I’m hosting the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five this week! Play along if you’d like!

With the Olympic Games in Sochi just around the corner, I started thinking about all the athletes who attend the Games and never win a medal. The hours of practicing, sacrifice and dedication don’t get noticed by the media. Yet, for the love of their sport, they persevere.

Then I began to reminisce about the “Olympians” in the Church. Perhaps you can think of faithful ones who never get up to preach, sing or read, but faithfully come, week after week, to serve. It seems to me they deserve a medal of sorts.

So, for this week’s Friday Five, share stories or memories of those “medalists” of the Church who have encouraged you in their faithfulness.

1. Mike: Custodian and Go-to Guy. The day before our wedding, we were trying to figure out how to get the maximum number of tables in the Fellowship Hall. Mike not only knew the best orientation and layout for the tables, he explained how to angle the tables so that we would fit them all in. He also managed the Behemoth coffeepot in the kitchen and coaxed great coffee out of it every week.

2. Vanessa: Kid Magnet. I had a child who wasn’t very excited about Sunday School. Vanessa’s smile, laugh and friendly face was a gift. She watched for a little face peeping in around the corner of the Preschool room door and would call out, “Who’s there? I can SEeeee you!” With giggles, someone would come in and join the circle for music time. She would tell you that she was “only a helper” but I thought she was pure gold.

3. John: Bulletin folder and stuffer. The church secretary never folded and stuffed bulletins. John came faithfully every Friday afternoon and folded and stuffed them. When he went on vacation with his family, he lined up someone else to come in and do that little task. (Did he have to? No… he just liked to help.)

4. Susan: Flower Whisperer. The courtyard beside the old church had these concrete urn-looking flower pots. Without TLC, the flowers would “bake” in them every summer. Susan designed, planted and watered those urns. She persuaded the Trustees to install a cistern so that she could water them guilt-free during drought years.

5. The Huggers: This couple (nicknamed by our kids) were greeters at the door every Sunday. My kids played a game of “hiding” from them, but they actually loved the welcome and attention. Church was a safe, caring place. The Huggers helped make it that way.