Fun Pet Conversation Opener

Speaker 1 0:08

Melissa , if you had to travel overseas and bring a pet with you on board the airplane ? You're not allowed a dog , you're not allowed a cat , you're not allowed a bird . What's your pet ?

Speaker 2 0:21

Oh , that's a hard question .

Speaker 1 0:25

I don't know Are you , you like the I got a lizard in my pocket kind of person no , I'm not .

Speaker 2 0:31

I grew up on a farm , so I feel like pets were dogs and cats and we had a fish in the house and you would live in the camel the coolest pet that my friend had was a chinchilla .

Speaker 1 0:45

Chinchilla .

Speaker 2 0:46

Yeah , so that's like the coolest pet I know of , but I don't know if I want a chinchilla .

Speaker 1 0:51

Really , you know what one pet my kids have always wanted , and every once in a while I'm tempted A sugar glider . Have you ever seen those things ? What is that ? No , oh , my goodness . They are like this little creature that will climb up stuff and jump and glide . They spread out all four limbs and they'll glide . They'll jump from like eight , 10 feet and like land in your hand . Yeah , yeah , after we're done this interview .

Speaker 2 1:15

That seems yeah Like fun . I'm like it's like a live yo-yo .

Speaker 3 1:20

I feel like a sugar glider is what a four-year-old kid grabs on his way to 7-Eleven , you know , in recess , and then on his way back to class . That's what it sounds like . I mean a ferret . I was going to say a camel , right , because , like if it was me , I would want someone to be like what is that guy doing ? And that just leaves them confused for the rest of the plane . But I mean , yeah , good luck getting your camel on the play . Yes , that's true , I'm not a snake guy . I don't think I want snakes on a plane episode too .

Speaker 2 1:47

But yeah , welcome to the Gospel in the Game Sports podcast , where sports and faith collide with your hosts , dan Dramarski and Dave Dawson .

Speaker 3 2:03

This is the Gospel

Melissa's Journey to Bobsledding

Speaker 3 2:04

in the Game podcast . I'm Dave Dawson . We have Dan Dramarski as the host as well . We're joined today by Melissa Lothals . She is an Olympic bobsledder , been to the last two Olympics and she's qualifying for the one in 2026 . Melissa and I met , I think a couple years ago now Melissa I can't really remember through kind of mutual friends . Was it a fire ? Was it a backyard fire ? The first time we met , I think .

Speaker 2 2:28

Oh , who knows Something like that , or church events , or something .

Speaker 3 2:33

Yeah .

Speaker 2 2:35

Or a barbecue , or I don't know .

Speaker 3 2:37

Yeah , all of all of the random things , but grateful , grateful to have you along .

Speaker 2 2:42

You are from the Edmonton area a but grateful to have you along . You are from , I feel like I learned all my physical literacy , a lot of values and work ethic and stuff like that , and Barhead itself is a farming community . A lot of people either are in that agricultural sector or live in town . So , yeah , but a very athletic , actually community as well .

Speaker 1 3:24

Now you're talking about growing up with , instilling values and work ethic . How do you get into bobsledding ?

Speaker 2 3:33

Yeah , I know I feel like growing up . I assumed every Olympic athlete started their sport when they were five years old and Barhead does not have a bobsled track . So I got in through track and field . Actually I was a jack of all trades in junior high , high school , signed up for every sports team I could , except cross country , because I have not a lick of endurance in my body . And so it was through that actually that I got an invitation to run club and at the University of Alberta at the end of my grade 12 year and I didn't even know that a small town farm kid like me could run like at a and like compete at a university level I thought that was club kids that did that . And here I was invited to join the University of Alberta track team . And then it was during my time at the U of A that I got recruited to come try bobsled , because bobsled is how fast can you push something heavy before you maneuver it down a kilometer long ice slide . So yeah , it was through track and field .

Speaker 3 4:37

So when did you gravitate to bobsled after you got recruited , because you can be recruited for a lot of things . People get LinkedIn emails , recruited for things all the time . You get phone calls . But when did you grab onto that and go yeah , you know what , I'm enjoying this and I can actually be pretty good at this .

Speaker 2 4:56

Yeah , so I in my first season I went to Bible college , actually before I went to the U of A and ran a club that year . And that year , while I was running club , one of my teammates she was wrapping up her track and field career and our coach , who just so happened to be coached by the strength and conditioning coach for bobsled , really pushed Christine , my teammate , towards the sport , and so I actually got to watch her at the beginning of my track career transition into the sport of bobsled and opened my eyes to like , oh my goodness , like this is something maybe one day I could try . If she can do it , why can't I ? Kind of thing like we had similar attributes as athletes and so I had set the goal , like back in 2011 , I think , of like one day just trying out for the bobsled team because I had no idea prior to that , but that was possible and towards , I guess , the end of my track career I had gotten recruited . I can't even say end .

Speaker 2 5:52

I think it was year two , year three of eligibility running at the U of A and it would have been back in 2013, . I think that I went to like an ID camp that I found out later on that they had scheduled around my personal training schedule and I did an interview there and I ended up being like this small segment in this big , like TV interview on Heather Moyes and her comeback for 2014 Sochi Olympics and it was like coined the future of bobsled . So it's actually ironic . My first bobsled interview was before I was at all in the sport . It was at this crazy recruitment camp all the way back in 2013 and 2014 . After the games I jumped ship and started training for bobsled .

