January 2026 On the Side: Looming Lanes
By Carol M. Shrader
My youngest entered the world full of confidence. The doctor handed her to her Daddy at birth and she promptly cooed at him -- as if to say "I know you've been waiting for me your whole life!"
Perhaps the fact that two adults and three 8-year-olds were immediately enthralled by her every movement gave her such a healthy self-confidence. Or maybe she just came into the world confident she could master any task.
Whatever the reason, I was unprepared the first time I saw trepidation on her face. She was seven and had been invited to join the most senior swim program at our swim school. This child had been in swimming school since she was six months old and had a love of water so intense that when she was four, she literally stood at the window watching the pool in our new home being dug IN HER SWIMSUIT.
All that to say I was not the least bit surprised when her coach asked her to move up to compete with Hammerhead Seniors. I was tickled as a matter of fact.
But then I saw my little swimmer’s face and on it a look I had frankly never seen on her. With her red hair covered by her swim cap, she turned and looked at me with wide eyes and a look that screamed, “I am not confident I can do this. I am scared.”
I remember looking from her terrified eyes to the pool, at the lanes that had been short-across-the-pool-lanes prior to joining this more senior team but were now length-of-the-pool long. Honestly, I considered grabbing her up and just calling it a night. She’s my baby after all. And watching her look at the pool with fear on her face was almost more than I could take.
I felt the look on her face all the way to my soul. The fear and trepidation were easily recognizable to me. I know – and perhaps you do too – the fear of looking at changes on my horizon and being positively overwhelmed. Goodness, the pool lanes in my life have looked like moving across the country for medical school, and again for residency, then once more for fellowship….starting a practice, making new friends, visiting new churches….moving again. So many pool lanes stretch out before us in medical marriages.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:4-5 (NIV)
Like pool lanes, right?
Are you standing on the cusp of a change that looms large as we enter this brand-new year? Are you wondering how in the world you will get from this side of the pool to the other?
Can I encourage you that you are not alone? I have stood on the edge of so many changes, staring at the horizon nearly overwhelmed with what it might take to make it to the opposite side – to the side where I know and am known.
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV – emphasis mine)
I have had seasons of change where I fairly chant Phil. 4:13. I say it over and over again in my head. I say it out loud. I sing it for pete’s sake. I pray it repeatedly. I pray it desperately: Jesus, please give me the strength.
And then I take a deep breath and dive in. Well, honestly, sometimes, I take the deep breath and gently wade in.
On her first day on the senior swim team, my little swimmer turned from me, looked at the pool with determination, and dove right in. And of course, within minutes, she was smiling and doing her thing -- swimming like the little fish she had been since she was a baby. And though it has been years, I still remember the smile that lit her face after that practice when she realized she DID it!
Happy New Year, dear ones. I am praying that whatever adventures loom in your 2026, you remember that God promises to provide the strength and the grace for us to dive right in.
Blessings,
Carol M. Shrader
Carol M. Shrader lives in Delaware with her wonderful Wade, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. For the first time in her medical marriage, she has been in a house so long that she is having to declutter all the closets without the need to pack for a pending move!
