Most mornings I swim at 5:30 with a handful of other crazies. We’re a dedicated crew. We know each other by first names and lane placements.
Regina and Roberta share the far lane every day, from 5:30 to 6 a.m. After they swim, they visit in the warm therapy pool. When Roberta didn’t show up for a week, I asked Regina if anything was wrong.
“She had knee replacement,” Regina said. “But she’s doing good. She’ll be back after Christmas.”
“Oh. OK,” I said.
Then, out of the blue, Regina asked, “Do you know the Lord?”
It’s very difficult to hear through a swim cap, so I asked her to repeat the question. “What?” I asked.
“Do you know the Lord? Jesus Christ?” Regina said.
“Um. Yeah. Sure,” I said.
No one had asked me if I knew the Lord since I’d moved to Fredericksburg. It’s the kind of question that I would get from time to time in Waco, which has a lot of Baptists and other non-denominational evangelicals. Not so much in Fredericksburg, which is mostly Catholic and Lutheran.
Regina spoke again. “Roberta has been such a good friend to me. She’s really helped me to know the Lord. I go over there every day after I get off work to check on her, and we sit and rock on the porch like two old ladies. God’s been good to me to give me her.”
That’s when I realized that when Regina asked if I knew the Lord, she was really asking if I knew Roberta, because to know Roberta is to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
Good news–Roberta is back in the pool! She has taken her place in the far lane, beside Regina.
You just never know Who might be swimming in the next lane.