Sunday, September 6, 2009

That's MY Boy


Sixteen cars rumbled onto the Nascar, eighth mile track. Twenty laps. Forty left hand turns from start and finish - if nothing went wrong. As drivers roared by sizing up the track before the green flag, I sized up the fence between me and my boy. A chain link fence towered straight up ten feet and then jutted out away from me at an angle over the track another six feet. To climb that fence one would have to be half monkey and half crazy. But I was going over if number twenty-two got in trouble.
Under the green flag sixteen cars pushed it to the limit. If anything else happened in the race I wouldn't know it, my eyes were fixed on one car and one car only. Number twenty-two, Josiah Spurling, my son. Of the eight rows, Josiah was inside the seventh. How could anyone pass in that traffic jam. No matter how good a driver? Josiah tried.

Like road rage meets rush hour on steroids they roared by bumper to bumper. After thirteen laps Josiah saw an opening, he ducked under number, I don't know the number, some red car, and was side by side in the middle of turn twenty seven. The red car trying to hold the corner pushed Josiah into the inside edge of the track. They managed to gain control, and speed in the straight away but hit the next corner too fast. They lost control. Josiah fish tailed off track and into the pit, toward the parked emergency vehicles.

I headed toward the fence like a crazed monkey.

Thank God Josiah gained control of car before I lost control of senses and got hurt climbing that fence. He steered clear of danger and re-entered on the other side of the track.

My son didn't know I was watching. He was unaware of my plan to jump the fence and rush to him if he got in trouble. He couldn’t see me in the stands waving, or hear me cheering, or sense me praying.
But I was.

Somewhere in the midst of all the chaos, all went quiet. Above the roar, the smoke and engine fumes I sensed my Heavenly Father watching. He is you know, watching, all of us. And even when I didn’t know it, He already made a plan to rush to me when I got in trouble.

We’re all in this race called life. Out of control effects of sin have knocked us off track and sent us fishtailing toward the pit. He cleared the dividing wall between us, and hurt Himself doing it. He made a way to rescue and put us back on track.

Although, I couldn’t see Him waving, hear Him cheering or even sense Him praying.I knew He was. He Is.
.

6 comments:

Anne Lang Bundy said...

And isn't amazing how a driver can be flying around that track and feel in complete control of the situation, until it's too late?

Nice job, Doug. Has your heart slowed yet?

FaithBarista Bonnie said...

"Somewhere in the midst of all the chaos, all went quiet. Above the roar, the smoke and engine fumes I sensed my Heavenly Father watching."

What an awesome post, Doug! I felt like I was there. Great writing.

Really riveting action & suspense. And then, the punchline I really long to hear and know.

I wan to pray I can feel in my heart what you so confidently sense.

Unknown said...

Some would say that God's already on our side of the fence.

Thanks for the post, it was good for me today. Glad to find you.

Jennifer @ JenniferDukesLee.com said...

Whew. I'm extra-glad that I have two girls today. :-)

As for your analogy ... beautiful. God is so good, so attentive. Grace rocks my world.

Unknown said...

This drew me in! I could see it all...and was blessed by the turn of the corner, God is watching and cheering. He is. Yes.

Denise said...

Praise God for watching, and for being our greatest cheerleader.