The 2008 Olympics - what a gift!

I don't know how you feel, but to me this years Olympics were some of the best games I have ever seen in my entire life! The caliber of talent, the competition, the pomp and circumstance - truly memorable! From the opening ceremonies to the closing of the games - it was an amazing sight to see.
China spent over $40 Billion on all aspects of these games and it showed. There probably won't ever be another Olympics with this much flare because quite frankly no other country has this kind of disposable cash to spread around for sports. It stands to reason that perhaps another communist country could try to compete at this level because in a communist country the government controls all the money - so they have complete authority over how it is spent, but what other communist country has this kind of cash? The reason this will never happen in America is that the Olympics is won by a City, not the country - and no city in America could compete financially at this level. Quite frankly thank God they can't - though truly mesmerizing and AWESOME - one has to wonder how many impoverished people could have been lifted out of poverty with this same money spent for pure entertainment.
I digress, the point of this particular blog on the Olympics was to talk about all the amazingly talented and gifted athletes at this years Olympics. The Olympics has always been about the best athletes in the world coming together on one "stage" to perform their skills and determine who is the best of the best! What we witnessed this year was amazing. It seems that we saw more world records and Olympic records broken at this Olympics than at any other Olympics in history. For me, watching Michael Phelps in the pool was so amazing and awesome. The commentators explained that Michael is so good because of his tall size, his huge "wing span", and his HUGE feet that can bend all the way back so that they act like swim fins. You can explain it anyway that you want - but the truth is that GOD uniquely gifted Michael Phelps with his physique to do exactly what he does! Guess what - God has also uniquely gifted you and me to do something amazing during our life time. We each come into this world with unique gifts and talents - Given to us as a gift from our Creator - a God who loves us and wants us to identify this gift and live out our faith through His gift to glorify Him! Our biggest challenge is to identify this gift and develop it. How could we do anything less?
It is when we forget our roots, when we forget who gave us everything we have to begin with, that we get into trouble. You hear everyday about successful people who have lost it all - perhaps it is because they started believing that they created their own success and forgot about the God who gave them the gifts and abilities to create that success in the first place. Then you hear about other people who have had great success, always thanked God for their blessings, and give most of their wealth away to those less fortunate. I believe this is what we are called to do. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and Love our neighbors as we love ourselves.