Saturday night, Phil and I sat on the couch next to his dad and watched Michael Phelps break a world record by earning his eighth gold medal in a single Olympics.
We were rooting for the USA from the get-go and had it not been for my Uncle Ossie’s enthusiastic yelling,
“Watch out for Australia! They’re catching you! They’re catching you! Don’t lose your lead!,”
I probably would have been oblivious to most of the other countries swimming.
After the USA team had won and Michael Phelps was mouthing a rousing, “Thank you!” about five times as the camera panned to his mother weeping in the stands and then back to his pool side soaked body again, Phil uttered the unspoken truth about our favorite American hero.
“Michael Phelps is really lanky. You know, if he couldn’t swim, he’d just be gawky and weird.”
Before you judge, I know you were thinking it too.
Scientists have gone so far as to study the anatomical composition of Michael Phelps’ body to determine what makes him a rock star in the water. Apparently, a combination of a long upper body, shorter legs, and double joints helps to make him the water beast he is. It also makes him look sort of, well, awkward outside of the pool.
I mean no harm by poking fun at Michael Phelps, especially because all of us have tendencies that are less than attractive. (If I had the middle school pictures of me in braces and thick lensed glasses that my mother has somewhere in Florida, I’d post them here just to provide evidence.)
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that once we are in Christ we are “new creations…the old has gone and the new has come.” Thank goodness Jesus is covering who any of us really are. Without Him, we would have no power to overcome sin. Our best efforts at anything would be futile. I’m so grateful that God provided an opportunity for us to receive salvation so that we can all be more than what we appear.
Originally from Port St. Lucie, FL, has been a member of Miracle Temple since 2001. She started authoring "Unplugged," the relationship advice column for Insight magazine, while studying at Johns Hopkins University. After graduating in 2005, Shayna continued her ministry with the magazine and has become a sought after speaker and adviser on Christian relationships and dating. This fall, Shayna's first joint book venture-the GODencounters devotional-will be released by Review and Herald Publishing. Shayna is delighted to be serving as the 2008 communication secretary for Miracle Temple.