Sunday started out as just another Sunday, or so they thought. Little did the NASCAR drivers know that, come afternoon, one of their own would be saying goodbye to this world, and hello to the next. It was just a beautiful day for racing - another day at the track for all the families of the drivers.

Now, there looms a sadness over the Nascar racing circuit. One of the highly respected drivers lost his life just one quarter of a mile from the end of the race. The race was on, just running along as any other. There's no way of knowing what Dale Earnhardt was thinking, as he went down that stretch, nearly to the last curve of the last lap of the race. But, destiny was lingering there on that stretch of black top.

Michael Waltrip and Dale's son, Dale, Jr., were on the last stretch home, running one and two, and almost at the finish line. Then, it happened - a wreck that would take a life, one that didn't look 'that bad', as all would say later. After all, 'Dale always came out of them', someone said. Michael won the race, and he stood there waiting for Dale to come over, to hug him and put those arms around his shoulders, and congratulate him. But, as he said, "It was never to be - 'in the twinkling of an eye', and he was up there with his own Dad and others that had gone on before him.

When we've run that last mile, and come to the 'finish line', nothing can keep us here on earth. God gives the call to come, and we answer. It's not easy on the families, and we never want to think that we will lose a loved one. But, each of us have this same date with destiny. So, let's all run the next mile like it was our last, as it might surely be. Be steadfast in your belief in God, don't give up, keep holding on to His promises, and you will never fail.

God's Thoughts:

All Scriptures are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

The Hitchhiker's Guide-Mile016-The New Church Part One: A People of Authenticity