JAMA Racing Ministry

I have driven nice cars and I have driven junk. I now drive my wife’s car, a classic 1984 Firebird…that’s right, I don’t have a car of my own. That may seem odd to some folks, but since we gave my GMC Suburban to another ministry back in 2003, there really has not been a need. I was driving our 15 passenger ‘church van’ we used to tow our race/ministry trailer. Once I retired and we started our own business, there really was no need for more than 1 car in our household. It’s simply amazing what you can learn to live with when you no longer have something you thought you had to have.

My car was my pride. It was always clean, vacuumed and serviced. When the Lord asked me to give my truck to another ministry, I simply ignored Him. I had heard stories of people giving away cars and other worldly possessions and always thought that was really nice, but when it came time for me to do the same it was different. Yea, seems silly, it was just an old Suburban, but it was MY Suburban! After a few weeks of the Holy Spirit urging me to do as the Lord had asked, I finally did. I made the call, signed the title and set up a time to drop the truck off.

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Long days and short nights, that best describes our last week on the road. We left Michigan on Sunday afternoon heading to Edmonton Alberta for our next event. I knew going in it would be one of the harder legs on our 7 week trip, simply because of the number of miles we had to drive each day and the need to be at the next location by Wednesday at the latest.

We would hit traffic and road construction within the first hour and drive through that environment for the next 6 hours. It included all of the normal trappings of zippy drivers, people with attitude and the standard cut throat driving tactics you find in any major thoroughfare. Add a few problems with your equipment and It’s enough to drive anyone over the edge.

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A few weeks back, our youngest son was lamenting about all the ‘stuff’ he seemed to be going through with his job and the business. My wife looked at him and told him the following. “When you dad was learning his job as a flight engineer in the US Air Force, he had all kinds of emergencies during the first few years he was flying. These difficulties drove him to learn more about his job and the airplane he flew. The results was it made him one of the best flight engineers in the business. That’s what the Lord is doing with you and the troubles you are experiencing.” He stopped, looked at her with a smile and said, “wow, really?”

That statement changed his perspective on what was happening. The troubles became learning opportunities for him in trusting the Lord with his life and gave him a deeper understanding of the mission our Father has him on.

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We got news this morning that there had been another incident with the hitch on our second unit. This time the hitch failed. Fortunately the team leader caught the problem on walk around after a fuel stop and was able to take appropriate action to secure the trailer. They were close enough to home so they dropped the trailer and went back and picked up it with his truck.

Am I worried, no. Was I concerned these guys could not handle any situation that came up, no. Everything we’ve done from the beginning with our business has been directed by the Lord. That includes who we have hired and the equipment we have purchased. This does not mean you abdicate your responsibility to exercise you God given talents. If anything you must use the skills He has endowed upon you to get the mission He has you on accomplished. However, at the end of the day, you do your best and leave God the rest.

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Earlier this year, while negotiating one of our contracts, we had a competing entity attempt to persuade the leadership of one of the organization we work with to use them for streaming their races. This was an 11th hour shot across the bow. It came out of no where and understandably made us sit up and pay attention.

I remember writing about it at the time. Just a few days earlier, a friend was led by the Spirit to write a very encouraging note to me after reading one of my devotionals about our expansion. This was not the first time he has done this. Over the last 14 years, he and his wife, have spoken to us on 3 distinct occasions all relating to our walk with the Lord.

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Being accused of doing something I have not done or being slandered for holding a position of righteousness and then not defending myself is one of the most difficult things I have to deal with. The Lord says this about defending ourselves and seeking vengeance, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19

It has been my experience the Lord is much better at defending me than I ever could. Time and time again, when people have harmed me, the Lord, in His time, has dealt with those individuals. Where I could have had immediate self satisfaction in dealing with the problem, the impact would have been minimal and made me seem small to those around me. Leaving it in the Lords hands was the best thing I could do. He impacted those peoples lives at a level I never could have.

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