Speaker 1 6:38

So when some people hear bobsled outside of thinking about cool runnings , they don't necessarily

Women in Olympic Bobsledding

Speaker 1 6:44

understand the sport itself . There's different types of bobsledding . Thinking about cool runnings , yeah , they don't necessarily understand um the sport itself . There's different types of bobsledding , isn't there ? Yes , okay yeah .

Speaker 2 6:50

So women we compete in single and doubles and men compete in two and four . And on the women's side , like the olympic sport is quite young , so 2002 was actually the first time women competed in the Olympics as their own discipline . If you go back like way back , because bobsled is one of like the OG sports in the games , there was at one point a five-person bobsled of which one of those had to be a woman . But we haven't had a women's discipline up until 2002 . And then in 22 is when they added the monobob event , so that single event . Up until that point women were just competing in the two-man In that quad .

Speaker 2 7:28

Prior we were really pushing for a second discipline and I actually got to be part of the first ever World Cup women's four-man team and we were trying to make women's four-man an event . And then , going into the 22 games , they were like , okay , we want a second women's discipline , not sure if it's gonna be monobob or for a man , but they ended up going with monobob , which is what people competed at a youth olympic level . So trying to get that crossover and continuation of people and recruiting smaller nations , because what we've seen on the men's side is there's more participation in two than four . Some of that's like barrier to entry , cost barrier to entry . So their theory was okay , if we have one versus two , potentially we'll see a higher participation , and we do so yeah .

Speaker 3 8:15

Now , Melissa , spending time around you . People would describe you as a bit of a trailblazer , right ? You're really passionate about what you do and obviously really helping in women's sports . Now you're our third female guest on our show . We were in season two . We've had a lot of athletes and we're pretty excited about that . So don't often get the opportunity , as two men , to really understand what the journey is for a Christian female athlete at a playing sport at a high level . So walk me through that process and navigating , intersecting the gospel , your relationship with Jesus and how he wants to use you as a female athlete , somebody who's playing a sport at a high level .

Faith as a Female Athlete

Speaker 2 8:54

Yeah , I think my entire life , like sport , has been this crucible where the Lord has really worked out my faith . And sometimes it's been like as a younger athlete it was like almost these conflicting passions of like okay , like go back to like junior high . It's like I can't go to youth group on Friday because I'm away at a tournament and so all of a sudden these things are like in conflict . But over the last number of decades I've really seen just like the Lord at work in my sport and how he's like cultivated faith within me . But then also this idea of like getting to use it as like a light in the spaces that I get to be in , whether that's as an athlete , whether that's now I'm in an opportunity where it's like I'm coaching as well up and coming athletes .

Speaker 2 9:39

I've like in the weird position where it's like I'm currently competing but I've also coached like over 30% of the national team , which is just like a really weird but cool situation , because I'm yeah , I've coached like at a provincial level and I'm the technical director of Alberta Bobsled , so it's been cool some of the opportunities the Lord's opened up and just like I just keep on being reminded that it's like the Lord , really , he sends his people out into different nations and nations not necessarily being like political or geographical spaces , but a nation is something that has a shared identity or culture , and sport is a nation Like and there's lots of sport nations , you could say . And so I really do feel like the Lord has , like , placed me in this space as salt and light , because he wants to see his kingdom come in this space , and sometimes that's with words and a lot of times it's not . Sometimes it's just occupying the space and you're present and you're there for conversations . Very broad answer , but very broad question .

Speaker 1 10:39

You know what Very broad answer . But you know what . I think you covered a few different things about occupying that space where you just ended there , I think is really important , because often we think of the athlete and we've touched on this interviewing other people , where we talked a little bit about the youth and missing opportunities with other believers example , youth group or camp or other things and then you talk about the platform that you've been able to speak from and use , and then now you talk about sometimes it's just about being there and that's something that we talked about in our first season with comfort and just like to some people , being present is louder than saying a million words .

Speaker 2 11:18

Yeah .

Speaker 1 11:18

Now that you have this platform and in fact it's probably the highest platform that you can achieve in your sport being an Olympian how do you see God using that in your life today , outside of the coaching and the other things ? Where has he allowed you to occupy space ?

Speaker 2 11:51

Yeah , after the last games I took a year off and with full intentions of coming back . But I loved my time off so much that I really wrestled with this idea of like , do I want to come back into this space ? And I did feel like the Lord was like inviting me to step back into this space . And it's really cool because over the last three years I can really see just how , yeah , god has been at work in that space and the number of doors I've had open to me . Some of those , I think the Lord has opened those doors . Others , I think there's like there's just something about being in a space for a long time . Like I think I forget that going for my third Olympics is actually like a rare thing , like it's not like everybody's doing this .

Speaker 2 12:33

I'm a veteran on not only like bobsled Canada but team Canada , and so it's been cool some of the doors that I've had opened and it's like whether I get to sit on panels or boards and like give feedback on like I got to help with like a mental health for coaches course , that is like certified . And it's like I was picked this the winter sport representative . I'm like , okay , that's cool . So like things like we've had to do a lot of fundraising this Olympic cycle and even , like with the people that I'm getting to walk with and share my story with and talk about how even the fact that I feel called into this space , right , like there's different , like conversations that are happening because I'm in the space but then occupying the space itself , it's just . It's cool how I think , yeah , being a Christian athlete , you're just aware and open to conversations about faith , and so here we have like an athlete Bible study where there's some other bobsled athletes but also some other winter sport athletes that have been involved with it and I've helped lead it sometimes , but a lot of it's just asking questions and praying for teammates and praying for coaches , and then it's crazy when you pray for those things , the conversations that take place , and I feel like I've seen them more and more and more and even over the last couple of years internationally , we've seen some really solid believers actually within the bobsled space , and so when we're on tour on World Cup , we're like gathering , whether it's online or in person , to talk about faith and those are things that , like at the beginning of my career , were not happening and I had somebody actually , like at the beginning of my career were not happening and I had somebody , actually like my first year , say to me it's like , oh , you're a Christian that won't last long here and it's just . That was part of the reason I came back is because it's like I hate that . That's the narrative . I hate that , like for so many athletes , when we say yes to sport , we say no to faith because we feel like they're in conflict or we don't have the support to like be discipled or to grow .

Speaker 2 14:42

And in my own personal journey I really had to be intentional and seek out those things .

Speaker 2 14:47

Like my first year going from , I was on campus , plugged into a church , plugged into an athletes in action , which is like this Christian ministry that supports Christian athletes , and like meeting every single week with other Christian varsity athletes and like this amazing community to being isolated . And like that first year was really hard for me . And my first year I really learned how to like ask for help and like how to foster community internationally

Handling Fear and Vulnerability

Speaker 2 15:15

. And it's like that Christian community for me . For years it was not people on my team , aka not in the same time zone as me , and so I had to learn to like foster , whether it was like mentors , peers , people that were praying for me , prayer groups . I had to learn to gather those things around me or I would have like my faith would have grown like dull and shrunk , and so I hated that . That's the narrative , and I feel , like coming back to this Olympic cycle , like I wanted to be part of that solution in some small way , whether that's for one person or whether that's for loads of people .

Speaker 3 15:53

So yeah , it's really powerful . Thanks for sharing that . You know you talked a lot about the journey of maybe , in a lot of ways , isolation spiritually , and then loneliness and sounds like , and what the Lord did with that . I want to ask you about just maybe , the mental health side of it , because there are many of us that might feel isolated in community , thinking that maybe you are alone or maybe , if you're listening to this and you don't subscribe to the faith , that you just feel like you're on an island on yourself and maybe nobody sees you and you're in a sport .

Speaker 3 16:24

There are a lot of sports that are dangerous out there . I think that if you look at , each sport has its danger based on if you do it enough . But if you look at bobsled , you're being launched down this massive ice surface . You're in a you know , literally a projectile missile and you have very , very thin margin of error in that . So it's kind of a two-part question . So describe to me the level of I don't know if fear is not the word , but just putting yourself vulnerable in that and then how the Lord has continued your journey , protecting you from the lows of bobsled and where that can go .

Speaker 2 17:07

Yeah , it's funny because I joke with people that like I mean they're the vulnerable side of like what we do , like yeah , we're at risk of crashing and crashes happen . But I joke that the vulnerable side of sport essentially , especially Olympic sport , is literally you show up once every four years in a full spandex suit and say judge my life work . That's kind of crazy because nobody else cares about like stuff in the ebbs and flows or whatever , and it's like a once every four years . It's kind of like yeah , and it's weird how many people after the games will ask did you win ? And it's like it's not an easy thing to win the olympics . Did you go ? Like why aren't you judging me ? We're not meddling , like what the heck ? But um , I think there I think I've written , written actually , a lot of highs and lows and yes , I think the Lord has for sure protected me and met me in those spaces .

Speaker 2 18:02

But some of my like biggest lows have been in sport and have been on the road and have been like post-olympic blues and stuff like that . Those are real things , because you like run up the mountain towards the school and you have so many people cheering you on and then afterwards it's quiet and it's a free fall and you're like , okay , I can do literally anything , whereas , like last week , I had somebody telling me when to eat , when to go where , what to do . My goals were clear , all those kinds of things to eat , when to go where , what to do , my goals were clear , all those kinds of things . But sometimes it's like in those brief balls where it's like you really have to like dig out your faith and there can be , like I mean , we talked about you talked about fear too . Like I remember going into my first games again , not the fear of crashing . I've had that in my sport where when I was learning how to drive , like working through the anxiety of crashing Cause I had a brakeman that like she was working through some of that and it rubbed off on me and for the first time in my career I was like scared to go down the hill a little bit and I was just like I gotta just , you know , the only way through it is through it , so I just kept on putting myself back up there . Um , but I remember going into my first games , I was the number one girl as far as brakemen go and everybody wanted my spot because you were almost guaranteed a medal because the driver I was with was very successful , two-time Olympic champion .

Speaker 2 19:18

At that point and yeah , like that felt vulnerable , that felt scary , because it felt like I had something to lose and it felt like I had a target on my back . And I just remember , like this idea of like feel the fear and

Movement and Work as Worship

Speaker 2 19:31

do it anyways . And I think it was like a Joyce Meyer podcast , but like it's crazy how many times in the Bible the Lord says do not fear , and how many times linked to that command or that , I guess invitation is the rationale , because I'm with you and it's like , okay , I'm pretty sure that the Lord wasn't telling these people to not be scared , because they weren't scared . But I think he's saying like , yeah , you can feel the fear , but do it anyways . Like , feel the fear but walk in courage , because courage isn't the absence of fear , it's the choice .

Speaker 2 20:03

I think this is a princess starry's quote , that something else is more important than it . And so , yeah , I definitely yeah , I've felt the fear , I felt the vulnerability and gone through the highs and lows and I think those are the spaces where you really press into your faith . And like , I remember post games so many times being like , okay , lord , like what's , what's my purpose in this space , in this time , or in even general senses , yeah , a good way to remember it is there's a do not fear for every day of the year , 365 times in scripture , and that's a lot .

