The Olympics are officially over. And might I say, hats off to every last one of the athletes that competed. No matter how much we analyze your performance, you are among the top of the world.
I had a conversation with my husband the other day about what we thought the most difficult event in the Olympics was. Not discounting the amount of athleticism and focus in every single event, we both agreed that it had to be gymnastics. Now, I know I'm not familiar with all the sports that are even offered in the Games and I also know that this is my opinion, plain and simple.
The precision that must be met by the gymnasts, the fine-line, detailed analysis of just exactly how their toes point or their knees bend is beyond my ability to imagine. Judged to the hundredth of a point by a human being's opinion.....
About a month ago, we attended a session of the Cornhusker State Games, Nebraska's version of the Olympics from young'ns to oldies. It was the "Skate Games"....the skateboarders competing. I quickly noticed a young man sitting and watching with a cast on his arm, another with an ankle brace...and during their competing, there seemed to be more falling and wiping out than successful tricks (I don't even know if that's the right thing to call them). Skateboards would go flying and hit the wall, bodies would flail and roll the way no human body should, shins would get knocked and the skaters would spend more time picking up their boards than they did actually jumping down a railing by some stairs.
I couldn't help but relate it to my life as a Christian.
The perfection of the gymnasts....now THAT would be something to aim for.
But let's be honest. My life as a Christian more closely resembles that of the skate board competitor. More often than not, I get it wrong. I fall more times than I land it. When I try something fancy, I typically end up on the ground. I'm more bruised than glittered up. I'm more broken than I am flexible. I'm more rough around the edges than I am polished with a perfectly white grin.
But one thing I noticed about the Skate Games competitors was that, no matter what, they got back up. They rolled with it. They tried again. Sometimes their next "try" was more of a massive fail than the previous one. But they picked up their skateboard again. And again. And again.
And it reminded me to keeping trying, to get back up and to not give up.
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." ~ Exodus 14:14
"Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave sot hat after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." ~ I Corinthians 9:24-27
"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." ~ I Timothy 6:12
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