The Pastor’s Pen

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Winter Olympics. Some of my earliest memories of watching sports involve sitting with my parents in front of our old black-and-white television, watching the 1972 Games. I enjoy the Summer Olympics too, of course, but the Winter Games have their own particular charm. While the Summer Games unfold in bustling, metropolitan cities, the Winter Olympics tend to take place in quaint, alpine villages, filled with snow, mountains, and events that feel just strange enough to be fascinating. Some of them look, to the untrained eye, a little like sliding a frozen ham across an icy pond and hoping for the best. Some events require a brief explanation, a diagram, and usually a commentator reassuring us that what we are seeing is, in fact, on purpose.

Every four years, I find myself re-learning the rules to things like curling – and even then, I’m not always entirely sure what I’m watching. I love that the Games make room for countries both large and small. One of my favorite Olympic memories was watching an athlete from Liechtenstein win a gold medal in the 1980 Games. At the time I remember being amazed that a country with a population roughly the size of Lawrenceville could stand atop the podium.

The Winter Olympics have also become markers of time in my own life. My wife and I were married while the 1992 Games were taking place. My son lost his first tooth on the night of the Opening Ceremonies in 2010. When I think back on certain chapters of our family story, I often realize that the Games were playing quietly in the background.

What always amazes me is how many hours, how many years of discipline and sacrifice, lead up to moments that may last only seconds. A lifetime of preparation for a single run, a single jump, a single race down a sheet of ice. Watching the Games, I’m reminded that faith is often shaped the same way – formed quietly over time through patience, practice, and trust, long before it ever shows itself in a visible moment.

As the 2026 Winter Olympics unfold, I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am – watching the stories, the surprises, and the quiet reminders of how perseverance and hope can take shape in the most unexpected places. And also the reminder that God is at work in our lives in ways that are often slow, unseen, and deeply faithful.
 
See you Sunday-

Blessings,
Pastor Greg
pastorgreg@lawrencevillepresbyterian.org