Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Praying for Protection and Blessing

Every day is different.

Today I worked the morning shift at the Multi-Faith Centre. Our group of chaplains met for a specific time of prayer for all of the athletes in general and for the bobsledders in particular as the women's (competition) and four-man (practice) bobsleds were sliding today. Later, I dropped in on the PolyClinic to check on the staff. They thanked me again for how our team of chaplains were there to help on the day that Nodar died.

After stopping at the PolyClinic, I dropped by "The Living Room" (a nice room with large open windows, nice couches and chairs, and lots of coffee tables). The Living Room is also the place to get a cup of coffee, a muffin, or some Vitamin Water. The young lady who works behind the counter, Jessica, is always very nice to us chaplains when we stop by for a coffee and a chat.

In the afternoon, I met up with Matthew from Australia and we headed to the women's bobsled race. (On the way I stopped to chat for a couple of minutes with two of the ladies from Hebron Baptist Church who are here on a mission trip.) Matthew & I went early to the race to get a good seat at the Start in the grandstands. It's a pretty good hike up the bobsled track hill. Lots of exercise! Our seats put us in the German/American/Australian section. Next to me sat the boyfriend of German bobsled driver Cathleen Martini. She is a very good driver, but so are the Canadians and Americans. Our friends Rob and Matt from GA joined us at the Start grandstands too.

Before the race, I always take a moment to bow in prayer to the LORD, asking Him to protect the athletes, and to bless them, and to draw them to Himself. A huge praise is that earlier in the day training/practice had gone really well, and also that during the women's race no sleds crashed! Thanks be to God for answering the prayers for protection and blessing.

I saw several of my friends from Canada and America who are serving on the jury for the bobsled race. I know them from our ministry in Lake Placid at World Cup Bobsled & Skeleton races. It was good to see all of them.

Our friends Erin Pac and Elana Meyers raced well today. After 2 heats, they are in 2nd place. Pray that the LORD will be with them tomorrow during their finals, blessing them, helping them to do their best, for HIS glory. I saw Erin's boyfriend, Peter Blumert, and a lot of their family & friends at the race. Peter has been a friend of our family for years, and stays with us when he comes to Lake Placid.

After the bobsled race, we decided to avoid the lines at the gondola and the buses, and just to walk down the ski slope to get back to the Village. That seemed like a good idea. We were doing OK until we made one wrong turn, and we walked about a mile farther than we needed to. We did run into Peter and his family on the Village Stroll and Matthew, Rob & Matt got to meet them. If you'd like to see some good photos of the bobsled races by a local Lake Placid photographer Todd Bissonette, visit www.usabobsledphotos.com.

Dinner was good pizza. Then a quick look at the "Fire & Ice" ski/snowboard show, along with a live drum band and more, then off to our host home.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to Skype with two schools, one from GA and one from NY, about my experiences here. That should be fun.

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