Michael Phelps

I have been watching the Olympics every night just to make sure that I do not miss another swim by Michael Phelps. He is a tremendously gifted athlete who also has the corresponding desire to compete at a very high level. He reminds me of a slightly wetter Michael Jordan.

His desire to win is gigantic; almost scary at times. As evidence, with several swims remaining, he has already harvested five gold medals. I suspect that he is a monster when he plays Monopoly, too!

Phelps has used God-given equipment to reach the apex of the game he plays. He is perhaps the greatest competitive swimmer to ever hit the pool.

It is a relative certainty that none of the rest of us will win five gold medals in a single Olympics. Almost none of us will appear on American Idol (in Hollywood), be elected president of the United States, star in a Batman movie, become the next Billy Graham, or cure cancer. Of course, the Lord is not necessarily looking for stars that are already shining, especially ones who think they have gotten themselves to where they are. Instead, He is seeking any dim old lamp that is willing to be lit and shine for Him.

Peter was just a regular fisherman when Jesus hollered at him. He willing followed at a surely high price and the Lord did wonders through him. I am sure that when Peter understood what was required of him he said within himself, "I can't do it!" He was right. He could not, and that is the key understanding. When we know we are incapable, God can then get some things done through us.

You see, the Lord can do all things. Believe it or not, he is even powerful enough to overcome our deficiences!

There is only one thing that stops God from doing miracles through any one of us dimsters: our saying "no." We decline His invitation to be used spectacularly for a variety of reasons but all of our excuses are ultimately born of fear. We are afraid of losing our freedom, of being made to look foolish, of seeming different, of not being able to do what we want to do, of failing. And our fear puts the brakes on God's plans for us.

A true exercise in faith, then, is saying "yes" to God when He asks us to do something we know that we cannot pull off. It is then that we learn to depend. Let's all pray for new-found courage to trust.

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Besides Olympics, most recent days have been spent writing devotional, doing small home projects, reading, and just hanging out. Compared with the activities of earlier in the summer it is rather dull. I love it!

Late tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) we will be headed to Middlebury, IN to spend time with Kathy's sister, Shari, and her family. We look forward to being there through the weekend. Kathy and Shari will sing together during the worship service at Silverwood Mennonite Church in Goshen on Sunday morning.

All for now!

Jeff