Thought for the month - April 2008

In memory of Greg Schoonover and Sara Yorty

This past month, two local families had to experience the toughest situation in all of life, the death of a loved one. Many of you know the racing community lost a family member when 11 year old Greg Schoonover died in an accident in his back yard as he prepared for the racing season. While I never had the privilege of meeting this young man, just knowing he was a racer makes him a member of the family, as it is with the entire racing community. It seems there are never words to say that provide enough comfort, or actions to take that provide enough support to others to erase the hole that is left when someone close to them is gone forever. Rather what needs to be said always seems to have been left unsaid, without the chance to ever communicate it again.

That is why we need to take the initiative to say things while we are alive. It is why we at Jesus Race Team do what we do and say what we say here each and every month. We care about our fellow racers…our extended family, and we want you all to know the comfort of the truth of Jesus’ power over death that is waiting for you if only you reach out and meet Him.

I lost a close friend of mine two weeks ago as well when the second local family I referred to lost a loved one. Miss Sara Yorty was the first person to introduce me to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sara went out for an afternoon hike and slipped down a hill breaking a hip and an ankle. She attempted to crawl to safety but died as a result of hypothermia before she got there. Sara was 31 years young. There is a measure of sadness in her passing; because there were things I left unsaid, not expecting that she would be gone so soon. Yet because of the things she taught me about Jesus, I can also be joyful for her passing, and unmistakably certain that she is with Him. I also have a peace inside me that goes beyond words in knowing that when I die, I will be in heaven with both of them. Thanks to Sara, and many other people the Lord placed in my life, I get to go out on the track each and every week with the confidence knowing that even if anything should happen to me in the car, I am safe in the knowledge that heaven is my final destination. My family and friends can rejoice even in the sadness of my absence by knowing that I will be better off when I am dead than I ever was here on earth. Does that mean I have a death wish? Absolutely not! I like roll cages, five point harnesses, fire suits and keeping my car on it’s wheels. But I also know that no fuel bladder or HANS device or containment seat can keep me from the eventual conclusion to life that we all face. Like Greg and Sara, I’m only a backyard accident, or a slip of the foot away from the inevitable.

We all could very well be just a moment away from our last breath, racer or not, and that is why I think more than worrying about having the safest car on the track, we first need to make sure we have prepared our souls for what inevitably lies ahead of us. Then we can race and do what we enjoy with the comfort and security that no piece of safety equipment can ever offer!

Hebrews 2:14-15  “Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”