Speaker 1 20:36

You're right . I love that idea of pushing through and going through things . Talk to the athlete now , who's listening and maybe says you know what ? That's good , that's great . You explain this whole thing about how you're preparing for a moment and it happens in a matter of seconds . And then now I have the blues and now I'm down . What are some tactics , resources that you have in your toolbox to help you that you go to when you do have those down times ?

Speaker 2 21:05

Yeah , for me I feel like post games both times . I'm a little bit of a nerd . Sometimes I literally pulled out my theology textbook and I was like what's my purpose as a human again ? Uh , just to have a nice little refresh , and like grounding of my feet . But I feel like there's lots of other things too where it's like um , I got to work with a great um mental performance coach and we've written down things like a life list and so it's like on tour , when I'm alone or when I'm down or when my tank's getting low , kind of thing . I literally have a list that I can refer to and it's like really simple things .

Speaker 2 21:42

But sometimes you're just like it's easy , it's nice to have something on hand and be like oh yeah , what can I do to fill my tank . So it's things like get outside , go for a walk tank . So it's things like get outside , go for a walk , phone a friend , play piano , doodle , journal , do art , like things like that . And , yeah , find those little moments . But for me it's like I can really see a difference in my day , especially mentally , if I don't get in that secret place with the Lord and have that relationship with him . So I think for me like that's the biggest thing , and I understand that not everybody obviously has that , and I don't know how people do it with others . Yeah , cause I think even in that fear space it's kind of cool .

Speaker 2 22:27

It's like , as Christians , sometimes maybe we get to be a little extra vulnerable , we get to go for a little bit more because we have this safety net right when it's like I can you know David's , like I can face Goliath because I know who my God is and you know what .

Speaker 2 22:42

Or it's like Shadrach , meshach and Abednego .

Speaker 2 22:44

They're like you know what , even if I perish , I perish , but I believe that the Lord is God and he has the ability to meet me in this fire . And so it's like we get to show up with a different kind of yeah , courage and vulnerability , because we're like you know what , even if I die which I don't plan on dying , bob's letting but sometimes there's that emotional death that you feel or that mental death , and but you're like you know what I get to be like this is who the Lord is , and it's been sometimes those like post games or those free falls where you're like , okay , god , life is not good right now , but now I have to choose to declare that God is good and because I've chosen that multiple times in my life , it's easier to proclaim it again , but it doesn't make the suck less sucky kind of thing . But you're quicker to be like , okay , like , why so ? Why so ? Dumb castle my soul , but I will put my hope in him yet I will praise him that's a good title for the podcast .

Speaker 3 24:01

Doesn't make the suck less sucky . The title , no , um , you know you raised such a good point and I was chatting with a friend about this lately and you and I have talked about this one-on-one just the journey of of you . You know we talked about mental health , but of physicalone just the journey of of you . You know we talked about mental health but physical health right , cause the two of them are intertwined together , like there are psychological scientific studies that if you move your body , you can overcome other things . You can overcome all of these things by moving your body and yourself .

Speaker 3 24:31

As anyone who follows your Instagram and you have a pretty good following you do such an incredible job bringing people behind the scenes into your life and what your life looks like . You know what . What has that process been like ? Using your you know physicality to not just cause . We can just sit and read the word and then pray and worship and then go to church and then come home and eat four pizzas and drink a pop and a full bag of whatever yeah , oh god is good , but you know , oops , my body's falling apart , right .

Speaker 3 25:05

So and I've been the guy in that situation like . I'm speaking from experience . So how do you , how has that helped solidify your faith in times where you're reading the word and you go this , this isn't just connecting . But then you go and do what the Lord called you to do , and then it comes alive .

Speaker 2 25:24

Yeah , and I mean having had this conversation with you , like I know where you're getting at . And don't get me wrong , even as an Olympic athlete with a nutrition , food science background , it's hot outside . Yesterday . Did I have both ice cream and popcorn pop yesterday ? Yes , I did , because as soon as it's 30 degrees out , you just want sugar and refresh . But um , no , like this we were talking . This would have been a few months ago .

Speaker 2 25:46

But this idea of like movement as worship and work is worship and it's actually cool . One of my mentors , through athletes in action , she did her master's on the theology of work and it's cool because work is such an interesting thing where it's like we were commanded to work before the fall and so work is twisted , and it's cool that my work is movement . But it's like how can I worship the Lord with my work If I've been mandated to work and this is actually how I'm spending the majority of my time ? If it is not to the glory of God , we're missing something , because that's how he's created us and that's pre-fall , that's like pre-sin , and so there has to be like this , like reflecting back . You know that takes place in that space and this idea of like , whether it's movement or like work as worship . And it's like this idea of like okay , well , what is worship , too ? Like I think a lot of times we think about it and it's like I'm a musical person , Like , don't get me wrong , I love a worship service where I am on my knees with tears down my face . But there's a lot of times we show up in a worship service and we proclaim who God is and we don't have that feeling , we don't have that experience and that's still worship , right . And it's like I think it's Samuel says , when King Saul's getting dethroned , essentially because he didn't obey , he's like like obedience is better than sacrifice and this idea that it's like obedience is our worship . And so it's been cool because over the last couple of years , as we talk about movement as worship , I've been really kind of like pressing into this , both on that work because my work is movement and that movement as worship piece .

