It’s been a pretty tough week. We struggle to make sense of the loss. We
struggle within ourselves as we search for an answer, an explanation. Where
do we turn when we have to deal with such a loss? How does it all make
sense? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
With the tragic events last Saturday night at Canandaigua Motorsports
Park our thoughts and prayers go out to the Ward family. Words cannot
express the deep sadness that an event like this had to happen. Part of the
difficulty with processing what happened is that it happened so quickly, in
the heat of competition. Two lives, countless families and racing in general
have changed in a moment. Decisions made in the blink of an eye, when our
adrenalin is flowing, looking back seem so foolish. No one planned for
things to happen this way. And in hindsight would stop before it happened.
We find ourselves searching for words, searching for answers. What can we
learn? You can't take it back.
We feel overwhelmed as we search for answers. Where do we go when life
presses in on us? Who do we turn to when we cannot find the answers to the
questions in our hearts? We turn to God the creator of life Himself. The
writer of Ecclesiastes helps us understand that in life there is a time for
everything;
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8; There is a time for
everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a
time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a
time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw
away, a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Death is veiled mystery, covered in sadness, grief and mystery. With every
birth comes the announcement of another death. Death is an unknown for each
of us, a reality that we would rather not experience. Death comes to
everyone, every day, every hour; every moment death comes to someone. Death
brings broken hearts, empty homes and vacant chairs. It doesn’t matter the
stage of life we are in, child, youth, adult, death comes.
The time is not known. Jesus determines our time, like a gardener that
tends to the crops and determines which ones are ready. He may pluck the
most fragrant flower. He may remove the choking weeds. We are here for only
a moment. We need to use that time to reach out and touch the lives around
us.
The world we live in is performance based. How we are treated depends on
how we perform; what we say, what we do. People only accept others that
perform up to their standards. But God is different, His love for us is not
based on what we say or do. He loves us regardless of our performance. We
read in Scripture that nothing can separate us from His love.
Romans 8:38-39, For I am convinced that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
The key is to be ready and watching. While God’s love for us doesn’t change,
our usefulness to Him depends on how we respond to that love. We must live a
noble life, reflecting the fruit of the Holy Spirit that we read about in
Galatians 5:22, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law. We must remove the hatred, discord, jealousy, rage,
selfish ambition, dissensions, divisions and envy, those who live like this
will not inherit the kingdom of God . We must prepare to live a long life,
but be ready to go at any moment.
The choice is ours. As we grieve the loss of life we need to reflect on
how we are living our own life. We need to evaluate how our living has
helped or hurt those around us. We need to decide to live differently. Don’t
let this moment pass in vain. Search your life, turn to God, He can and will
have mercy, compassion and love for you.
Psalm 23; The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not
be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's
sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, n I will fear
no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my
head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Our Lord and Father we pray that you Spirit would guide our thoughts and
actions. Lord that you would motivate us to respect life more than anything
in creation. Help us to follow the example set for us. We lift the Ward and
Stewart families up to you and ask for your comfort and mercy to be with
them. In Jesus name, Amen
THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD
TRAGEDY
AT WALL - I was at VIR when I received word that a young lady had
crashed at Wall in a TQ midget as part of the Green Flag Driving Experience.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and the staff at Wall; never
do we want to be a part of something so final. Please join with me as we
reach out to them and let them know how much they mean to us.
FIRST HALF COMPLETE (and the second) - The first half of
the August odyssey is complete, in the last week we have been to Stafford,
Watkins Glen, Waterford, Seekonk, Thompson and VIR. I guess that is more
than half! After a quick stop at home we are headed to Bristol . I look
forward to this race each year as it gets better and better. Last year Mike
Stefanik took home the checkered flag, who will it be this year? Young Tommy
Barrett took home the checkered with the same car Mighty Mike drove last
year.
BEHIND THE SCENES - There are many people who often work unnoticed
behind the scenes to make our night at the track possible. Booby and Vinetta
serve at Lee USA and shared about a recent lose there. Thanks Bobby for your
comments.
This past week was another back to back day of racing, but there is
something else on my heart. I would like to share this story with you.
We pack up the hauler, car and prepare for a night of racing looking
forward to seeing our favorite team and some great racing. We make the
necessary changes for the track we are at that night. What do we do when we
get hungry? We may have packed our own food or head over to the track
concession stand. There are many at the track that are behind the scenes and
never get the attention for all their hard work they do for everyone that
night and all season.
Being at Lee USA Speedway for the many years we have got to know the
staff behind the scenes at the track. When the concession stands aren’t busy
we would stop by just to chat and say hello. This past week Lee USA lost one
of their devoted concession stand workers, Cathy. She handled the register
and right by the register was always a big stack of “whoopie pies”. She knew
they were one of my favorites. She would always smile as my food was getting
prepared would yell down the line; “I have your favorite whoopie pies
tonight”. Yes, along with whatever I ordered a whoopie pie would be
purchased.
Cathy will be missed by all that worked with her. When I look down the
line, I’ll remember her smile and know she will be pointing at the stack of
whoopie pies. I’ll hear her words echo from above.
The next time you are in line wherever you are, make sure along with
handing them your money thank them for doing what they do every weekend for
us.
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
http://www.rwjm.com 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
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 |
