As some of you know and many, I suspect, don't, our family spends many of its weekends from spring to fall racing go-karts locally and on a regional circuit that has us travel to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Through our hobby we have become aware of many blessings and I believe that's what Pastor Bell wanted me to speak to.

First, God has blessed my life with four wonderful women, all of whom are my very favorite people. Naturally, they would be my favorite people by just having them in my life but God has further blessed me by having them share my life-long fascination with racing - not necessarily a natural since racing is still essentially a male dominated sport.

Because racing has been a part of their family life ever since they were babies, it has been suggested that Dana's, Julie's and Tracy's involvement was inevitable. But judging by the number of people who have come up to me over the years and said, "I think it is so great that your three daughters are interested in racing with you", I'm not sure it is "inevitable" for everyone. Nevertheless, when those people tell me that, I always try to thank them and let them know that I am blessed.

We have been blessed with the opportunity and means to form our team, acquire the necessary equipment, maintain it and travel to distant races. And not a day goes by that I don't remind myself of how blessed I am that at ages 20, 17 and 17 I have daughters that still want to come out and play with cars on a regular basis - just about every other week we all work together toward a common goal. That is a gift that I don't take for granted.

In the four years that we've been involved in karting God has blessed us with a large family of racing friends. Beyond just sharing the same interests, these are folks of good humor and spirit. Folks that will fight tooth and nail over a piece of ground on the track but off the track will give you anything you need to keep you racing - including the sweat off their brow.

Dana and Tracy are our drivers and it has become obvious that God has blessed them with a fair amount of talent and good judgment. Both have demonstrated excellent judgment on the track under extreme competitive pressure and as a parent this is more important than talent. And, I must add, good judgment is not limited to the track - Julie is a dedicated and integral part of the crew and has been our kart club's pointskeeper the past two years. But having driven the kart a few times, she has had the good sense to know she prefers to leave the racing to her sisters. Her famous last words upon emerging from her last session was, "I don't know why you guys do that" while shaking her head.

This is important to me because I would never want any of the girls to do anything to simply be part of the group - in this case for Julie to drive or race just because her sisters are doing it. In fact, I often remind Dana and Tracy that if they are no longer enjoying the driving, if they no longer feel the exhilaration is worth the risks, there is no disgrace in quitting. As with all dangerous sports, you must do it for yourself and no one else.

And our greatest blessings are realized when the green flag falls. Just so that there is no misunderstanding, these are not the go-karts you find at Magic Mountain or Sports Ohio. What we are racing are sophisticated, specially built racing go-karts capable of out accelerating and out corning most road cars - hitting speeds of 65mph while 1 ½ inches off the ground and with sometimes less than that between the karts.

The physical demands are nothing similar either. We often encounter the perception that racing these karts is just a matter of cruising around and not hitting anything. On the contrary, the physical demands of driving these karts are exceptionally high. And even higher when fighting for position - using every fiber of your being to get around the driver in front of you taxes virtually every muscle and stretches every sinew. To drive competitively demands athletic fitness.

As I alluded to earlier, there is an element of risk associated with such an endeavor. Generally, karting is very safe but it is a lot like motorcycle racing in that there are no seat belts, no roll bars, no airbags, no doors - in the case of a violent accident the drivers are far better off separating themselves from their machines.

Of course Dana and Tracy wear a variety of safety equipment every time they take to the track. But all racing can be brutal and unforgiving when something goes wrong. And we've been around racing long enough to be aware of these risks.

That "something going wrong" can be the driver making a mistake, even a very slight one; the crew making a mistake, giving the driver and unsafe kart (as the team's Crew Chief, you can imagine how seriously I take that one); an undetected mechanical failure on the kart - when stressing any piece of equipment, components can break without warning; and of course being the victim of another driver's mistake or otherwise becoming involved in someone else's accident. Obviously the driver can work to minimize his or her mistakes and Dana and Tracy are very good at this. But we are all human and despite our absolute best efforts, mistakes can be made on the track and off. Add to this these other perils that are beyond our control and we quickly discover that all any of us can do is trust in God's grace to keep us safe. On the quiet early morning drive out to the track I often let God know I'm counting on Him to keep those perils in check

The racing day, for me especially, is a constant flurry of activity as we participate in 3 practice sessions and 6 races typically. I refer to it as a 10 hour war. If we're not in battle, we're preparing for the next one. There is handling and performance debriefings with the girls after each track session, downloading and analysis of data captured while the kart was on the track, mechanical prep of the karts between races and discussions on strategy for the next race. But there are a couple minutes just before every race, when there is nothing left for me to do - all preparations have been done, Dana or Tracy is in her kart suited up, the engine has been started and we are waiting for the group to be released out on to the track. I've done everything I could as mechanic and coach and I have to step back and let my driver take over. It is in these few moments that I say always a quick simple prayer: "Keep her safe Lord, and she'll do the rest".

I have used that quickie prayer since I started racing in my teens and it has been always been answered. It is my way of saying "only You can protect her from the things that are out of our control - You do that and she'll use the skills You've given her to finish as well as she can today". It might surprise you that a good finishing position is not included in that prayer. In 30 years I have never asked God for assistance in finishing positions regardless of what prize, championship or other accolade has been in the balance. I've always believed the talents God has given us will, if we use them to their fullest, earn us the result we deserve.

So how do we thank God for all these blessings he's bestowed on us? We do the only thing we can do and the thing we as Christians have been called to do: witness to others.

I wish I could stand here and say I can approach fellow racers and speak to them of Jesus' saving grace spontaneously but I've never gotten good at that. Given the fast-paced, competitive setting of the racing day, evangelizing is not practical and maybe not even appropriate. Instead, we try witness our faith in more subtle but consistent ways:

1. Our karts "advertise" our faith. In prior years we had let everyone know who REALLY powered our team. This year both our karts have Romans 8:28 displayed prominently on them as well as on our website. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose." We chose this verse because it so easily applies to our hobby. It is a comfort to know that whatever happens - and I do mean whatever - during the course of our racing day will be for the overall good of us that love God.

2. Given the opportunity in conversation we will let people know who is really in control of our team and our lives. The messages on our karts have led to conversations with people that could recite the verse for us and with others who needed a little refresher. But it is the people that haven't asked or commented that I pray its presence has the most affect on. This, I hope, is our mustard seed that we sow to settle in fertile ground somewhere around us.

3. And, of course, with this comes the responsibility to be good examples as Christians by competing fairly, honestly and in good conduct. And I will tell you - before one of the girls do - that in the intense, highly charged competitive atmosphere at the track we occasionally fail. Miserably. Okay, mostly it is me that fails miserably. But I hope and pray that our behavior the other 90% of the time can be a testament to the power God's love in our lives to those who may not be aware of it and have them see in us something that makes that seed sprout.

I don't know why God has given us this particular set of interests and skills and passion but He has and in doing so has blessed us in many, many ways and we will use the opportunities they bring us to spread the Good News as best we can.

And let God do the rest.

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