Go For The Gold

How many world records will Michael Phelps break in this Olympics? Obviously he is an incredible talent in the sport of swimming and he has great ability. His current coach has been with him since the age of 11 when Michael was a young boy who had a serious problem with keeping his focus on much of anything. Michael had a tendency to find himself getting in trouble. Yet this coach saw some potential in the young struggling Phelp’s boy. And he made the decision to spend some time with him to help him focus on something in which he had a natural giftedness. That something turned out to be swimming.

Over the course of several years Phelps found himself spending hours upon hours in the water. Many days he would swim 4-miles per workout…with some days doing 2-a-day workouts. Phelps would be the first to tell you that he didn’t do a lot of the things that other kids did. He didn’t spend as much time in other extra-curricular activities as some of the other kids. He didn’t spend as much time “hanging-out” with other kids…doing the kind of things that kids just do. You know…the kind of things that prompt the comment that “aw’ they’re just being kids” from adults as a way to explain their behavior.

But I would venture to guess that if you were to ask Michael Phelps right now if he regrets missing out on some these “just hanging out” moments he would say no. In fact in a recent interview he said he wouldn’t trade in any of these training moments if it meant he wouldn’t be where he is today.

If you choose to spend an appropriate amount of time with your children you begin to realize and recognize natural strengths, interests, and abilities in them. Too often those natural bents take second chair to the demands placed on their life by the academic requirements of our schools. These requirements coupled with the extra-curricular activities that are required if you are going to be in the socially accepted crowd means that something has to give…and unfortunately that something often becomes the natural interests and abilities that have been placed in our children by our Creator.

One of the greatest treasures that we are given stewardship over is the life of our children. While it may be popular to have them in all of the good activities that are available to them it very well may not be the best thing for them. It may be the best thing for some as far as social standings go, but it certainly is not the best thing for all. That is where it is up to the parents to determine what is best for their children based upon their natural talents, abilities, and interests.

For Michael Phelps…being in the very activities that would have made him popular may very well have been the thing that kept him from setting world record after world record today. The very activities that some people would perceive as being over aggressive or wrong for a fairly young child are the very things that seem to have pushed him into his destiny.

Being a parent isn’t easy. Being a parent is full of difficult and challenging decisions. But the interests and talents are already present in our children. It is our job as parents to grow those interests, to provide outlets and opportunities in a positive environment for them. It may not be easy. It may not appear to be socially correct…but that is not what is important. What’s important is determining what is right for our children.

Think of Jesus. A young boy that was somewhat unconventional to say the least yet Mary and Joseph were entrusted with providing an environment that would foster that natural gifts and talents of Jesus. The Son of God. The young boy who was fully human (meaning that they likely experienced all of the challenges of us as parents) and yet fully God (meaning that their level of responsibility was so much higher.) Think of it. How would you like to have the Son of God living in your house…in the flesh?

So…as I was writing this Michael Phelps won his fourth gold medal of the 2008 Olympics and the only single person to have won ten gold medals in the Olympics. So while Michaels parents may or may not have been under scrutiny for not allowing Michael to do or be involved in all the things that his friends were involved; they were secretly raising a world champion.

The Bible tells us that we are each individuals. We are each created with a plan and a purpose. We are all created to be a world champion in some fashion or form…because the world will never have another one of us ever again. Be the champion you were created to be…and continue to grow that champion that is your child.

Proverbs 22:6 – “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

Today is the first day on your way to your next gold medal. Get on with it!

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved