Gabby Douglas, winner of the woman’s gymnastics all-around at the London Olympics
upon receiving her gold medal, gave all the glory to God.
Immediately, at the very mention of God’s name, that seems to threaten so many, she
found herself challenged as to having to justify the real depth of her faith. I mean, what if
she hadn’t won, or had taken a giant step out of bounds that cost her the Fort Knox.
Would she have given that glory to God as well?
As the founder of ECO Parking Lights, a manufacturer of lighting products for the
Parking industry, I especially enjoyed this controversy because the outward expression
of her faith caused the media to say that Gabby’s God is the “God of the Parking Spot”.
What exactly does that mean? Well simply, it means that the God of the Parking Spot is
actually just the God of convenience or the God of only good things. The God of the
Parking Spot is not the God of Creation, Salvation, or Sacrifice. No, the God of the
Parking Spot is a little god whom you call upon when you need something quick and not
so complicated like opening up a parking spot near the mall entrance when it’s raining.
Big God, not Parking Spot god, can also make parking spaces available. He can also lift
Gabby Douglas up after she takes a terrible fall and inject acceptance and love into her
compact little engine of a body. He is there at 5:00 AM on mornings when she doesn’t
want to get up for one of her many practices each day. He is there when her friends go
out to get a milkshake at Steak N’ Shake and she is not with them. He is also there
when Gabby just wants to be 16 years old. Gabby Douglas is wise beyond her young
years. She is a true champion who first and foremost recognized the true power behind
her victory.
As we sweat out the last of our Olympic fix and we find ourselves fixated on our
businesses again, I marvel at what we can learn from such a young girl. We don’t like
meetings backed up to more meetings. We don’t like overnight travel or late shipments.
We don’t like to deal with rising costs of supplies or in our case, inferior copycat products
that come from China with a “made in USA” sticker covering up the truth. Until one truly
understands the complexity and completeness of the God that our founding fathers knew
intimately, one will question if the God of the Parking Spot has any real power at all. The
truth is, in the litany of the mundane, the God of the Parking Spot becomes the God of
All Occasions and All Seasons and He is there to prepare us to have our car in the right
row when our Parking Spot becomes available.
Gabby Douglas gives God the glory in the mundane AND when her parking spot opened
up in London on the front row, she unashamedly took it. She was wise to give God the
glory. Will you be ready to park your company car on the front row when your
competitor moves theirs out of the way?
Jeff Pinyot
