Tonight!

My kids are ecstatic about the Olympics starting tonight. They can’t wait to see the atheletes march into the stadium with their country’s flag. Frankly, I can’t wait either. I love watching the Olympics. Always have. I remember watching Nadia so long ago. Mark Spitz! The Battle of the Brians’ in ice skating. So many memories of atheletes reaching for their dreams. My daughter is always amazed that I often cry during the Olympics. I cry for the atheletes who are injured or come short of reaching their dreams. I cry for those who stand on the podium and receive a gold, silver or bronze medal around their neck. It’s an amazing moment for them. They work so hard to get there.

So I’m ready for the next couple of weeks of watching swimming (Michael Phelps!) and diving and gymnastics. We’ll be searching for the fencing as my son is a fencer. I better stock up on popcorn!

But also, there are a lot of serious issues with the Olympics. I was reading in the paper today about threats made by an Islamic group. I’ve been reading to my kids from a book called Windows to the World. It basically tells about a different country or group of people on every page, telling where the country is, how many people live there, what their country is like, what they believe, then it lists things to pray for the people who live in that country. We’ve been reading about China and different groups of people, like the Hui. And we’ve been praying for those who live in China, for the Christians who have had to worship in secret, for the safety of those visiting for the Games and for the atheletes.

So how do you feel about the Olympics? Will you be watching?