A Long and Winding Road Back to the Future

My best friend’s name is Steve. He’s like a brother to me. We met one day at the pool house in my apartment complex where his band was rehearsing. I happened to be there using the laundry facilities and heard the music. I was writing and recording music at that time and needed a bassist, so I approached him and thus began a friendship that has lasted over 20 years.

Life took us in different directions over the years, but we kept in touch and in 2000 we ended up in the same city again. We didn’t plan it that way, but we were both happy to get to hang out with each other again.

We went through a lot of life together the past 21 years. But the most significant thing that happened is that we both found salvation. It happened at different times, but by 2003 we had both exchanged our lives for the life of Christ, and our friendship became even stronger.

Steve recently left his job. It was a difficult decision but one he had to make. I knew he’d find another job quickly. He’s smart and educated and one of the best in his field. Well, he found a job alright, 1200 miles away.

After a lot of discussion with his wife, and a lot of prayer they accepted the job and they feel God has opened a door that they must go through.

I’ve been a little mad at God the past few days as the day drew near for Steve to leave. I couldn’t understand why God would orchestrate our reunion only to move him away from me again. But I realize that God puts people in our lives for a reason, and the impact that Steve has had in my life is immeasurable. He helped open the door that led me to begin asking questions about Christ, and ultimately finding Him. It took my past to help me find my future.

I know there is a purpose to everything God does, and although I’m unhappy about seeing my friends leave, I know that they go with God in their hearts and they are going somewhere that God needs them. Knowing this makes me feel better, and perhaps someday we'll end up in the same town again.

Vaya con Dios my friends.

“God, please guide and protect my friends as they begin this new phase of their lives. Bless them, and hold them close to you always. Amen.”

A Day at the Races

I did something last weekend that I’ve never done before; I went to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Nationals in Houston. We’re talking big, loud, fast cars screaming down a quarter mile track at speeds up to 320 mile per hour! At that speed I could drive the 90 miles to my parent’s house in about 28 minutes, give or take a minute for traffic.

I like learning and experiencing new things, so I really enjoyed walking around the grounds, checking out the crews working on their cars. Everyone was very friendly and they told me a lot about the cars and motorcycles that would be racing that weekend. I found out a lot of interesting things too, such as a Top Fuel drag racer pulls 4-5 G’s when they launch off the starting line. This is a lot of force. I know this because I used to help the Air Force with some special projects that put me in a position to pull up to 9 G’s. At 9 G’s my body weight was over 1600 pounds. It hurts. So I know what these drivers are going through.

After a while we went to the grand stands to sit down. I decided to make a pit-stop before we went up and found a port-a-potty. This was about the time the Pro Stock cars came out on the track for their first time-trial. I’d seen these cars on TV, but I wasn’t really prepared for the noise they made when they rammed the accelerator all the way to the floor. The instantaneous increase in decibels when they unleashed their 2000 Horsepower engines sounded like an atom bomb going off in my port-a-potty. I don’t want to say it scared me, but my business in there was complete at that moment.

Overall the 3 days of drag racing was fun to watch. I learned a lot, and saw a lot. Plus I got to spend some time with my friend who just found Christ last year. It was great to see how he was growing in his life, and it energized me to continue stepping up my own walk.