I’ve never been to one.
Olympic Games, that is.
I do good to get a football game or two!
But this year I have enjoyed watching Simone Biles as she won her gold medals. She is amazing, as far as I’m concerned. I just can’t imagine defying gravity like she does!
I read online that she got interested in gymnastics on a day care field trip when she was 6 years old. Things online may not be accurate, but that is interesting that her love for the sport may have begun so young.
I read that as a young teen, 13 or 14, she decided on homeschooling so she could devote more time to training. Most sources say she still practices in six-hour increments, twice a day, for about 35 hours a week.
She is strong!
I’ve never been very successful in anything athletic, but I sure do admire those who are! Gary has taught me to love football and we enjoy watching games and cheering from our living room. I wish I had learned and played more sports as a child and teenager, but we gave our children all the opportunities we could for them to take part.
The most athletic thing I guess I did was ride horses!
Riding my big red leopard Appaloosa while he ran as fast as he could was a joy and a thrill. We raced against no one except ourselves. We just raced until we both were worn out.
The Bible speaks of the race we run as Christians and followers of Christ. Paul uses the example of athletes as he explains the struggles or difficulties we have striving to live the Christian life. It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon!
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says: “We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.” Paul was imprisoned, beaten repeatedly, stoned, kidnapped, threatened, arrested many times, shipwrecked, in the ocean a night and day, and yet he never denied Christ or stopped preaching Christ’s Gospel!
Hebrews 12:1 instructs us: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us so lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Our race is the one God sets before us in His great will. What do we keep before us to be able to run straight and true? Christ our Savior! Our focus is on Him.
May our prayer be that we can one day say like Paul as he faced the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
