Prayer and Patience

Racing Update: Aaron usually isn't patient on the racetrack however it seems like God is trying to teach him that. For the heat, he drew a high number which meant he started at the back of the pack. He started 12th and patiently worked his way up to 7th. One more lap and he could have got 5th. For the feature, he started 10th and worked his way up to 2nd. I think he could have won if he had a few more laps. It was an exciting race and felt just as good as a win.

Ministry Update: It was kind of cold out so there weren't very many fans. We probably only had 25 kids come to our pit at the end of the night. We had a few people say that they like Aaron's horn and that they were cheering for him. I think it's because the announcer brought it to everyone's attention that the "Honda was on the move". One guy even wanted his picture taken with us and the racecar. We gave him Aaron's driver card with his testimony on the back and a pen with Aaron's name on it. We are working on some new driver cards so we told him to come back to get the new one. We hope to see him at the races soon.

The Next Morning: Our Pastor is in South Africa so we had a special speaker. Dr. Greg Huffman, former president of Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, preached on Acts chapter 1. After Christ was resurrected, the apostles were instructed to wait in Jerusalem. While they waited, they all "prayed with one accord" in a group of 120 people. They prayed for 10 days. I've been working on not rushing into decisions that we are praying about. However, I again was convicted that I'm not praying enough. Not only are we having Missionary Mondays but we also want to think of other themes throughout the week so we spend more time in prayer. We need God's enlightenment and we need God to energize us and that is what the waiting time is for. Dr Huffman said "If God is not doing something for us, he's doing something in us so he can do something through us".

Missionary Monday: We prayed for Joseph & Danielle Contreras in Spain, Paul & Jo Anna Harmon in Uruguay, and Sam & Molly De in India.

Michelle

Missionary Monday

We had the weekend off from racing so there isn't a racing update but I thought I would tell you about something that Aaron and I are committing to do. We had Archie and Ruth Perez at our church on Sunday. They are missionaries to Uruguay. In Archie's message Sunday night he reminded us from 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3 that praying is the most important thing we can do for our missionaries. He asked us to pray for God's power in the lives and work of missionaries and to pray for protection from evil. Aaron and I would usually pray for a missionary for a couple of days after they came to our church and every now and then when God brought them to our minds but that was it. God layed it on my heart to have Missionary Monday in our home. So, going forward Aaron and I are going to have a prayer time every Monday night devoted to missionaries that we know. We have a huge list but we are excited. This Monday we weren't completely prepared but in our small first attempt we prayed for Aaron's sister and brother-in-law - Joseph and Danielle Contreras and boys who are missionaries in Spain. We also prayed for Archie and Ruth Perez and for Geber and Dione Coelho who are missionaires in Brazil.

Last night I went to a local Jewish Synagogue for Holocaust Rememberance Day. This was an amazing service honoring the survivors and remembering the 6 Million who were killed. Please pray for us as we look for more opportunities to reach out to God's chosen people and to build relationships with them in order to point them to the Messiah they are looking for.
Michelle

Wounded

Racing Update:
Aaron finished 5th in his heat and 4th in his feature. He got a few new boo-boos on the car during the heat. Both sides of the car and both the front and rear bumpers have some scrapes on them. During his heat, a car dropped power steering fluid on the track which made it slippery. One car got into the back end of Aaron and sent him into the wall but he bounced back and straightened it out and kept on racing until they finally called a caution to clean up the track.

Ministry Update:
We handed out candy, toys and driver cards at the end of the night. We have candy that has scripture verses on them, bouncy balls that say "Smile Jesus Loves You" and driver cards for Christian NASCAR drivers. Those driver cards plus Aaron's driver card has testimonies and scripture verses. We also have a Racing edition of the Daily Bread (a devotional). I'm guessing there were about 25 kids that came to our table. The night was cold so many went home instead of coming into the pits.

The Next Morning:
At church the next morning, we had breakfast at 7:30am and then we had a wonderful Easter service celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Friday night at church we had reflected on Christ being wounded beyond recognition (Isaiah 53) and dieing on the cross for our sins. So Sunday was a great celebration. If Christ wouldn't have been wounded for our sins, if Christ wouldn't have died on the cross for our transgressions then we would not have a way to be forgiven. He said He would be resurrected and He was. Praise God!
Michelle

The Unexpected

Racing Update:

Opening night was full of the unexpected. The high temp was in the low 40's. Rain and snow was supposed to come in the afternoon. We weren't able to put the rest of the graphics on because it was so cold. However, we went out to the track praying God would keep the wet weather away. There weren't a lot of fans and there wasn't a high turnout of racecars. Many of those that did show up probably wish they wouldn't have. I watched as a PowerStock's (8 cylinder stock car) throttle stuck during practice sending him wide open into the wall. I don't like crashes. I was crying and praying. The driver is OK but he took a hard hit. A few people blew engines, transmissions, etc. My heart ached for so many people. Aaron, on the other hand had a better day then we expected. Not only did he beat his fast time by getting a 17.783 (75.915 average mph), he won the first race of the season, an 8-lap heat race. He was supposed to start in the front row of the 15-lap feature but during the 5th division's heat race, the rain started. They canceled the remaining races because even if it did stop raining, it would have been impossible to dry the track with it being so cold. So, we loaded up in the rain called it a night. The rain turned to snow on our way home.

Ministry Update:

Since the races ended early, we weren't able to set up our table to hand out candy, toys, testimony cards, etc for the fans. However, I did have a wonderful conversation about the rapture with someone in the motor pits that afternoon. He mentioned how he wished that he would be more excited about the rapture. We talked about how even Christians are a little too attached to our life on earth. He mentioned how if we were in love with Christ, we would want him to come. Wow! It was nice to talk about his desires to have a closer relationship with God.

The Next Morning:

Sunday morning we woke up to a couple inches of snow. It was hard to believe that we raced the night before. The drive to church was beautiful as the snow was stuck to the trees. The message at church was about the unexpected response of Jesus after the triumphal entry. A few days before Christ died on the cross for our sins, a huge crowd praised and honored Him as He rode into town on a donkey. Read Luke 19:28-44. Our pastor pointed out Jesus' unexpected response - vs 41, And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,- He wept because He knew their hearts and that in a few day most of these same people would be saying "Crucify Him". We were challenged to examine our hearts. Many think that the days are coming soon when Christians will be persecuted in the US. Will we still stand for Christ?

Michelle

We're not wondering anymore...

Last night we went to practice and Aaron got a faster laptime than he did last year. He got a 17.853 (75.618 average mph)! The first twenty laps of practice he used his new Elko tires. The next 10 laps he used his new Raceway tires. The last 10 laps he used the old tires from last year that were at their prime break-in point. Those are the tires that he got his fastest lap in. Now we are ready for Opening Day tomorrow (if it doesn't snow). We'll be putting some more graphics on in the morning and then heading out to Elko. Please pray for our ministry and our safety.
Michelle