Hello World,

Unless you have taken a vacation from the planet the last week or so, at some point, you have watched the Summer Olympics in London! And if you have watched even a few minutes of the games, you have either heard about or seen the wonder that is 16-year-old Gabby Douglas! Her name will forever be a part of history as she won the women’s all-around gold medal in gymnastics, becoming the fourth American to do so and the first African American to achieve this feat! In addition, Gabby is the first American to win both of the individual and team events at the same Olympics! And even more importantly, she is an unabashed Christian who incorporates her faith in God in all of her astounding achievements…

Here is one of her Facebook status updates after she won her gold medals…

“Wow!!! I am still trying to grasp that I am the All-Around Olympic Gymnastic Champion and that my teammates and I won the Team Gold Medal. You all have been so great to me! I am sooooo thankful for all of your support and love! We have event finals coming up this week – starting tomorrow with Vault Finals. I would love it if you would keep my teammate MaKayla Maroney in prayer & cheer as she competes for a medal 🙂 #TeamUSA.”

Also, just after she made the Olympic team, she was interviewed at Valley Church in West Des Moines, Iowa where she has attended over a year while she trained for the Olympics. Below is a video in which she asked the church to pray for her and her teammates as they headed to London, and she shared how her faith in God helps her to excel in gymnastics. Also, Gabby revealed how her mother e-mailed Bible scriptures to her every morning that she used to inspire her, and she also e-mailed Bible scriptures to her at night that helped her fall asleep! Here are a few inspiring quotes from her interview…

“I love reading about the Word. It really helps me during gymnastics. I mean it’s very important. Whether you are really like scared of a skill, like you just have to just rely on God. He’s not given us the spirit of fear but a spirit of of peace, love and a sound mind…”

“…If we’re having problems with a skill, like I keep falling on my two and half which is like I can do this, all things are possible to Him who believes, so I just meditate and meditate, and it just builds my faith and my confidence on the floor so you have to put on the full armor of God when Satan tries to come against us we already are prepared…”

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Summer Olympics and Christian Olympians after my experience at the 1996 Summer Olympics which were held in the A! In fact, I wrote about my experience covering the Summer Olympics from a Christian point of view in my book “After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God.” In my story, I shared how although I was sent by “The Christian Index” newspaper to cover a rally for Christian Olympians at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, I ended up rededicating my life to God that evening. Here is an excerpt from my story below…

As various athletes shared their stories, I was impressed with how muscular and lithe they looked even though they had on jogging suits. What impressed me more was the earnestness in their voices as they spoke of having a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ and how this relationship pointed them to their purpose in their lives.They spoke as if God was with them when they trained and even as they completed their events in the Olympics and other competitions. Some of them talked about how God was even with them in their losses. I was attracted to two things: the way that Jesus Christ seemed like a person they actually knew, and that God was fulfilling a purpose in each of their lives, and they knew it.

In fact, it was their stories that inspired me to develop my own personal relationship with God…I just pray that Gabby will not only inspire people through her athletic prowess but also through her personal relationship with God…And if you would like to read more about Gabby story’s before and after the Olympics, check out this article  “America’s Megawatt Sweetheart” from “The New York Times.”

Any thoughts?

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