Wish

This is where I bare my soul.

When people ask the question, "What would you do with a million dollars, Ryley?" I inevitably think of thousands of ways I could use the money to help people. Take care of a hard-working but poor family's major financial needs; build a hospital in Guate and send excellent physicians and nurses to work in it; feed hungry children; send out missionaries; cover all the grocery bills for a single mom; on and on and on! A million dollars! It could help so many people, it boggles my mind!

But there's always a little part of me, the selfish little goblin part, that thinks things like,

A million dollars?

That's a lot of shoes.

Or

Front-row, 50-yard-line season tickets to UT football games? Yes please.

But most of all, I have always, always, always...

...wanted an iced tea pool.

Let me clarify here:

I love iced tea. It's my favorite drink. Black tea, unsweet, lots of ice, lemon slice, two sweet 'n lows. Can I get an amen?

I also love swimming.

I attribute both of these things largely to the fact that I live in Austin, Texas, and it's really hot here. Really, really hot. So a while back, I got to thinking.

If iced tea and swimming are the most refreshing parts of my central Texas summers, then wouldn't it be efficient - and fun - to combine the two? Double the refreshment, people, double the refreshment.

When I proposed this idea to my family, however, they replied,

"Sick."

I explained that I would shower completely before jumping in, so I wasn't drinking foot nasty and armpit gunk. Once I was completely sanitary, I would dive in to my pool and swim and play and enjoy all the activities I would in a normal, boring old pool. The difference is that when I'm, say, perfecting my cannonball and think,

"My, I'm feeling a bit thirsty!"

I can savor a long, cool drink of tea without ever breaking concentration or wasting energy that could be used to propel myself from the diving board. While I'm lounging on a pool float and want a beverage to go with my R&R, there's no need to go inside and waste precious time - I'll just lean over and suck up some tea! Sheer brilliance! Just imagine the hours of satisfying merriment!

Sadly, I feel certain that this dream will most likely go unfulfilled even if I do stumble across a vault filled with a million dollars, since my original, people-helping ideas probably line up with God's more than a swimming pool filled with my favorite drink.

But if I stumble across more than one vault?

Tea pool for Ryley.