I’ve been sort of an Olympic junkie the past two weeks, utilizing my TiVo and adjusting my schedule to watch. Of course, I loved short track speed skating, aerials, alpine skiing and snowboarding. But I was surprised to find myself compelled and intrigued by the cross country skiing events, including the Nordic combined. Maybe you too were inspired by Johnny Spillane, who won the United States’ first ever medal in the event, and then the U.S. team who won silver in the team competition.

So here’s what I liked about cross country skiing – the strategy of pulling away from the pack on the climb up hills, teammates working together to gain an advantage, drafting, the sometimes treacherous downhill curves, the final 200 yards, the complete exhaustion of the competitors at the finish line, the roar of the crowd when the skiers entered the stadium.

But what I loved most about these events were the coaches stationed along the race course. I know little about the details of cross country skiing, but it appeared that there were designated points along the course where several coaches, wearing the colors of different countries and speaking many different languages, were stationed. When a skier from his/her country would come into view on the course, the coach would begin yelling and screaming and jumping up and down and running along side the skier. I have no idea what these coaches were saying, but I imagined it was something like this:
“You’re in third! You can catch them! Go! Go! Go!”
Or
“The pack is 5 seconds behind you! Pick up the pace!”
Or
“800 yards to go! Give it everything you’ve got!”

I was a little envious of these racers, not only of their commitment to and excellence in their sport, but also of the team of people cheering them on. Wouldn’t it be nice if life sometimes mirrored the cross country race?  You might be on a 15km sprint or a 50 km trek, but how great would it be to come around a curve and find someone running alongside you yelling, “You can do it!”?

I have been blessed in my life to have “course coaches” cheering me along at certain points. In the past few years, some of those coaches have been members of my Peer Learning Group. A group of six ministers, chaplains and non-profit leaders, we journey alongside one another and encourage each other. (Although, only on occasion do we start jumping up and down and yelling. ) 

 If you are not a part of a Peer Learning Group, I would encourage you to contact Steve Graham at CBF (sgraham@thefellowship.info), who helps connect ministers and leaders to existing groups or start groups where there is a need. 

“You can do it! Join a peer group! Don’t wait!”