Easter always reminds me of the love Mary had for her son, Jesus. I think
about the challenging position she held in His life. I am sure she was
chosen for her strength and willingness to walk the difficult road with her
son to the cross. Even in his dying moments Jesus didn’t forget his mother’s
love. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have you thought of your mom lately? I don't mean one Sunday out of
52. I mean everyday. I realize some of us have estranged relationships with
our mothers but we still need to recognize the fact that without them we
wouldn't be here. Good, bad or indifferent matters not; we all have been
given the gift of life through our mother. Scripture instructs us to honor
our parents.
Exodus 20:12, "Honor your father and your
mother, so that you may
live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
This is
the fifth of the Ten Commandments and comes with the promise of long life.
Why do you think it matters so much? God instituted the family and it is the
basic unit of society. Everything worth something is built on the foundation
of family. Think of the racing family we have. We support one another. We
help one another. We are sensitive to the needs of each other.
The same is true of our other family, the one we were born into.
God designed us in such a way that we need family support. We need a group
of close people who know us better than we know ourselves sometimes. This is
a necessary element to living a long and healthy life. When we maintain the
family unit the way God designed it we begin to live in a way that honors
God.
Jesus knew this also and he modeled it from the cross. He prayed
for his enemies, he forgave and provided salvation for the criminal who
acknowledged him and now he made provisions for his mother to be taken care
of after his death.
John 19:25-27,
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife
of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom
he loved standing nearby,
he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple,
"Here is your mother."
From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Jesus demonstrated from the cross
that God meant what he said. He showed us that even in the most trying times
of our lives we need to respond in a way that honors God. Jesus did just
that. Even in his own agony he was not focused on himself.
Greg Laurie shares this with us, “At the foot of the cross was
Jesus’ mother Mary, along with some other woman and the apostle John. Can
you imagine the anguish Mary experienced seeing her son on the cross? For
parents, and certainly mothers, it is exceptionally painful to watch their
children suffer.”
“Imagine Mary as she looked up at Jesus, hanging on the cross. He
was beaten and marred, His body traumatized by the scourging. That was her
son. His forehead she used to kiss when He was a boy was now lacerated with
a crown of thorns. His hands she once held were now pierced and bloodied by
spikes.”
“Now as Mary looked up and witnessed her son Jesus hanging on the
cross, I believe the sword pierced all the way through her soul. A new
revelation probably came to Mary. Perhaps she realized, for the first time,
That Jesus was not her child – but that she was His. Maybe for the first
time Mary began to grasp the fact that this was not simply her firstborn
son. He was God Almighty. It all came into focus for her.”
We need to come to the same realization; Christ gave his life for
us. He suffered and died for our sins. He rose from the grave victorious
over death so that we would not have to fear death. He saved us.
That day as He hung on the cross dying He had the presence of mind
to honor his mother and make provision for her after His death. John, the
disciple whom Jesus loved, accepted the responsibility of caring for Mary.
How have we provided for our mothers? How have we responded to the
commandment of God to honor our parents? How have we responded to the cross
and the sacrifice that was made for us? There are so many questions to
answer, so many things to consider. I would ask you to follow God’s
commandments and Jesus’ example; honor your mother.
Consider this; the first choice our mother made for our benefit was
to give us life. She endured the emotional and physical changes to her body
for our benefit. If for nothing else she deserves to be honored for that.
I would ask you to consider all that has been sacrificed for you so
that you may have the opportunity to live; honor that sacrifice. I would
also ask you to live in such a way that honors God as Jesus did.
Exodus 20:12, "Honor
your father and your mother,
so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
THOUGHTS
FROM THE ROAD
WEATHER THROWS A
CURVE - My heart goes out to track operators who must make the agonizing
decision on whether to run or not based on the forecast. Is it any wonder
that any of them still have hair? Last Friday night was to be the first
night of racing action at the famed Connecticut Half-Mile, Stafford Motor
Speedway, but based on the forcast and the temperature the plug was pulled.
As the day progressed the sun appeared and the temps warmed up. Man that has
to be frustrating. My heart goes out to the Arutes and all that struggle to
make the right call, week in and week out.
RACING ACTION CLOSE TO HOME - I didn’t have to travel far
for racing action last weekend though, the race was at my house. We
celebrated Mother’s Day a week early because of work schedules and my 1 year
old granddaughter kept us moving. Maddy spent the night at our house; man am
I old!
It has been some time since I chased a little one around. Add in a
dog who thinks everything falls into two catagories, toy or food and the
race is on! Between dog toys, baby toys, kid food, dog food, there is no
time to stop. Once in a while we threw the caution flag, dog to the crate,
baby to her crib, Grammy and Papi collapse exahusted in the chair! Handy
Manny, Little Einstein, Veggie Tales and The Amazing Crabdini, my viewing
horizons have been expanded. I watched something called the Booby Bird Blue
Footed Ballet and it is stuck in my head! I think I will need some time off
to recover. Where’s the closest racetrack!
