If your family is like most, you’ve been watching at least some of the 2008 Olympics competition.

It’s easy for children to imagine being that swimmer, that runner, that ballplayer. It’s hard for parents to imagine having to organize all those events and people. (On the other hand, it couldn’t be much more complicated than arranging that recent family reunion, could it?)

Odds are there’s a little “spirit of the games” in every family household, including:

• The Hop and Shout. Five family members in a house with two bathrooms. The participant stands outside a bathroom door, hops from foot to foot and shouts, “C’mon, hurry up, my turn, huh?”

• The Parent Relay. Dad or Mom has been on duty for an extended period of time during which the little darlings have been particularly active. As the other parent (finally) enters the front door, the one going off duty announces, “They’re all yours,” and runs out.

• The Half Swim. A parent gets about 50% soaked leaning over the bath tub and making sure that little one gets 100% clean. (Well, 80 to 90% anyway.)

• Hamper Ball. This is an event that, apparently, many family members choose to boycott. And such simple rules, too. After rolling one’s dirty clothes into a wad, toss them in the hamper! How hard can that be?

• Drinking-Straw Wrapper Shooting. Your kids know this one well. Tear one end of the wrapper off, aim at sibling, blow. Bonus points if participant hits brother or sister in the face while family is at a restaurant and the target screams.

Profiles in Perseverance

Certainly for some viewers, the best part of the Olympics isn’t watching the competing; it’s learning more about the competitors. And they are inspiring.

It’s good for family members of all ages to learn about the amazing dedication and hard work – oftentimes for years and years – that it takes for an athlete to reach a skill level that allows him or her to compete on a world stage.

We all face those kinds of challenges, too: getting through school, establishing and maintaining a happy marriage, creating a loving home or learning to age gracefully, accepting health challenges and the limitations they can bring.

It takes the perseverance of an Olympian to continue to grow in wisdom, knowledge and love. That and, of course, the grace of God.

The Olympics/Gospel Quiz:

1. Name two real or fictional characters in the Gospel who, while not exactly weightlifters, did pick up something or someone.

2. What two long-distance walkers were joined by Jesus as they went along their way?

3. While it’s not really an “equestrian” category, and the Gospels make no specific mention of this, tradition holds who rode a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem?

Answers: 1. The paralytic cured by Jesus (Mk 2:9) and the good Samaritan (Lk 10:34). 2. The pair on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13). 3. Mary.

Bill and Monica Dodds are the founders of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver and editors of My Daily Visitor magazine. Their website is www.FSJC.org.