I love the Olympics, I always have. My mom used to not let us watch anything else when it was on, as she would say "you get to watch history happen"!
The Olympics, however were also a time I like to call "cultural identity crisis week". (I know it lasts 2 weeks, but it sounds better this way.) It's hard as a missionary kid (MK) to know who to root for - your country of origin, or your host country? What if they happen to have a game/match against each other? Oh, the emotional toil!
Well, it has been no different this time around. Only this time, there is a third country in the mix - Slovenia!
Between the USA, Hungary and Slovenia, our hearts are full of pride! The opening ceremonies were all kinds of amazing!
"We" becomes a fluid term. "We" (Slovenia) won gold in women's 63 kg judo! "We" (Hungary) won gold medals in women's swimming! "We" (USA) won gold in women's gymnastics! (By the way, girl power all the way!)
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| Tina Trstenjak, Slovenian gold medalist |
Who we cheer for though, at the end of the day, doesn't matter.
Rooting for countries we love unites us, whether we were born in them, live(d) in them, or are called to them. What a privilege to have so many nations to feel proud of! Also, what a tremendous opportunity to pray for the nations!
So, feel the pride, get excited, revel in the stories of perseverance and pray for the people and missionaries in the countries represented!
As missions has been our lives for so many years, we have so many "peoples" to root for! And sometimes our emotions are so very divided!! But....I will never forget as Missionaries to Barcelona in 1992, being in the stands [in Barcelona] and singing the star spangled banner as US athletes stood on that podium... my two worlds were colliding ...but it was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that experience with us Dana, what a special moment! I love it!
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