many nations

So the Olympics has ended, and part of me is kind of relieve as now I have less distractions in my day to day.

There is a good article about the "stats" of this Olympics: http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/37148372, and it talks about how US is still a powerhouse in the medals count, and how Great Britain did very well reaching second place. It also shows how certain countries have most of their medals on one type of event (e.g. Jamaica won a bunch in track and field). Canada also did pretty well.

It goes on with talking how Michael Phelps did very well, and as well Katie Ledecky (she is beast), and one of the best gymnasts Simone Biles winning many medals. Of course Usain Bolt is on a league of his own, winning the 3 golds (100m, 200m, 4x100m) in the last 3 Olympics. Probably it is not the number of medals that made him so good, but it's how he dominates the race and how he draw the crowds to roar for him.

These are all achievements that most people have heard about as they are the main starts of the past few weeks. There are other great achievements that might not appear in the main headlines that I would like to note:

• Anthony Erwin from the US, the oldest swimmer at age of 35 to win a gold medal (50m freestyle). He had won a gold in Sydney 2000 (16 years ago!), and then had a tough life of depression and even had suicide attempts, but he was able to recover, and even get a gold medal.
• Oksana Chusovitina, is the oldest female gymnast to compete at the age of 41. She is already a well accomplished athlete, but she never gives up. She participated on the vault apparatus, and even though she did not win any medal, she attempted the "Prudonova" which is the hardest level of difficulty of vault (and is very dangerous). Though she did not landed cleanly, the fact that she tried to such a high level routine with the ambition to clinch a medal is worth admiring.
• Monica Puig, won the very first gold medal for Puerto Rico in its history, by taking first in women's tennis. It is an achievement that brings much joy and unity to a "nation" that is going through a really bad economical turmoil.
• Juan Martin del Potro, Argentine tennis player who used to be in higher ranks a few years back, but due to injuries have not competed well in the recent years, had a wonderful journey of battles by defeating #1 tennis player Djokovic in the first round, and defeating former #1 Rafael Nadal, to get into finals and lose to Andy Murray. The silver medal is a fantastic prize for him on his comeback. He is even surprised to get that far, especially when he knew his first match was against Djokovic.
• In indoor volleyball, the relatively new nation of Serbia, went to its first Olympic final in women's by defeating the favorites, the US in 5 sets. Eventually, they did lose against the talented and very tall team of China in the finals, but their accomplishment is admirable.

There is probably a lot more of good things to talk about regarding the Olympics, and of course there will also be many negative things to speak about.


Rio Olympics started with great skepticism, because of many issues that Brazil as a nation is facing. From the economical issues, to political instability (its elected president had to stepped down, and she is getting prosecuted), to civil unrest (many people are really unhappy about the $ spent in the World Cup and Olympics), to the Zika virus (many health organization recommended to postpone it). Plus there are other concerns about how the clean the water is in Rio, about the unfinished residences (for the athletes), and the security (apparently a few athletes has reported robbery, some are true stories, some are not). Due to all this, there is a huge concern whether tickets will get sold as people might be deterred to visit. Despite all this, Rio Olympics went on, and seemingly it went relatively ok. Of course, that is from an outside's perspective, we'll still have to see how this will affect Rio in the next couple of years.

But for sure, there is also controversy when talking whether it is worth hosting an Olympics.

I found some youtube videos that shows top 5 interesting facts about the Olympics in general:

• reasons why it sucks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUaLWYUe12c
• reasons why it can be good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2OKrtxgeo

I was trying to think why I like the Olympics. What attracts me to spend a few hours a day watching many kind of sports event? In general I really like to watch sports, especially football (called soccer in North America), but I actually do not watch football in the Olympics (it's considered a minor event). 

There are certain sports that I grown to appreciate a lot like artistic gymnastics, pole vault jump, synchronized diving, and some of the sprinting events, some of the swimming events. There is actually World competitions that go on every year or two years for these sports, but I only follow them during the Olympics. So I think the Olympics does provide a "venue" to showcase all these great sports and athletes in set time, so that people can appreciate and admire (and learn the rules and points system about the sports).

One thing one of the major attractions about the Olympics that I like is to see people from many nations participating. My top favorite sports event is the Football World Cup, but there are only 32 nations, and most of them are European. Whereas in the Olympics, there are officially 207 nations (some of them not recognized by the United Nations, but who cares), and that is big number. Nations from certain geographic location tend to do better at some sports (e.g. East Asian countries are good for Table Tennis). Sometimes it is very nice to hear an athlete from a less known country winning something big (e.g. Fiji winning gold on rugby), It's very neat to witness many athletes from different nations, ethnicity, and culture competing together in the span of two weeks.

