A great selling point for the Great Wolf, (and there are many) are their life guards. As a parent of five, I always feel outnumbered, even with HH at my side, there will always be more of them than us. Some of our crew are better swimmers than others, and my nerves are a mess on adventures such as this one. Who needs help? ....Who is drowning?.....Who needs a life jacket?....Who can't stand the life jacket?.....Who is too daring in the deep waters?....Who needs to be more daring? I tell you, I am usually a wreck of nerves during vacations such as these, and because of it, practically pass out at the kids bed times just to be able to do it all over again the next day.
However, early on in this vacation I watched those life-guards. There were many, sometimes more than two at a particular slide or pool and they were constantly moving. I mean literally, they would pace back and forth, and keep a constant motion going, I am guessing to keep alert, and not focused on just one thing the whole time. They paid careful attention to all under their care, and I tell you, as a parent, that was perfect.
It's not that I solely relied on those life guards to watch my kids, certainly not. I was there to ensure I could get to one of my crew first, however those life guards were so diligent, that even if I missed something, they surely wouldn't have. There was a great comfort in their ever watchful presence.
Usually you don't see them actually save anyone, they simply do their job, keeping watch, and never do you actually see them move quick, or pull anyone out who was drowning. But the first day on this vacation, I saw a life guard save a little girl who was struggling to keep her head above water.
I only turned my head her direction when a super loud whistle blew just behind me, and I quick turn my eyes to ensure none of my children were the culprit. Sure enough, a little girl was struggling, but a fast acting life guard saved her life, I am sure of it. The mother was clearly too far away from her, and that life guard didn't hesitate, she flung herself into the water, pushed aside some stepping 'water stones' and lifted that girl up faster than I thought possible. She was pulled up onto the curb of the pool, and thankfully, that lifeguard didn't need to perform CPR, but stayed quite a while with the little girl to ensure her health.
There's a reason I saw that the first day. It told me a lot about the environment we were stepping into....and it was a safe one, it was a reliable one, it was one where safety was paramount....and throughout the vacation we saw more instances of it, as the rules were adhered to strictly....while irritating at times, were necessary and we were grateful.
The whole water adventure was under the careful eyes of life guards. And I started to think about that....that idea of 'Guarding Life'.... and what a noble calling it is. Think of all those professions whose job it is to preserve life, at the expense of just about everything else, police, firefighters, doctors, EMT's, nurses, lifeguards and yes, parents too. It's such a comfort to have these individuals around us that have the training and expertise to handle difficult situations, where the parent isn't alone in the idea of preserving life.
Imagine the countless ways that ordinary folks, who may not be getting paid for their job of life preservation, can contribute to the 'culture of life' as JPII would refer to it. How can we, parents or not, assist a society to guard life, to treat even the youngest and oldest of our civilization as they deserve, as a creature of God?
What am I doing to guard life? Where could I step out and build a civilization where all our world has the mentality of a Life Guard, standing watch, pacing, eyes searching, waiting for that opportunity to throw ourselves into the pool and pull someone out. It's nobility at it's greatest, to save another, to help give someone, what we have been given, the ultimate human experience......LIFE.
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