As the Olympics have been going on, we at home have been trying to do something new. I had a class last winter; part of it was reading a book called Operation World; it was a book that gave basic info about many/all of the countries in the world, facts about the church and how faith is practiced there, and a list of things we can be praying for concerning each country. With that in mind, I thought it would be super cool to pray for a different country each night with the kids, keeping in mind the facts from this book and praying that Jesus would be making a difference in that country. We have had some moderate success, I suppose; we often forget to pray as we get so wrapped up in the competition we see (go figure, right?). It has been very moving to hear the kids pray for China, Brazil, Iran, etc. however! They seem to understand the process a bit...I have been thinking about and praying for our country through the process as well. What an opportunity we have; hundreds of thousands of people converged on one spot; the attention of the world focused for 2 weeks on the feats we see on television...the potential as a free nation to lead by example, and to speak about the goodness of Jesus to the world. How cool could it be if we were praying behind the scenes for our athletes to speak boldly the name of Christ...I truly hope that some will embrace the opportunity to not only excel at their physical performance, but excel at the lifting up the reason for their gifts...and that we might do the same.