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Growing up we hear different sayings that stay with us most of our life like, “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence.” We eventually learn and realize it just may be better to stay on our own side of the fence. In racing, maybe it’s “The trophy isn’t always shinier on the other side of the pits.” Simple life lessons are what help us grow and mature.

When a racing team wins their first race, or wins their first championship, the grass around them always looks a little greener, and the high tide they’re currently riding on seems a little higher and smoother than what their competitors were riding on.

We all hope and pray for everything to work out for the best for us as we go through this life here on earth. Green grass looks, feels, and smells much better than dusty, dry, and brown grass (a guy I played slow-pitch softball with often commented on how much he loved the smell of fresh cut grass). High tides in life that lift our spirits are much more desired than the low ebbs of life that can bring us down.

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Just knowing you are a racer is enough to have you waltzing through the grassy green fields of life brimming with the joy and thankfulness, something millions of others can only dream of—desiring to be in your shoes. There’s a high tide experience when driving a high horsepower machine in front of thousands of excited spectators.  

As humans, it’s incredibly difficult to have a picture perfect day every day. Life has a way of occasionally throwing curves our way, and we must learn to take a pitch while waiting for the right one to be in our personal strike zone.

 While standing in the winner’s circle, it’s easy to smell the roses and feel the high of a hard earned victory, but that taste of success is not an everyday sensation. Racers know the victories are sweet and they don’t happen as often as you would like them to, so as believers we must wait and listen for God’s queue.

There are always people who prefer to sit in the back row at church. I don’t know their reasoning, but as long as they are in a Bible teaching church, sitting in the back is okay. Quite a few years ago during our Sunday morning chapel service in Sonoma, CA, I noticed thousands of ants crawling on the floor in the back row of their Driver’s Lounge after we set up the chairs for chapel. As I opened the service, I mentioned to those in the back row to look down at the floor. I said maybe it was God’s way of getting you out of the back row? Well, all those folks moved up a few rows.

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Speaking of Green Grass & High Tides, in the late 1970’s we attended an outdoor concert at the Greek Theater in Burbank, CA where the “Outlaws” were performing. We purchased six reserved seats right in the middle of the arena. When we arrived at our seats, we discovered all of the sound equipment controls were right where all of our seats were supposed to be.

We were bewildered, thinking what the heck? Then an usher walked up and asked us if this was the area where our seats were? We said yes, and he said follow me. We walked down past the front row, down a few steps to a small walkway right in front of the stage. Six chairs were brought over for us, and we were now thrilled to be front and center at the concert.

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Most people would prefer to be front row at a concert or a drag race than up in the nose-bleed section. The front row is where we all should want to be at a race, a concert, and even at the church we attend. We all know at concerts these days, the front row is reserved for those people who can afford to spend lots of money for the privilege of being up close with the show.

When we conduct our chapel services at the ADBA races, very few of the front row chairs are occupied, until Jay Erschen and his family who normally sit in the front row, take their seats, much to my delight. That’s the way it is, and I’m okay wherever you sit, as long as we have our drag boat congregation there at our Sunday morning church service, because the Lord desires to speak to everyone who comes to hear His message.

Growing up we hear different sayings that stay with us most of our life like, “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence.”

From July 1966 through September 1993, I had a great job at Quaker Chemical Corp. in Pomona, CA. Life was good, we lived a mile from the plant, and the future looked promising with a life-time career as a Warehouse Manager, purchaser, Safety Team, and Haz Mat guy. But, then the company decided they would close down the plant after I’d been there for over twenty-seven years. Now it was time to look over the fence. Where was the green grass? Where was the next high tide coming from? My mind was thinking, can there be greener grass out there? After sending out more than 300 resumes and only getting three interviews, the grass was starting to look a little brown.

“For those who don’t believe me find your souls and set them free. Those who do believe and love this time will be your key.” Where we fix our eyes determines what we see. How often do we tend to zoom in on a small pebble of our circumstances and often miss the bigger boulder of God’s work? When we truly love Christ as we should, our lives find the proper place.

ADVERTISEMENT - STAR CARDSSomething very interesting happened at the IHBA races after the chemical company closed the doors. Starting in October 1993, our chapel attendance immediately doubled, as did the offerings, and the RFC drag boat ministry really took off then! The grass showed it was greener on God’s side of the fence in the world of motorsports. “The assignment God gives you is never greater than the grace He supplies,” (Bob Gass).

In a place you only dream of where your soul is always free. Silver stages, golden curtains filled my head plain as can be.” Those early years with the IHBA were truly formative years, as those purposeful years would later-on blend into the landscape of RFC. 1994 saw plenty of green grass, as I started my full-time career with RFC on January 2, 1994. In January 1994 I started RFC with the NHRA Jr. Dragster League in Pomona, CA, and in August I officiated the first ever NHRA Jr. Dragster Nationals in Indy. I started RFC with the NJBA in August 1994 in Chowchilla. By the late 1990’s I took our racer pit area prayers to praying with teams and drivers at the in-ramp. This brought some high tides that are still rolling in today.

Thinking back to that special day in February 1988 when Christ said “Follow me,” T.R.U.S.T.: Totally Relying Upon Simple Truth, it was, and still is, Christ who makes the grass greener when you allow Him to do gardening, allow Him to do the pruning, and allow Him to do the harvesting. Matthew 6:33 tells us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you.”

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The book of Job tells us, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” Job understood that God truly does deliver people. When we keep our spiritual-edge razor sharp, fully depending on God, we’ll experience His power: Tell me friends as you age; is it easier or harder to trust your heavenly Father? 

“Came from somewhere beyond the scene you see. These lovely people played just for me.” In this fleeting life, we have moments of rejoicing and moments of sorrow, and sometimes they intermingle in a way we can’t understand or ever hope to separate, but because God always remains faithful to us in every moment of our life, and thousands more in the future, until the day comes when He will once again be Emmanuel, “God with us!”

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“Lost faces say we adore you, as kings and queens bow and play for you.” When the Lord looks at you, you may think He sees you only as a racer, a husband, a wife, a child, a parent, an employee, a sponsor, a crew person, because as humans, we may see our shortcomings and our flaws. But God looks at us and says, I see what you are going to be. I see the finished project. I see the finished piece of art, as you may only see a blank portrait, God sees a refined diamond. He sees the real finish line. He sees a world champion who is destined to become a Heavenly Champion.

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“Now if I let you see this place where stories all ring true. Will you let me past your face to see what’s really you.” Music, motors, ministry, or monster runs! What most folks need to hear these days is the voice of God. What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, and let me tell you there is plenty of evidence of His love in God’s kingdom. So put your faith in God who invites you on a high-tide journey devised to enlighten you when you fully understand that the eternal truth only comes from heaven above!

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