It is very pale, but really pale picture of what it could look like when all nations will gather together to worship God. Of course it is a stretched comparison. If I am elated by seeing people from all nations competing in a sports event, how much more joyful it will be to see all nations coming together worshiping God? 

A few other things from the Olympics that was nice to see/hear:

- David Boudia (silver in 10m synchronized diving, and bronze in 10m individual)  praying with his coach after his final dive.

- Almaz Ayana (broke the 10km record, and won gold) was accused of doping, and she defended herself with these reasons: "No. 1, I’ve been training specifically (for this event). No. 2, I pray to the Lord. The :ord has given me everything, everything. And No. 3, my doping is Jesus. Those are the reasons."

We should really be doped with Jesus.

athlete

Though there are many criticism on the issues that Brazil is facing as a country, the Olympics at Rio de Janeiro has started, and many great things have occurred. I remembered that it was the Olympics at Atlanta in 1996 that I first watched and grew very attached in watching many of these sports today.

Here are some of the great sport achievements of this week:

• Penny Oleksiak a 16 year old Canadian swimmer conquering the heart of many fans with an Olympic record on 100m freestyle swim, and the first Canadian to win 4 medals in one games. What a great future!
• Americans dominating the swimming medal count, especially with Katie Ledecky winning very convincingly the 200m, 400, 800m freestyle (beating her own World Record) and Michael Phelps adding more medals to his illustrious career.
• Synchronized Diving, a sport where China is considered the best, Wu Minxia achieved a historic 5th goal medal since her participation in 2014 Olympics in 3m springboard. An achievement that was later repeated by her compatriot Chen Ruolin in the 10m springboard.  
• Almaz Ayana from Ethiopia broke the 10,000m race World Record by 14 seconds, which is insane.
• Kohei Uchimura in an intense competition in the all-round men gymnastics competition, grabbed the gold medal by performing a spectacular on his last apparatus (high bar) and beat the second place by 0.1 point. He is also a gold medalist in London 2012 and silver medalisy in Beijing 2008.

There still more events coming up, and I am very excited to see them.

One special athlete I want to focus on is the Italian Tania Cagnotto from 3m springboard diving. She got a silver medal on synchronized diving, and though her achievement might seem small compared to the ones listed above, I really admire her because of her perseverance. I remembered her in the 2012 Olympics, where she was 0.1 point from getting a bronze medal and was ranked 4th. I actually remembered blogging about it 4 years ago. She cried in her coach's shoulder because she has been so close to a medal (she got 4th on both synchronized and individual on 2012, and ranked 5th on individual on 2008). No one was sure if she would come back for another Olympics as she might retire due to her age, and it is difficult to overcome such disappointment. But she kept training and competing, and her perseverance paid off, and now she can boast of a silver Olympic medal, and she might have another chance at the individual competition next week.

I admire athletes because of their discipline and motivation to train and improve. It is not a surprise that the bible has verses that talks about the imagery of someone of races, one who race with perseverance (Hebrew 12:1), one who exercise self-control (1 Cor. 9:24-27), and one who finishes the race (2 Tim. 4:7).

Perseverance is very important because there are many obstacles and disappointments in life but we have to keep striving forward for what Christ has called us. The lesson of  discipline is a hard one. Sometimes it is so difficult to just find time to read the bible on our busy lives. I know in my head that reading the Word is important, I have tasted that the bible is very refreshing, but despite of that I sometimes choose to fill my time with other activities. Discipline means that we need to stick to do what we have to do, even when we do not feel like it. These are two very important lessons that I need to work on more, and through God's grace I hope to improve, all for His glory.

no te vayas Lio

In the recent weeks there have been much football, and the season of international tournaments is coming to an end soon. Throughout these couple of weeks, there have been 3 major "calamities" in the world of football:

1) England getting beaten by Iceland

After surprising vote for "Brexit", the nation of England got a second calamity by losing in the round of 16 against the underdog team of Iceland. Many of the English players are considered superstars and they played on the prestigious Premier League, but Iceland has only 330,000 people on the whole country (for reference, I went to a football stadium that fits 85,000 people, so it's like 4 times that on a whole nation), and most of them do not play at a professional league, and they managed to put a team to win. Funny thing is that the Icelandic football coach is a full time dentist, who is on a sabbatical coaching the team.