All kidding aside, it has been a blessing to share our lives with
Maddy and for Lynda and I to relive those days that don’t seem all that long
ago when our girls were running around. Count your blessings, name them one
by one, appreciate everything the Lord has done.
WOO IN LINCOLN- Headed out to Lincoln Speedway for The Gettysburg Clash with
my copilot, Howie Hodge. Looking forward to visiting a new track and to
reuniting with the Sprint teams. It will be a quick trip though, we will be
in NH for the Whelen Modified Race at Mad Dog on Saturday night. Hope you
have the chance to get out there and see some live racing action.
Until next time, be a witness for our Lord with the ministry decals
and apparel. See them at the Show Your Faith Apparel Store at
http://www.rwjm.com/store. Send us your prayer and counseling needs no matter
what part of our racing family you are in, or give us a call. Remember that
God loves you, we love you and
Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing. GOD BLESS.
 Mail reaches us at Racing with Jesus Ministries, PO Box 586,
Tolland, CT 06084.
Check our weekly printed pages in "Area Auto Racing
News",
the East Coast’s largest weekly racing paper.
See our on-line Apparel
Store for subscription information.
Check our home page
www.rwjm.org for past
articles.
We invite you to input your thoughts as you sign our Guest Book.
Please remember, we can only do what we do because of your prayerful
financial support.
Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face
toward you and give you peace."
May God always Bless you, everyday in everyway. Rev. Don
CHECKERED CHEERS
***WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES***
May 9
ELI & CLAUDETTE GOLD- The popular race announcer and wife share their 34th
anniversary.
RUSS & LISA WOOD- The NH based ISMA SuperModified driver and wife share
their 23rd anniversary.
May 12
HAROLD & BARBARA DAUNCEY- This Wall Township Speedway NASCAR Modified driver
and wife share their 27th anniversary.
May 13
*** HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ***
***HAPPY BIRTHDAYS***
May 9
ED BRUNNHOELZL, JR.- NJ asphalt Modified driver.
TIM FEDEWA- Holt, MI Former NNS/CWTS driver.
GARY LLOYD- Efland, NC LMSC driver.
MIKE PORTER- Princeton, WV veteran LMSC driver.
MELISSA STUART- The daughter of Preston, CT proprietor of JDM Chassis/ LM
driver Jay and wife Angelina.
May 10
REV. DAN PETFIELD- From Thornwood, NY, KNPSE Pastor for Racing with Jesus
Ministries and Vice President.
JOHN WALL, JR.- Brother of NASCAR KNPSE driver Bryan.
RON THIEL, JR.- Long Island NASCAR KNPSE driver turned Nextel Cup team
fabricator.
LINDA HIETALA- Wife of Enfield, CT Reliable Welding Modified driver Brad.
TRAVIS PERRY- Son of Seekonk Speedway Sportsman driver Bill and Stacy.
May 11
BUGS STEVENS- Rehoboth, MA retired NASCAR National Modified champion and
proud dad of NASCAR Modified/ProStock driver/car builder Dave Berghman.
JIM BEEBE- Star Speedway NASCAR flagman.
BEVERLY WEIDMAN- The owner of the NASCAR dirt Modified team driven by
husband Gene at Big Diamond.
MICHAEL WIBBELSMAN- The youngest son of RWJM Advisor Dick and wife Judy in
Gainesville, FL.
May 12
JIM SPENCER, JR.- NSC commentator Jim and wife Pat's oldest.
May 13
*** HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ***
BILL STIVASON- From Kittanning, PA, the Scorer at Challenger Raceway.
RON RIEDINGER- Former Flemington dirt Sportsman and LM champion.
CHERYL VENEZIAN- The grown-up daughter of Joe and wife Linda of Perth Amboy
Springs.
May 14
GARY NAPOLITANO- D.I.R.T. Modified driver.
FRED VORDERMEIR- "The Big Apple Kid," West Hempstead, NY Modified driver.
BUDDY BLACK- NC NASCAR Modified driver.
TONY RAINES- LaPorte, IN NASCAR NSC driver.
STEPHAN GREGOIRE- Neufchateau, France born, now Indianapolis, IN IRL driver.
DENNIS WOOLDRIDGE- Riverside, CA LM driver.
May 15
SHANE HMIEL- Shane enjoys his special day as he continues to expand his
horizons.
ED ST. ANGELO- Barrington, RI Modified/ProStock driver.
NANCY CLARK- Wife of Long Island NASCAR modified driver Dick.
WES BENASH- Marlton, NJ son of Bridgeport Speedway Handicapper Bob.
PETE McCLUSKEY- Pete McCluskey Builders sponsor of Wall Township Speedway's
George Andretta's ProStock and #1 fan.
SHARE YOUR SPECIAL OCCASIONS WITH YOUR RACING FAMILY.
SEND THEM TO:
RACING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES
PO Box 586
Tolland, CT, 06084
TheChromeHorn RWJM Archives
Racing With Jesus Ministries Website
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