2 inches) - and no matter what anyone else thinks. My coaches, C. J. Bray, and Mariah Hutchinson at the Kansas City Blazers make me practice harder than I've ever worked in my life. I cried all the way home from practice my first week at the Blazers....from exhaustion and frustration. Their motto is 'Pursuing Excellence.' It's in my nature to want to please - to want to be perfect. I am harder on myself that any coach has ever been on me."
FLY is Faith's favorite stroke. I think it's the most difficult of the four swim strokes, but Faith makes it seem easy. She whips her legs together and strokes with both arms simultaneously and symmetrically. She dives and glides like a dolphin - with the grace of a butterfly. It's a beautiful thing to watch.
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| Faith flies! |
My friend, Martha, said that Faith's 'wings' remind her of the Beatles' song lyrics:
"Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life - You were only waiting for this moment to arise. "
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| Faith - IN MOTION! |
I do not expect perfection from Faith, or from anyone else for that matter - not even myself. God knows I've tried pursuing perfection, and failed. I have come to the realization that perfection is not a worthy goal. To expect perfection is to set yourself up for failure. No one has ever been - nor will ever be perfect - except the sinless, son of God, our savior Jesus Christ.
God has called each of us to a place where we will find our passion and purpose. A place where we will find the job we love, financial success, friends, and fulfillment. It's our "sweet spot" -- a perfect fit. Michael Maiden, in his book, "Turn the World Upside Down," says: "If you were a key, the position God called you to would be a lock in which you fit perfectly - the lock on the door of your destiny."
Swimming is that "sweet spot" for Faith. It's not a perfect place that is free from problems or stress - but it's the place where God has called Faith. He has given her a passion - a burning desire to swim. His strength is made perfect in her weakness.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if one day at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, you see my 5 foot 2-inch daughter on the podium receiving at least one gold medal in swimming - while the USA National Anthem plays in the background. That's a scene Faith plays over and over in her mind.
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| Faith Fu Ju |
Faith Fu Ju is one of the hardest working - most humble young ladies you will ever meet. She exemplifies the meanings of both her Chinese and American names. Fu Ju means "blessing or great reward after much hard work." "Faith" is the subject of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." (Holy Bible: Hebrews 11:1)
Our 12 year old granddaughter, Megan said: "Faith - one day they will make a movie about your life."
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| Granddaughters Megan and Emily |
That wouldn't surprise me, either.
I began telling Faith her Life Story the first day we met her...through our Chinese interpreter. I told her God had a plan for her life, and she has never been alone. He set His plan in motion before she was created in her Chinese mother's womb. Her birth parents gave her the gift of LIFE. Her foster parents took care of her for seven years. She lived alternately at an orphanage, a foster home, and a boarding school in China, for the first eight years of her life. She experienced love in China, but she also endured abandonment, abuse and neglect.
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| Fu Ju's Photos Taken in China, 2001 |
Faith became our daughter in October 2002 through the miracle of adoption. We became her Forever Family.
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| Daughter Faith Fu Ju at Chicago's Navy Pier |
"Hey! Mom," Faith said recently: "You're going to like what Coach Moriah said. She says it almost every day at Blazer's swim practice when the kids don't pay attention. She says: 'Listen to what I say....and put it in motion.' "
I love it! That's exactly God's message to each of us: "Listen to what I say...and put it in motion."
I don't love my children based on their performance, although I celebrate each one of their accomplishments. I encourge them to DREAM BIG. I love them unconditionally the way our Heavenly Father loves His children.
My prayer is that my children and grandchildren and generations of our family yet unborn will discover their God-given passion and purpose, and bring the Good News of Jesus to their generation.
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Grandsons Caleb and Joshua, Granddaughters Emily and Megan,
Daughters Sarah & Faith |
Listen! God wants to speak to you today...
"... To carry out the plans He long ago set in motion."
Acts 4: 28
Acts 4:23-33
23 As soon as Peter and John were let go, they went to their friends and told them what the high priests and religious leaders had said.
24 Hearing the report, they lifted their voices in a wonderful harmony in prayer: "Strong God, you made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
25 By the Holy Spirit you spoke through the mouth of your servant and our father, David: Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples?
26 Earth's leaders push for position, Potentates meet for summit talks, The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers!"
27 For in fact they did meet - Herod and Pontius Pilate with nations and peoples, even Israel itself! - met in this very city to plot against your holy Son Jesus, the One you made Messiah,
28 To carry out the plans You long ago set in motion.
29 "And now they're at it again! Take care of their threats and give Your servants fearless confidence in preaching your Message,
30 as you stretch out your hand to us in healings and miracles and wonders done in the name of Your Holy Servant Jesus."
31 While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God's Word with fearless confidence.
32 The whole congregation of believers was united as one - one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." They shared everything.
33 The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.
UNTIL ALL HIS CHILDREN HAVE HOMES!
Marcia, AMERICA'S STORYTELLER
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