I Am A Tour De France Addict

The last two and a half weeks have been rough on me. The Tour de France is on and it usually ends somewhere around two or three in the morning. I've watched about 6 of the full stages and pieces of another 6 or 7. Fortunately, tonight, I am able to watch the end of stage 18 and it's not even 11pm. There are only 5 miles left now, and I've been watching one of the most incredible "dances" for the last 20 minutes. Four riders lead the stage of the race and they are 10 minutes ahead of the "Peleton" (the huge group of more than 100+ riders that's not in the lead). For the last 20 minutes, these four riders have continued to break away from the rest of the group using an incredibly choreographed process of riding. These four riders rotate counter-clockwise through a pattern of diamond shapes... each one taking a 20 second turn at the lead, 20 seconds at the left side, 20 seconds in the "pocket" at the back, 20 seconds at the right side, then back to the lead.

So what's so special about this process... there are four riders that have pulled more than 10 minutes ahead of everyone else. The way they've done that is to create an aerodynamic "flight pattern"... a perfect environment for these four to pull away and win. With this pattern, everyone gets to lead for a while, support for a while, and rest for a while. It is this environment, that allowed these four to have just finished the race with that 10 minute gap still in place.

Paul talked about life being a "race." He said he doesn't have time to look backward or even that much time to look around... he is running for a goal that is ahead of him... he wants to be like Jesus and is not there yet.

Paul was right about life... it is a race. But running it alone is difficult and foolish... that's why Church At The Grove works so hard to create an environment for people to explore faith. As we race, we want an environment that allows people to lead, support, and rest along the way. Our Sunday morning environment is suited for that... people lead parts of it, help create parts of it, and enjoy it on a weekly basis. And as we go through life, we journey as if in a race. Along the journey, several have joined our community and they race with us... we are working on the "choreography" that will allow us to win... but it's coming together quite nicely.

Thanks to Russ Butcher, David Odom, our set-up teams, hospitality teams, children's ministry teams, band, and all the volunteers that create the Sunday environment each week. You are awesome. And, your efforts are working... if you ever get tired or discouraged... drop back into the "pocket" and rest... but while you're back there, look in front of you, and beside you... we're in a race, but we're in it together... and the environment we're creating is the perfect one for you and your friends to explore faith... leading at times, supporting at times, and even resting at times.