English commentators state that this is "their biggest shame in football history".

2) Spain's dominion coming to an end

Spain has gifted us with a great generation of players who delights us with their skills and talent. They have been impressive in winning major tournaments back to back: Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, and Euro 2012. Keeping many of the key players, they could not pass the first round in World Cup 2014, but people still have hope that they would do well in Euro 2016. They started well by defeating Czech Rep, and then dominating Turkey, but looked tired when facing Croatia, and lost against them. That lost was critical as it set them to face Italy, which ultimately eliminated Spain from the competition. Pretty much this lost marks an end to this glorious Spanish generation.

3) Argentina losing another final

Argentina was the great favorite team to win the Copa America 2016, with Lionel Messi as the commanding star. They were second in the World Cup 2014, and second in the Copa America 2015, and they are experiencing a 23 year "drought" of not winning a major football tournament. So all hopes from the Argentine nation were placed in this team to win the Copa America, and they reached final to play against Chile (the current champion).

I am a big Argentina fan, so I actually drove with New Jersey to watch the final game. I wore the Argentina jersey, and was very hopeful that they would win this time. It was a neat experience to enter the stadium to see the Argentine players that I admire, especially Messi. The game started, and the ambient was festive, and whenever Messi touched the ball, the audience's mood would warm up. When he was about to take a free kick, everyone was ready with their smartphones to record a video in the case that he was to score. Unfortunately, the game was rough, and the referee expelled a player from each side, so it became very defensive and tight, so very little opportunities for good plays. Consequently, it went to penalty kicks, where Messi would missed, and Argentina would lose a 3rd consecutive final at a major football tournament in the last 3 years.

This event shattered me emotionally, but a few hours after, Messi announced that he would retire from Argentina national team, and this is a tragic news for the nation and for myself. He is still 29, which means he can play the next World Cup at a high level. With him, Argentina can be a title contender, without him, Argentina looks fragile. This news has led to a social movement in Argentina where many fans and even the president of the nation are asking Messi to reconsider his position.

Anyways, I don't want to over-dramatize my emotions on football.


Just how Argentina have been fruitless on winning major tournaments, sometimes living as a Christian, we might experience seasons of dryness where perhaps we feel it is harder to find joy in God, or that the labor of our work seems fruitless. For some reason this happens, and the fact that we are sinful by nature is major factor, as well God might be teaching us an important lesson. It is hard to find an answer of the why these seasons of dryness can occur. Though they can be very discouraging and painful, there are major truths that we need to be reminded by:

• God is never going to abandon you
• Even though I am not faithful, God is faithful, and His promise to deliver me will stand
• God is never changing, no matter what season, and He is our reason to live and worship

There are times when this song the "Desert Song" by Hillsong speaks volumes:

"This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold

So refine me, Lord, through the flame

...

And this is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ

So firm on His promise I'll stand

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship"

pasion por el futbol

Definitely enjoy the abundance of football (soccer as it is called here) happening this year.

Honestly, this is something I really much miss. I grew up in Guatemala, where most people are into football, and it is easy to find people who I can share the love for this sport. Many people in Guatemala complains about the corruption in the government, about the economical situation, about the robbery, and this list goes on, but whenever the national team is playing football, all is forgotten. I remembered there was a time when Guatemala played a friendly match with Brazil, a powerhouse int his sport, and of course Brazil was leading 1-0 for most of the game. Last minute of the game, and a corner kick from Guatemala, the player kicks it, and someone connects a header, and scores the tie! It was very exciting, and even one of my neighbors set up some firecrackers to celebrate.

The Euro 2016 is going to a round of 16, and there are many great surprises, teams that are supposed to be strong, are not doing that well, and "smaller" teams doing well.

One special mention I want to make is for Iceland, which has a population smaller than Newfoundland and Labrador; their population is that small, that 8% of its people are actually in France to support their team. Even with such a small country, they are able to assemble a team that qualified for the second round, and today they won their first game ever in Euro history thanks to a goal at the very last minute of the game. The excitement is beyond charts, especially from these Icelandic commentator: https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2016/jun/22/icelandic-commentator-goes-wild-after-icelands-winner-against-austria-audio

When I see this, I smile as I found someone with similar "pasion por el futbol"

champion's thirst

Recent weekend, the UEFA Champion League Final took place, between Barcelona (Spanish champion of La Liga) and Juventus (Italian champion of the Serie A).

I read various comments about the game and saw highlights multiple times, and I can conclude it was an excellent game. I was not able to watch it, because I chose to spend time with friends in Toronto, which is also very precious.

