a different kind of same

As you look at this picture, be sure to hum the Olympics theme song - I really wanted to add it to my post, but I couldn't figure out how. Bummer.

Aren't the Olympics great? I'm a big fan. The patriotism! The athleticism! The joy and the agony! Such emotion at every turn. I love the back-stories, too - those profiles of the various athletes/teams that make you so much more invested in their success or failure. Being something of a perfectionist myself (and often struggling with somewhat crippling stage fright/performance anxiety), I can't help but sympathize with the men and women who mess up. They've been practicing and preparing for four years (if not longer), and you know they've done that skate routine or ski run perfectly a hundred times and they couldn't be more ready, yet when it really matters and the pressure is on, it doesn't come together. How frustrating that must be!!! Like the story of the snowboarder, Lindsey Jacobellis, who had the gold medal in her pocket 4 years ago and then fell trying to do a simple board grab on the last jump and ended up in 2nd place. Not the end of the world, to be sure, and she handled her disappointment gracefully, but man oh man, it still had to hurt.

Now that I'm a mom, I tend to look at things through this new filter - my mom filter. Obviously, all of these athletes are somebody's child, and at some point all of these kids decided to pursue a sport and follow a dream. Some of the sports are dangerous and require the athletes to push their bodies to the absolute limit. I know Ash isn't going to literally wake up tomorrow and want to be a downhill skier, but I can't help but think how nervous I would be if he chose something like that as his life dream! Or, more accurately, if God put that desire and leading in his heart. And I guess I just answered my own question. I pray each day that as Asher grows up he will devote his life to God, discover the unique gifts and talents that God gives him, and use them to His glory, so if God leads Asher to be a downhill skier, or a dirtbike racer, or a UFC octagon cagefighter, I'll have the peace of mind that I've placed my child's welfare in God's hands. I can tell already that's easier said than done!

In the meantime, I can enjoy watching all the talented participants in the 2010 Olympiad and revel in the way this friendly competition unites so many countries and nations. Such a cool thing!!!