Speaker 2 27:29

And there's like because there's so many things in worship that is actually physical , I just literally said right , like kneeling , raising your hands , like these are physical things that we get to do . And so there's also been a part of me as an athlete where I'm like , oh , if I can be big and expressive when I win a bobsled race , why can't I be ? It's influenced my worship at church too , Cause I'm like , why can't I be that at church ? Why can't I worship the Lord with more of my body , Even , like you know , in praising him , in celebrating him ? If I want to raise my hands and celebrate that I won a bobsled race , why can't I raise my hands and celebrate how good God is , you know ? So it's been interesting because it's been like a two-way street that way . But yeah , this last like year , I feel like and this is a conversation we had like this idea of like how can my work and my performance and my sport be worship ? And I think there's a big , a big heart piece to that . But I also think there's also this really cool piece where it's like , if I believe God has called me here , which I do , I think there is like this , this delight that he has in his children living out that calling and like doing things with a heart of praise , and so I get to bobsled to his glory . That sounds crazy .

Speaker 2 28:45

But in my year off , part of the reason I actually chose to come back was there was three times in three different worship services where I was like , Lord , I want to praise you with more of me . And , out of the blue , like complete left field , all of a sudden , I was , like you know , at the altar and I was like I just want to squat as much weight as I can or want to sprint as fast as I can , and I'm like the fact that it happened not just once , not just twice , but three times . I was like , okay , Lord , I'm paying attention , that it happened not just once , not just twice , but three times . I was like , okay , Lord , I'm paying attention . And that's actually the reason that I came back was because I was like , okay , it feels like I'm not done in this space and you keep on stirring this up in really intimate moments with you , and so what does work and movement as worship look like ?

Speaker 2 29:28

It's not going to look like this forever , but we even just had like Canadian push champs and it was just like that really sobering moment where I have no idea what I'm doing after the games . I might retire , I might not . We're going to have my midlife crisis in March , April and pray a lot and see what I'm doing . But I was like this might be my last Canadian champs . This might be one of the last times I get to worship the Lord of my strength like my actual physical strength yeah , no-transcript like that . But most of training is like the worship service , where you're like I'm just lifting my hands because God is good , not because I feel like lifting my hands , you know .

Speaker 1 30:31

Your answer was so great because I think it gave this almost three-dimensional perspective of faith where sometimes we categorize it and put it in a box . We were interviewing someone last time and it came out that it's like our work is our ministry and our ministry is our work . And sometimes we categorize work as like well , that's the thing I go , I punch my card , and as soon as I'm done punching my card , it's done . Or , like Dave said in his last part , like going to church is like you check the box . You check the box and it's like no , it's like it's everything I am , and so I love how you put the physical element to it . When you put that physical element to how you're serving the Lord , there is wear and tear and over time there's sometimes even breakdowns with it . Have you had those points where you've kind of said to yourself okay , lord , like I desperately need help . How do you go to that well of resource as an athlete ?

Speaker 2 31:37

I mean in so many ways , right like I talked about that first year on tour and me having to reach out for help , and that was

The Power of Accountability

Speaker 2 31:43

more from a spiritual space where I was like I am alone , I'm dry , I'm like who is the lord and having to reach out for help . But there's also been times where it's like it's interesting because , as an athlete , if my work is my body and my worship is my work , and all of a sudden now I have an injury and you're like okay , this is interesting . So , like the last , this , this Olympic cycle , I've really have been working through some chronic Achilles problems and so it's been hard because there's been times where it's like Lord , I just want to run , I just want to run fast , you've made me to run fast , like heal me and you work in my body and um , but it's cool , cause then when you have those moments of health too right , you get to praise them and be like Lord , like think like I'm the healthiest I've been in like all Olympic cycle right now , and I'm just like praise the Lord , would you continue this , lord ? Like thank you so much .

Speaker 2 32:37

But yeah , I think it's like I may be in the same way , right when it's like we were just talking about it being three-dimensional . It's like I guess you have to kind of maybe pinpoint the problem and then figure out the solution from there . It's like , okay , if my Achilles hurts . I was joking with my coach he well , joking , slash , serious , cause he , as an athlete , also had Achilles problems . And he was like no , like what did you do ? Like how is how , why is your , how is your Achilles so good right now ?

Speaker 2 33:02

And I'm like uh , prayer and physio Like and so it's like maybe it's not just like a one prong approach kind of thing , especially as Christians , um , but then yeah , it's looking at maybe some of those also very tangible needs . So if it's an Achilles problem , it's like , okay , I'm not going to just pray , I'm also going to go see my physiotherapist about it and the orthopedics person and all of the things to try and sort out the problem . But if it's a spiritual thing because we talked about how things are very connected it's like I've also set up very intentional relationships and stuff like that , um , and accountability to you know , like there's seasons that we go through as Christians and I think there's like , naturally , winters and summers and springs and falls that we we walk through , um , and I think as we mature in faith , we have more consistency and depth in all of those seasons . It's not just in the spring and summer or the harvest , it's also in the winter , right where your roots go down deep , and inviting people into that space and then having those kinds of resources I think is huge .

Speaker 2 34:18

And so it's like it's looked like different things at different times . Sometimes it's friends , sometimes it's a small group , sometimes , like going into every single games . I've found a Christian mentor and it's like , okay , let's meet up every other week , let's talk about where I'm at spiritually , let's hold me accountable . Um , let's make sure , especially going into the games , it's not just physical , it's not just mental or emotional , because it's very much those things and any and every athlete will tell you that but it's also spiritual . And so it's like how do we prepare ourselves in not just one domain , but all of them ?

