Phelps Phanatics

It's Official! Saturday night Michael Phelps won his 8th Gold Medal of the Beijing Games & 7 of them were world records w/ the other an olympic record. I was interested by the hype but not totally what you would call a "Phelps Phanatic." After the 2nd or 3rd race I was hooked. We really enjoy the Olympics, & swimming is one of our favorites. I was awed at the relay team's comback & the .01 of a sec victory in his last individual event. All I can say is WOW!

I heard the other night of the irony of Phelps winning a record 8 Gold Medals in the 2008 Olympics, which were kicked off w/ the opening ceremony on 08.08.08 @ 8:00 P.M.

There's no doubt God blessed him w/ what many consider the "perfect swimmer's body." Also I have listened to & watched many stories regarding his work ethic & dedication to the sport. There are few athletes who work as hard as he does to be the best. Is he the greatest olympic athlete of all time? I think it's like comparing apples to oranges, but definitely is one of the best ever.

Other than a couple of track & field events the Olympics is all but over for me, but the impact of it will live on for a long time. Not only Phelps, but so many stories of olympians (like Dana Torres at age 41 still winning medals & doing what no one her age has ever done) have inspired me. I believe God can use anything to teach us lessons. I have learned so many spiritual lessons this past week simply from watching the Olympics. I'm not always great at it, but I try to let God speak to me through any & every avenue of life. If all of us were more aware of God's presence we too could learn incredible spiritual lessons from everyday events.

I don't mean to "spiritualize" everything & sound "holier than thou," but I enjoy learning lessons from what most of us see as non-spiritual events. The dedication of Phelps to achieve the impossible challenges me to have the same hunger & passion to spread the message of God's love w/ the world around me. If all Christians were as dedicated to Christianity as these althletes are to the Olympics, we would turn the world upside down for Jesus Christ. Someone who was smart & talented could easily write a book of spiritual lessons from these 2008 Summer Olympics.

Look for new ways for God to speak to you & always be listening for His voice.