Barcelona won the game 3-1, and for many that was an expected outcome due to their formidable world class strikers and of course, the best player of the world, Lionel Messi. But Juventus did put a good fight, and had its chances as well. The Italian press have commended the Juventus team, and stated that they lost but they have nothing to regret from.

Barcelona won its 4th UEFA Champion League in last 10 years, which is a great accomplishment, and it has shown the dominance of the Barcelona team in Europe.

It is also worth mentioning that one of the symbol player and captain of Barcelona, Xavi (who is close to the end of his career) played the last game with the team. He is considered to be one of the best Spanish player ever, and he is a very classy midfielder who can direct the pace of the game with his precise and accurate passes.

There is a usual saying that it is hard to reach the top, but it is harder to maintain at the top. Barcelona has been in the top of club level soccer for a while. It is challenging because once you have conquered a trophy, the thirst for such victory might be quenched. And it is hard to find ways to refueled this thirst that will drive the players to give 110% of what they got to win the same trophy again tomorrow.

Analogous to Xavi, there is also a very classy midfielder in Juventus, Andrea Pirlo. He is good, like really good. Also near the end of his career, but he can still play at a very high level, building crazy passes, and he is considered one of the best free kick shooter in the world. After the game, there were pictures and video showing Pirlo crying. One would said this is normal, as they just lost the final, and they are disappointed. But one has to understand that Pirlo have a very successful career already; he won the World Cup with Italy on 2006, and he won the Champions League twice with his former team Milan. He had already experienced this type of victories. But in the end he cried, that shows that he is a winner, and still thirst for more.

I think both Xavi and Pirlo are great champions, who have a steadfast thirst for more.

Similarly, I remembered clearly the thirst I had for God when I first believed. But as I grew, due to struggles and busy-ness, it is easy to not have the same level of thirst for God, and one can easily become complacent. This is always a constant battle for me. 

I pray that the Spirit will cause me to thirst for God more and more.

"You, God, are my God,

    earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you,

    my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land

    where there is no water." - Psalm 63:1

the winner takes it all

This is the title of a very famous song from ABBA, but it had a rather sad context. But I am not really writing about that. I want to share a bit more about my observation from the exciting summer Olympics.

One thing that I notice is that some sports are judged based on points given by a panel of judges. It's not like soccer, swimming, hockey or 100m run where you kinda know who is winning. In sports like Diving and Gymnastics, how much points given to the athlete is really up to the judges and most of the time we have little idea of point system. So it gets really exciting on the very last round to wait for the judges to give the amount of points given on that last routine, which can determine who wins the competition. Sometimes it is expected, sometimes it is a surprise. Someone will burst out of joy, the other one in tears.

These are some examples:

Viktoria Komova:

This Russian girl was one of the favorites to get the gold medal for all-round women in Gymnastics (especially since the world champion Jordyn Wieber did not qualify to the last round). But she was barely by 0.259 points (see results) by Gabrielle Douglas from the United Stats (who became the first women from African descent to win gold on Gymnastics). That is such a small difference, and I remember seeing Gabrielle doing her last routine on the floor exercise (which was pretty good), and Viktoria was staring at the results screen to wait and see how much the judges will give to Gabrielle. When Viktoria saw that Gabrielle got just enough points to surpass her, she started crying on the shoulders of her coach. I really felt bad for her, and this set a tone for the rest of the Olympics for her as she was not able to gain any other individual medal.

Tania Cagnotto
She is an Italian diver (3m springboard) participating on her 4th Olympics. I didn't really know her at start since my attention was on the Chinese divers that are really beast. But she was performing quite well, and I had the sensation that she would get bronze (yeah, the gold and silver were pretty much for the Chinese girls).

On the very last dive, Tania needed a 76.80 to get the bronze, but unfortunately the judges only gave her 76.50 (see results) so she was not able to get her first medal and resigned to cry on her coach's shoulders.

Qin Kai

One of the Chinese male diver who was a favorite for the 3m springboard. The Chinese divers started a bit weak in comparison to the Russian Zakharov. But near the end, Qin Kai and Zakharov were fighting head to head for the gold. Qin had finished his last dive, and was leading and just waiting for Zakharov to not sure more than 90.30. But the Russian guy did a spectacular dive of 100+ points, and Qin was left crying in the little pool (see results).