Speaker 3 34:54

so good , I I think often well I mean , since this is a sports podcast , we primarily talk to athletes and people connected into sport identity always comes up as a theme . Trying to separate the two , but not necessarily separate , reshape your identity . You know , scripture says pride comes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall , and I think there's so much power to that verse because there's so much weight to it . But if you really break it down , pride really is saying that I can do it , lord , I don't need you . And you just talked about accountability , which is the opposite of that saying hey , like I need help in this process . So how has the ability to find accountability ? What does that look like ? What do those spaces look like to provide people , to connect you and to hold your hand and say hey , melissa , you're not alone in this . And how helpful has that been in your journey and necessary to get you where you are today ?

Speaker 2 35:52

Oh , it's been huge . Like I don't think I would be where I am today without , like , the community around me and the choice to like invite them into that space intentionally . And I think at the beginning it was hard for sure , but then , when it becomes a rhythm or a practice , it's like I'm , I don't have secrets in my life . It doesn't mean everybody knows everything , but it's like I'm , like I , I actually have no secrets in my life and um , and that's hard . I think I've gone through different things where it's like , after my first scheme's very tough experience for a number of reasons , I went through a program called Freedom Session and literally went through this part of it where you do an inventory and you're like , okay , all the ways I've been hurt in my life , all the ways I've hurt other people in my life , all the things I've never told somebody . And then it's like , and now there's an invitation to go tell somebody and literally read the list , and so I think , having done that about eight years ago now , I think it was very life-changing actually . But even before that right , getting to walk with mentors , getting to walk with different people , I mean it's cool because it's so .

Speaker 2 37:07

There's this passage in scripture where it's Joshua fighting in the valley but up on the mountaintop Moses is raising his staff , and when the staff is raised , they're winning , and when the staff is I mean falling , they're losing the battle .

Speaker 2 37:23

And so Aaron and another dude that I think he's mentioned once in scripture go and hold up Moses' hands and Moses sits on a rock and then at the end Moses says write this down so Joshua can hear about it . And it wasn't even Moses' fight , it was Joshua's fight . But Moses was uplifting Joshua , and uplifting Joshua was Aaron and this other guy that I never remember his name and that's where we actually get Jehovah Nisi , the Lord is my banner from , and it's just the Lord spoke . The Lord is my banner . Jehovah Nisi over me a couple of years ago and I was like again one of those abstract things in faith where you're like Lord . I actually don't know what that meant in that season . I still don't know what that means , but it's interesting how it's like . No , I can see how , again and again and again and again , the Lord has put people in my life and I've allowed them in my life to hold up my hands or to be on the mountaintop raising that staff for me .

Speaker 1 38:21

You mentioned no secrets . So it's that time it's our rapid fire question that we're going to give you a whole bunch of questions and see if there's anything left over to have answers for , are you ?

Speaker 2 38:33

ready . Yes .

Speaker 1 38:34

All right , excellent . If you have a BLT sandwich and you're going to add one thing to it and create a whole new BLT experience , what are you adding to it ?

Speaker 2 38:45

Egg .

Speaker 3 38:46

Oh , that's a good one .

Speaker 2 38:48

Yeah , my favorite McDonald's item is the bagel B-E-L-T

Rapid Fire Questions

Speaker 2 38:52

with on an everything bagel .

Speaker 3 38:56

As we talked about nutrition and fitness and health that we're talking about , I'll take two .

Speaker 2 39:02

I picked the healthiest thing on the McDonald's .

Speaker 3 39:04

Yes , you did Not judging at all . That's 100% Full credit for that . Your favorite TV sports memory that you watched and were like , wow , I got . You still go back to and get goosebumps thinking of that .

Speaker 2 39:19

I love sports , memory Sports docu-series , but I'm actually a horrible sports fan , to be honest .

Speaker 3 39:27

Is there an Olympic moment ?

Speaker 2 39:28

you can think that , um , growing up watching that , you were like that was cool honestly , I have no idea why or how at a young age I decided I wanted to be an olympian . Um , it's cool because it is like I have it literally my very first prayer journal at the age of 13 . I scrawled down something on the very first page lord , would you make that silly dream in the olympics come true ? And it was talking about , like you , we were at like a retreat and we're talking about using our talents and our gifts for the lord . And I was like lord , would you use , like you know , all these different things and would you make this silly dream come true ? And I don't know where that dream even came from .

Speaker 2 40:02

Maybe I just was like I love sports and I know that people that love sports go to the Olympics . I don't remember much like watching the Olympics growing up and stuff like that . Like my favorite Olympic memories , I mean like obviously getting to be at the games and it's actually not me performances or me moments . It's actually like I've had the privilege of watching multiple teammates win medals and getting to be in that space is a lot of fun . It's really cool , yeah .

Speaker 1 40:49

You're about to do an Olympic run and they have a new thing that they do for bobsledding they crank up the tunes to 10 . As you're about to take off , what song plays for you ?

Speaker 2 41:00

Ooh , okay . So in my headphones , the song that I've been listening to this last year was To Not Worship you . I think it's by Mercy Me . So I'm listening to worship music right before I go out and then singing probably 90s Christian songs in my helmet that you can't hear Really like literally at the line , but the song I'm picking is something EDM with a really heavy bass line . Right now I like just pulling up my phone , my Spotify I keep on going back to Won't Be Possible , by Tiesto .

