Month: February 2026

Winter Olympics Lesson #2: Unity Matters

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After coming off stage in the 10:30AM service yesterday, the guys on the worship team huddled around a phone to see the US men’s hockey team win.

Exactly 46 years ago to the day, the US pulled off the Miracle on Ice.

I was the only worship team member in the huddle who was alive in 1980.

Since then, over 5 billion people have joined the world.

370,000 join daily.

The world is not the same.

But the needs are the same.

The Olympics always remind us.

As the guys talked about the games throughout the morning, one comment was how athletes feel pressure or choose on their own to use the stage to make political statements. Much more rampant than 46 years ago. Before the internet. Before instant news awareness. Before bloggers.

The same guy then shared why he loves the Olympics by telling the story of an athlete who, on her way to winning the gold for the French biathlon team, chose not to lap the Ukrainian team so they could finish the race. View it.

It’s a story of fair play, sportsmanship. One that says, “I’m not against you as much as I am for you. I’m with you. Your dignity matters more than my dominance.”

To all the Olympians, thank you for so many reminders. In the remainder of 2026, may we all live as if unity matters.

Winter Olympics Lesson #1: Have Faith

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They are over. As always, lots of inspiration.

First, a few facts:

  • 93 countries participated
  • 116 events held awarding 348 medals
  • 29 countries won medals

Lots to takeaway just from those facts:

  • The athletes from the 64 countries who didn’t take home medals came with the same hopes and desires.
  • They can say they competed against the best.
  • They had faith to start and finish.

Looking at the medal tracker, I noticed the largest number of countries (6) who won the same amount of medals won just one medal. In that list was Brazil. That’s right. A Brazilian won a medal at the Winter Olympics. And it was gold.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil on Feb. 14, 2026
Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP via Getty

To read others more qualified to capture his story, follow these links:

https://www.aol.com/articles/skier-not-even-able-grasp-161206518.html

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/14/winter-olympics-brazils-pinheiro-braathen-sambas-down-slope-for-south-americas-first-medal

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/15/nx-s1-5715075/brazil-braathen-gold-south-americas-first-winter-olympics-medal

Reading Lucas’s quotes following his historic accomplishment, this one said it best:

“It’s a moment that’s hard to grasp, even though it’s crystal clear that you are officially the Olympic champion. Even though I had such faith and I knew that this was written for me, it is still so incredible to live that dream turned reality. I couldn’t quite grasp it.”

Faith.

  • That you were created for a purpose
  • That you can represent what it looks like to pursue that purpose
  • That following your faith can be inspirational to others

We won’t all be Olympians. Yet, we all have purpose…that can be pursued…that requires faith…that can inspire others.

A Good Reminder About Love

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Thanks to Publix bogos and Valentines, I’m enjoying quite a bit of chocolate.

Doves are fun because of what you see in this picture…the quote inside the wrapper.

This one struck a chord.

For many reasons, our love gets tangled. That entanglement seems to produce forgetfulness.

Forgetfulness creates missed opportunities. One I’m guilty of is believing that someone I love can turn, can adjust, can choose good after a long wrestling.

Thanks for the reminder today, Dove.

Forgive Them…They Don’t Know Who They Are

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On the way home from church a couple of hours ago, the radio DJ talked about the parenting challenges of getting kids ready in the morning, particularly families who go to church on Sunday.

She said it’s natural for the parent to get frustrated with their “uncooperative” child and ask, “Why are they giving me a hard time?” She suggested parents reframe both their minds and the situation by saying, “They aren’t giving me a hard time; they are having a hard time.”

Guess what? This isn’t only about parent child relationships. This seems to apply to a vast number of relationships.

The “giving me a hard time” framework easily leads to frustration, arguments, harsh and regretful words, anger, and potentially complete breakdown. Then comes the work, if chosen, of forgiveness.

When I consider society’s landscape, it’s in need of mounds of forgiveness. Ideally, parties in any conflict would reach this conclusion together and pursue it. From my experience, that’s not a realistic expectation. If I’m desiring forgiveness to start, I have to take the lead.

I’ve been in awe for years of Jesus’ words when he was dying, “Forgive them. They know not what they do.” In this line of thinking recently, I’ve found it useful to reframe that prayer to something like, “Forgive them. They don’t know who they are.”

Those words are not from an elitist, judging, or dismissing wrongdoing view. I believe many people who are hurting others are doing so while they are trying to answer their own questions. Often in blindness. Often in the comfort of what they know. Often in ways that seem right, based on an unchallenged view of themselves and their world.

Like the parent who has to find a way to church with a hurting child in tow, I have to find a way to be present with those who don’t know who they are. Why? I am one of them. I continue to realize how I didn’t know who I was in relationship to others, even in the last year. And many of them forgave me, often without me knowing it.

The power of forgiveness seems immeasurable. I’m working on giving it as much as I’ve received it. Especially to those having a hard time. They’re figuring out who they are.