Anyways, getting a silver medal is usually not that joyful. Our company just had a soccer tournament, and I was playing for the QA (Quality Assurance) team, and we played the final against HR (Human Resources). The game was tough and we tied 1-1, and in penal shootouts we lost =(, and it was kinda sad. I guess the fact that our team is so much younger, and that they have a couple of girls, make it even more sad.

But the fact that athlete cannot leave any margin for error when competing for a gold. Any mis-step will lead to losing, and for these two sports it is really up to the judges to decide. Imagine how tough it will be if our salvation depends on our performance, and that a little margin of error will exclude us from eternity with God. That will be so scary. It is up to us, then we will probably fail. But we have a gracious God who is full of mercy and has given us access to Him through Jesus Christ. Our failures do have a cost, the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Once you're in Christ, you're part of the winning team.

On a separate note, there is this article that compares the focus of an Olympic athlete with how to live out our faith: http://theresurgence.com/2012/09/01/8-olympic-observations-on-training-and-faith

focusing on tradition

Just this past Sunday at Simply Church we looked at the passage in Mark 7 where the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus' disciples did not wash their hands (Jews perform a ceremonial hand washing before eating) before eating, condemning that they were eating with "unclean" hands. Then, Jesus rebukes the Jews that they had let go of God's commandments and are just holding onto tradition because the Jews were only focused on following the letter of the law instead of focusing on the purpose of the law which points back to a relationship with God.

This sort of problem is still prevalent now, and as Pastor Tim said that sometimes even going to church on Sunday might seem more of a tradition rather than an authentic desire to worship God. The danger is that attending church becomes another routine and it does not increase our adoration toward our mighty God. This escalates to other areas such as serving and participating in church events. I have personally seen ministries and serving done out of tradition rather than a given desire by God and this has often resulted in people getting burnt out and lack of fruits.

As an individual who is actively participating in many church events and ministries, I feel that it is easy to fall into the attitude of self-righteousness and condemn others who are not as active or who do not follow the traditions set by the church. This narrows my mind in the understanding that God can work outside of the domain set by traditions. (Please note that I am not stating that traditions are bad, they can be good things but when we focused on traditions above God, we are missing the point and leads to other sins).

In the recent Olympics, two Tunisian athletes Habiba Ghribi (silver on women's 3,000m steeple chase) and Oussama Mellouli (gold on men's 10k swim) won medals for their country and it was big because there aren't that many successful Tunisian athletes. Actually Ghribi's medal is huge because the women on Tunisia are fighting for equal rights. Unfortunately there are some extreme extreme religious groups that expressed that their medals should be taken away because both of them have broken certain religious rules (her sport wear is apparently too revealing, and the swimmer was drinking juice during fasting season).

dethroned kings

As I talked about top performers of the Olympics on previous posts, I personally really like to follow artistic gymnastics and track and field.

Somehow I got into the women's pole vault jump. Mainly because the Russian "queen" Yelena Isinbayeva is renown for her gold medals on Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and she was going for the 3rd straight gold (I don't think any track and field athlete has accomplished it). She is the holder of the world record, the only women to jump more than 5 meters, so I was fascinated and got attracted to follow pole vault jump.

I was watching the women's pole vault jump final which was roughly at the same time as women's soccer semifinal Canada vs USA (which was an exciting game, and 3 of my housemates were streaming in their own rooms) but I was so into pole vault jump. As I watched I realized that it takes great concentration and skills to perform a decent jump, it is a tough sport! So I was all-out cheering for Yelena, but unfortunately she was only able to jump up to 4.7m, 0.05m (5cm) less than her two opponents so she had to conform with the bronze medal.

But when asked whether she was sad about the bronze, she actually said that she was very happy and she wasn't bitter or frustrated but content. She actually thought of retirement, but now she is aiming to participate in Rio 2016 and I look forward to see her compete.

Another great athlete I admired from watching him in Beijing 2008 is the Chinese Chen Yibing, gold medalist on ring apparatus, and double gold medalist in Men's Team in gymnastics.

His dominance in the last 5-6 years in the ring is so intense that he is nicknamed "the lord of the rings". He was favorite to get the gold medal, and actually performed a great routine, but he was surprised by the excellent performance of the Brazilian Zanetti, so Chen got the silver medal.

After the results were announced, he congratulated Zanetti, and smiling showed his thanks to the fans who came. In an interview, he said he was quite happy for his performance and that he did what he could.