Speaker 1 41:33

Wow , excellent .

Speaker 2 41:35

So what I'm listening to and what I'm going to get you to listen to , to watch me bobsled very different . And that's literally what I did last week at Canadian Push Champs . I'm listening to Worship , but my walkout song was Tiesto .

Speaker 3 41:48

So good you had a free weekend away from bobsled training . What are you doing ?

Speaker 2 41:52

Oh , I'm in the mountains , preferably on a beach in the mountains , somewhere draped half in water . I love paddleboarding , I love being out in nature .

Speaker 1 42:05

If you could pick a season to stay in year round , what would it be ?

Speaker 2 42:10

There's a part of me that would like to say summer , but I am actually not functional above 25 degrees , like I need to just be in the water . It's like , especially working out , like yesterday I feel like the training center was hot and I was like and then , yeah , so I actually love winter , but I don't like it that cool . I like bobsled winter , which is a very modest minus five how much is on your squat rack bar right now ?

Speaker 2 42:39

oh uh . So we've been doing box squat , not , uh , full depth squat , so I have had north of 200 kilos on the bar , yeah that's basically what earlier this week 100 kilos for , but it's foam bench , but , yeah , usually for bench . I'll like tell my coach that I'm like I'm done benching for the year when I hit my 100 kilo single so , which I do every year , and then I quit .

Speaker 1 43:05

If you could go back in time and talk to the 10 year old self and give them one piece of advice , what would you tell 10 year old Melissa ?

Speaker 2 43:18

Stay the course . Yeah , like that long obedience , you know , in the same direction it's . I remember my first quad . I was so impatient with getting better and I feel like in general , as humans we are , and I had a mentor at the time that said to me like Melissa , can you see a tree grow ? No , but of course you come back five years , ten years from now and you can see the growth . And so it's just stay the course . Especially in an Olympic years . It's like don't do anything fancy , stay the course .

Speaker 2 43:57

Even in our faith it's like there's so many times and I remember the Lord and I were talking about this during COVID and it was like I think , especially if you've grown up in a charismatic church , we see the Lord in acts of faith and we celebrate acts of faith , but so often we meet the Lord in acts of faithfulness and those acts of faithfulness make space for acts of faith . And one of my favorite scriptures that I was reflecting on yesterday is actually in Exodus , and it's where the Lord's setting up these sacrifices and he's talking

Staying the Course in Faith

Speaker 2 44:23

about the daily sacrifice and he's like every single morning and every single evening you're going to do this burnt sacrifice , but then there's a beautiful promise attached to it and he says and in that space I will meet with you and I will speak to you and in that space I'm going to reveal to you that I am your Lord . I'm your Lord that brought you out of slavery . And it's just this beautiful invitation for relationship in faithfulness . And , yeah , so stay the course .

Speaker 2 44:52

I feel like , especially as a young person , it's easy to be like I love Jesus and then all of a sudden you come home from camp or something like that and you're like well , it's been three months since I've read my Bible and it's like faithfulness . It takes time to cultivate , but it's just stayed the course . And there was this time hard season in my life where I was really struggling to be like is the Lord good ? And I'm like I know he's good in theory , but he doesn't feel good right now because the suck sucks , as we were saying earlier . And there was this sweet lady . She was in her 90s and she looks at me and she like , with so much conviction and faith , she's like all my life the Lord is good , all my life God's been faithful . And I'm like you know what this 90-year-old woman can tell me , that with that much conviction , I'm like it's true , it was faith for me in those moments , but it's the faithfulness yeah .

Speaker 3 45:47

You've given us a lot of scripture today and I love it . Um is there one verse right now that in this season , right now , as you're preparing for the 2026 Olympics and qualifying for that that you're , you really gravitate to and are using to cultivate , as you said , some life ?

Speaker 2 46:04

Yeah , so I uh , this summer memorized Psalm 1 and it's specifically like that verse 3 , so it starts off right like blessed is the one who does not walk in the way that sinners walk , or stand in the way of mockers , or stand in the way that sinners take , or sit in the company of mockers , but who meditates on the word of the Lord and or .

Speaker 2 46:26

I'm memorizing this I'm saying I've memorized it and I'm misquoting it Delights in the law of the Lord , meditates on it day and night . But verse three is that person is like a tree planted by streams of water , in which yields its fruit in season , whose leaf does not wither whatever they do , prospers . And so , yeah , the Lord has been talking to me a lot actually about it's been . It's always uncanny when the Lord brings themes up , and this year Psalm 1 has come up and it's funny how I think I would have said , maybe for years , that that's been a life verse and then I never like memorized it .

Speaker 2 46:55

So I finally memorized it as much as I did not showcase that , yeah , and this idea of blessing and prosperity when you're planted , and just this idea that the Lord , our Father , he actually delights in giving us good things , like he's a good Father . And I was really challenged because I think sometimes in the crucible of things , I've been able to be like , oh , like what is that James scripture where it's like let perseverance finish its work in you so you can be mature and complete , not lacking anything . And I've been able to like accept that . But the Lord really challenged me and he was like but Melissa , like I'm not just bringing you obstacles so you can persevere and mature , like do you actually believe that as my daughter , I delight in giving you good things ? So anyways , I could , I could talk on Psalm 1 for a while now , like no joke , like in multiple church services from multiple different churches , as I'm visiting friends and stuff , and you're like , okay , I'm listening , yeah .

