This last week, at the generous invitation of a business colleague of Daddy’s (as well as a family friend!), Mr. Glen Traylor, we were able to take a trip to Charlotte, NC, for the annual dinner held by Illinois Tool Works (ITW). This year it was held in none other place than the NASCAR Hall of Fame! The whole place was amazing, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, even getting to “race” in the simulators. 🙂 The main room, where the actual dinner was held, was uniquely fringed by a short track lined with full-sized models of the numerous types of cars that have raced throughout the years. Beneath each model was a square sample of the type of pavement the tracks are/were made from, details for where that particular track was/is located, as well as the slant of that track. (We actually stood – or attempted to stand 🙂 – on the “current” slope that racers are using, which was a tilt of 36 degrees! Sounds pretty easy, but was kind-of painful on the ankles!) As I sat in that gigantic hall, though, and I contemplated the situation we were in, and tried in vain to “soak it all up,” – for, after all, it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience – the thought fleeted across my mind that none of this, in light of eternity, really matters. How easy it is for us to lose sight of our goal and become consumed with things that are temporal! The question comes to mind: If I were faced with the choice today, would I choose to have my name remembered and glorified in this Hall of Fame because I gave my life, my very all, for a sport that’s as neat as racing, or to  have my Creator’s Name magnified and exalted because, by His matchless grace, my name was among that “great cloud of witnesses,” – and present in the “Hall of  Faith”?? What would YOU choose?

The opportunity to visit NASCAR is something we will probably never forget! It was a ton of FUN, and we are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity and privilege of attending. Thank you, Mr. Traylor!

 

But today, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God…” (Colossians 3:1-3)