These two great athletes have won championships and gold medals so they don't really lose that often. But in London 2012 when many were expecting them to get gold, they actually were dethroned and had to conform with a medal of less value. But the attitude they had in finding satisfaction on their performance, no sense of regrets, admitting defeat and congratulating their opponents is truly admirable. In my eyes Chen Yibing is still the "lord of the rings" and Yelena Isinbayeva is still the "queen of the pole vault".

We don't get to win everyday, and we ought to find satisfaction in doing our best.

Discipline and Hard Work

Back to my thoughts regarding the Olympics, we often remember the great performance of the medalists, and specially those big winners like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. They had great  performance on Beijing 2008, and it is natural for everyone to put their attention of them for London 2012 expecting similar performances.

It is easy to get caught up on the winning and achievements that we often forget the long hours of training, hard work, and discipline that these athletes had to endure in order to perform to such levels. To add, there is the dealing with expectations and nervousness. The fact that Olympics athletes are there participating is already a big achievement since they had to go through rounds of elimination in order to get there.

But it is nice to witness the big achievements that some of the athletes can accomplish.

In a similar way, I sometimes dream about accomplishing big things for God in the ministry I am involved with, whether it is CCF committee, cell group leader, ministry leader, bible study leader, etc. There is an earnest desire to do it for the glory of God, but it is easy to get caught up in wanting to achieve the big things and get frustrated when we're not able to get there. Because it is easy to overlook the hard work and discipline that will prepare us for these big things.

A few good brothers gave me as a present (when I was 2nd year) the book "Spirit of the Disciplines" (by Dallas Willard), and in one instance it mentions that many Christians want to see big things happening in their lives, to imitate what Jesus did, and other prophets (like Moses). But one has to realize that it is not an everyday thing when we will witness these big victories, but that it takes also ardent training on our part so that we can be ready when God calls us for such big battles. Jesus waited until he was thirty before His ministry on earth, and Moses spent 40 years training before leading the Israel out of Egypt.

Hence, there should be more motivation on my part to practice spiritual discipline in studying more the Word of God, memorizing Scripture, praying unceasingly, fasting, frugality so that I can be better prepared when God calls me for His Kingdom work.

We see Usain Bolt running the 100m in 9.63s establishing a new Olympic record, and it was one of the most watched event in the Olympics. But there were tons of hours of hard training that he had to endure to get in the podium!

On a separate note, Guatemala never won a medal before. They had a boxer that reached the bronze medal match 20 years ago, but was not able to win. Until London 2012, when a Guatemalan athlete was able to win a silver medal on 20km walk by Erick Barrondo. Fruits of his hard work, and this is the celebration, Enhorabuena!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOG4t-3XAoA

Staying as #1

It's been said that it is hard to reach the #1 rank, but it is even harder to remain as #1. Similarly, I have been failing to update this blog regularly, so I am hoping to make a comeback since the recent Olympics has filled me with thoughts and ideas.

Why is staying as #1 so hard? Well, because it is easy to get too relaxed, complacent, and maybe even prideful that will make you forsake training. Also, other competitors will look at you as the person to beat, so they will train with more motivation to surpass you.

Similarly, in my spiritual walk, it is hard to be in tune with God, read His Word, and dwell in prayer consistently. This is a daily battle for me, and when I think I am doing well, it actually opens many opportunities for temptations to pull me down. Living by the Spirit is a challenging thing. That's why "devotionals" are very important to keep my mind and heart align with God's so that my sight will not be blurred from His will.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." - Galatians 5:22-25

We are to live by the Spirit, and also to keep in step with the Spirit so that we will remain living offering ourselves to God. This can only be accomplished by getting to know God more, spending more time with Him, and learning more from Him, It definitely takes our effort and discipline to pursue it, but it is by God's grace that we are able to accomplish it.

In the Olympics, there is an athlete who is able to stay as #1 in his field - Usain Bolt.

What he has done is incredible, to win gold on 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay on both 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Only selective few like the legendary was able to defend gold successfully on more than one event in track and field.

He is considered the best sprinter of all time and currently holding the world record on 100m, 200m, and just recently the 4x100m relax. We'll see if he can keep this pace on 2016, but it will be a lot harder as he is aging and many young competitors are developing.

Another athlete that is worth mentioning who is able to dominate in his specialty is Michael Phelps who is the athlete with most Olympic medals in all history (22). Though his level dropped in this recent Olympics, what he has accomplished will not be easily surpassed.

Outside of the Olympics, it is worth noting that the Spain national soccer team accomplished a feat of winning the Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, and Euro 2012. Definitely, very had to remain as #1, but it is achievable by being focused on the goal and consistent hard work.