Speaker 1 47:49

You may not have got it verbatim , but you , you gave the hard attitude with it , which I think is often the most important part of it , and I and and to tie this together with our , with our conversation being planted by waters . You'll see that given in Psalm 1 , but you also see it in the latter part of Revelation , where that's eternity and eternity is there's a tree that bears fruit in its season and it's for the nations and God is .

Speaker 2 48:21

I want to go down this rabbit hole , because it's also in Ezekiel , it's also in the Garden of Eden , it's also in the Garden of Eden , okayiel , it's also in the Garden of .

Speaker 1 48:26

Eden . It's also in the Garden of Eden . Okay , so it's also in the Garden of Eden . But take this okay , the Bible starts in a garden , the Bible ends in a garden , and when the two ladies went to the empty tomb , the Lord appeared to them as a gardener .

Speaker 2 48:39

Yeah .

Speaker 1 48:40

And so we have this picture of God sustaining and God providing and God supplying , and all we have to do is rest in him . Yeah , that's really what we have to do . Well , melissa , our time together . You're right , we could talk , we could have part 28 of this here in a couple of weeks , totally . But we have two conditions as part of this show . We have number one . We get to have you back again , so we will have part two of this Okay show . We have number one . We get to have you back again , so we will have part two of this . Okay , sounds good .

Speaker 2 49:10

The second part is that we get to pray with you as we close .

Speaker 1 49:12

So let's do that now . Yeah , let's do that . Heavenly Father , we come before you right now . Lord , we thank you so much for Melissa and for her faithfulness and her desire to seek you . And , lord , she's had evidence in this conversation . She's explained it how when she has searched for you , she's found you . When she's been in times that has been down , she's also realized that you've been there all along . And , lord , we just pray that you would use her and you would bless her for your glory , your honor and your praise . In Jesus' name , we pray , amen .

Speaker 2 49:42

Amen , amen . Thank you guys so much .

Speaker 3 49:48

Taking delight in the Lord . That's such a great one , that's such a great important part of it , and it's funny how , doing these podcasts , we often think you and I , as the host , think , well , I hope somebody gets something out of this . I really want someone to be blessed by it If they're listening to it . I hope they can apply it to their life . The last few episodes I'm walking away going . I got blessed by that and not that that's not expected in what we do . We should be blessed by it , right , but . But it's so cool to see what the Lord can do in just making yourself available and vulnerable and want to be used by him , and how the body of Christ is so

Closing Thoughts and Prayer

Speaker 3 50:31

important to be connected to , because there's always something the Lord can do if you're connected to other sources .

Speaker 1 50:39

Yeah , and the great thing is with building this podcast , dave and you and I have had mentioned it before where this is a resource that's here building this podcast , dave and you and I have mentioned it before where this is a resource that's here and I think a lot of people and noticing by the analytics and some of the stats and stuff , people are going back and listening to previous stuff and I think that's important because hopefully this thing can be a resource to someone , whether it's now and an encouragement for you , me today , for our guests today , but maybe for someone years from now . And I think that's one of the things that has really become evidence , where it's like well , what were you saying ? We recorded that a year ago and someone's listening to that . You know what ? No , that's a good thing . Hopefully it was a blessing to them as well . So I'm glad that we can do this .

Speaker 1 51:16

And what a great Melissa , what a great . You can just tell like the scripture is so ingrained into her life and like she's at a certain level when it comes to like , of course , she's an olympian . You have to be at a certain level of performance but at the same time , you have to be grounded . Because our previous guest talked about it's . Usually when athletes get in professional sports , they either compromise or they really dig in and get grounded and and that's when you know the out of the abundance of the heart , the mouth speaks .

Speaker 3 51:47

There's that scripture , right . So whatever's rooted inside will come out in times of trial and comes out of times of difficulty . You know , you heard the common phrase in society well , trials , you know the difficulties . You know , test somebody . Well , no , I think the difficulties reveal the character underneath . Like , if you go through a tough time , what is hiding underneath will come out . If you get cut off in traffic , if you're an angry person , you know whatever what's underneath will reveal . If you're , you know , going through fear , what's underneath will reveal .

Speaker 3 52:21

And what Melissa shared is so beautiful that , yes , you were so rooted underneath her and I am in community enough with her that I can see the fruits of that . And we're not perfect , like this isn't about , oh , that one , but I saw her once through this thing and it's like , yeah , but we're sinful people , but overall , your disposition . That's why I think it's so important and I was even convicted in this I don't spend enough time in the word , I don't spend enough time journaling , and that's where the real life source is rooted and planted . You talked about gardening . That's where it all starts .

Speaker 1 52:58

Yeah , and having that resource , that toolbox , to the young athlete what sort of arsenal , what sort of toolbox are you building ? All these athletes talk about strategies and different things that they're doing and things that they go back on , but also , at the same time , things that they're consistently doing in order to build strength for when things come , they're prepared , and I think that's something like , as you said , we can all work on .

Speaker 3 53:21

Yep , we're a resource here . You can like us and subscribe to us , download us we're . All podcasts are found . Instagram is where we do primarily a lot of our posts . We're on Twitter or X , if you use that as well , and please reach out to us if there's something you loved . You wanted to hear more of something you heard , as we are three quarters of the way through season two already , and it's been a fun one .

Speaker 1 53:43

Looking forward to more episodes in the future . Share , share , share . If you've enjoyed this podcast , please let us know by leaving a message on social media .

Speaker 3 53:53

Share with us today how you've been impacted by the gospel in the game .