My Heroes this week...

Every day there are people who I interact with in some way or another that inspire me and I look to them for encouragement and inspiration in my own life. I thought I would share my thoughts about a few of those people today.

Of late, one of these people has been a tiny baby who is fighting the hardest battle of her life. Little Olive Webster is such an inspiration to me, which is fitting since her parents are two of the most awesome people in this world that I know. But this little girl has gone through so many hard battles already and she does not give up. Each new challenge is met with the determination and stubbornness of a child, and she has conquered each new thing with such tenacity. I am excited to see this little girl grow up, because she is going to be one special person. She is so beautiful already and has inspired so many people with her strength - she is definitely one of my heroes these days.

A slightly different hero that I have this week, as of last night, is skateboarder Danny Way. This guy is unreal. To preface - I love the X Games. It is a competition in which people push themselves to insane limits and do the most amazing things - it is unbelievable what those guys can do. And one of my favorite events at the X Games is the Big Air competition in which these insane skateboarders stand on top of a 40ft drop, ride down the drop, make a huge leap from the drop into the ramp, drop in to the ramp, fly up to around 20ft off the ramp, do a trick, and then hopefully land it. It is ridiculous. You could not pay me a million dollars to even stand at the top of that drop-in. Last year, one of the guys, Jake Brown, had one of the "gnarliest" slams in the X Games history - he should have died. Instead, after lying still for like 15 minutes, he got up and walked away from it!

Well this year, Danny Way was the guy with the scariest fall. His fall was almost like Jake's, in that he fell as he was coming down from flying up 20ft off the ramp. He almost certainly broke his foot or ankle on the way down and probably broke some other part of his body. But the craziest thing is that after this wicked fall, not only does he get up and limp off the ramp, HE GOES BACK AND DOES IT AGAIN! AND HE LANDS IT!! I could not believe my eyes and I still cannot believe it today. He finished all of his runs and ended up coming in second in the competition (because his best friend and main competitor did an insane trick and landed it). How he finished the competition, I do not know. It was so unbelievable to watch this man push his body beyond limits that a body is not supposed to go past. His performance is a living testament to the strength of willpower.

There are many other people who throughout the week inspire and encourage me. I think that is one of the beautiful things about being in relationship with people - there are heroes and inspirations anywhere and everywhere you look and being able to recognize that is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me.