Baby swim class party

This morning was the last session of the baby swim class for this school year. This was our son's last session of Bébé Nageurs, as he will be too old for it when the September session starts. It's amazing to think that this was his 3rd year in the class and of all the progress that he (and our daughter) have made. It was good to hear that all 3 of the instructors plan to be back for the next school year. While we haven't spoken to them a lot, we do feel a bond with them.

This class has been our biggest linking activity to our neighborhood. We now recognized faces of kids and parents from the class when we see them in the neighborhood outside of the pool.

Bill Johnson, in When Heaven Invades Earth, writes,

It's not good when Christians try to do business only with other Christians. We are salt and light. We shine best in dark places! I love business and business people and have genuine interest in their success. Before entering a store, I often pray for the Holy Spirit to be released through me. If I need something on one side of the store, I'll enter on the opposite end in order to walk through the entire store. Many opportunities for ministry have developed as I've learned how to release His presence into the marketplace.

People laid the sick in the streets hoping that Peter's shadow would fall on them and they'd be healed [Acts 5:15]. Neverthless, it wasn't Peter's shadow tha brought healing. There is no substance to a shadow. Peter was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and it was that presence that brought miracles. The anointing is an expression of the person of the Holy Spirit. He is tangible. There were times in Jesus' ministry when everyone who touched Jesus' clothing was healed or delivered. The anointing is substance. It is the actual presence of the Holy Spirit and He can be released into our surroundings. (pp. 74-75)

After swim class, from 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., we had an open house for children and parents whom we've gotten to know in the class. One Japanese woman (married to an Italian)and her son Fabio weren't able to come because of illness. We had 3 other families who came: a Colombian named Rodriguo and his daughter Chiara; a French Jewish woman named Yaël and her daughter Leah, and a English woman named Juliane (married to a French man), her 2 daughters, and their English fille au pair Cerise. The lunch went well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. They all plan to do the swim class this next school year, so we should get to see all of them again.

As our son starts school this September, we expect to meet lots of kids and parents through that avenue as well. I would love to see Jesus to a work in our neighborhood in all the lives of these young families we're getting to know. Several days ago, my wife ran into a woman whose daughter will be in our son's class this fall. She (the mother) is a professional singer who remembered us from the orientation 3 Saturdays ago.

My wife had her first visit to her OB/GYN right after the open house lunch. The baby appears to be in his/her 2nd month and progressing well. He/she is only 2 centimers long (4/5 of an inch) right now.