Go USA!!!

So this last weekend was a long and fun weekend. Friday night we went to help set up for the church's youth group "Great Escape". It poured down rain but it was tons of fun. Saturday was the day it all happened. It was a lot of fun. Jarred ended up being on one of teams because well, there aren't to many big guys .. most of them are really skinny so they needed more muscles on each team. Well, there were 5 events + 3 teams = loads of fun. I was helping judge an event and oh man, I wish we had stuff like this in our youth group growing up. We had I think 18 kids!!!! So that started at 4 and we didn't leave until around 930-10'ish. We had a bonfire, the kids had their first taste of s'mores, good day all around. Have I said it enough? Good day!!!!

So of course, I have been watching the Olympics. My sports that I love to watch are gymnastics (of course!!!), swimming, and diving (not synchronized). Well lets just say, gymnastics is very very different from when I used to compete. I wont get into all the technicals but, 10 is no longer then highest you can get, and the teams aren't judged by ALL the events competed by ALL persons on the team, but by 3 chosen on the team. I have a problem when someone who makes it to the Olympics makes it because they are phenomenal on at least, one event. In my opinion, if you are in the Olympics it needs to be based on all events. Your total should be based on ALL team members, good and bad. That's where I think true team'ship comes into play. You can have an awesome team (Like China last night on High Bar, this is the guys competition) where they just dominate high bar. Where the Americans are good, but they definitely do not dominate. I just think in order to work together you need to have the good and bad. Not just the good. I think adding the bad into the mix will make it an even better competition. Oh, and the judging has just gotten horrible. They can now go back and review routines AFTER the fact in SLOW motion. That's just wrong.

Anyways, back on track. I was thinking last night, the Men's Gymnastics Team went to the Olympics and got a medal despite all odds. They had America saying they wouldn't even medal in gymnastics. They were a bunch of nobodies. They were all first time competitors in the Olympics. They lost their only former Olympian to an injury. And against all odds they pulled it off. Their morale was so awesome. The whole time they were representing USA, saying little sayings etc. "No Fear No Regrets" was one thing that they were saying. And oh man they gave it their best. They stuck landings, stuck release moves, they gave it their all. When I was laying in bed all I kept thinking was what if we as Christians did that? We have all this negativity with being a Christian and unlike the Americans for the most part we hear the negativity and "lay low". We don't go out and we definitely don't live by the saying No Fear No Regret. I know for me personally there are tons of times that I feared and I definitely regret. What if we go into situations, against all odds, with determination and sheer will, we see the Gold and we give it our all, we stumble but we get right up and give even more, I wonder what would happen? I wonder if we could get God put back in the Pledge on Allegiance, if we could get our kids to be able to pray at school again. Slow baby steps .. but I am looking on the bunch of nobodies with no chances who gave it their all and pulled it off, as an example for myself.

"No Fear No Regrets"