I was a Cub Scout and I wanted to enter the Pinewood Derby race. To enter the Pinewood Derby, you got one of
the official kits that had a block of wood roughly in the shape of a car. The kit included wheels that you attached
to the car. The idea was the scout would carve the block of wood and make it their own custom race car. The
race was done by putting the cars up on a ramp, with each one in its lane and held back by a starting board.
They would lift the board and the cars would streak down the ramp to the finish line. The instructions were that
the Cub Scout had to prepare the car for the race himself. So, I carved and sanded and glued the wheel supports
on the car and found a spray can of green paint in the garage and spray painted it myself. It looked pretty good
to me, and I had done it all myself. My dad was working and couldn’t go with me to the fairgrounds for the
race, so Mom took me. We arrived and I was stunned at the cars that the other guys had. They were lean and
perfectly smooth and painted and lacquered over custom decals. I looked at my spray-painted car that seemed
boxy with a rough finish. But Mom was enthusiastic and told me she was excited to see how my car would do.
I stood in line and when my group came up to race, I put my car in the lane and went down to the finish line to
watch it race. The race started and my car was no match for the lean and nose weighted cars. But it was staying
in the pack…until the track flattened out. As my car hit that flat part, one of the front wheels came off and the
car stopped and never made it to the finish line. I had to go and retrieve it and walked back to my mom. She
stood there, smiling and put her hand on my shoulder and told me how sorry she was that the wheel came off.
But added that she was so proud that I had followed the rules and had done all the work on the car by myself.
In my discouragement and embarrassment, she found the positive and let me know she was proud of me. This
will be my second Mother’s Day without Mom. But I will always remember how she taught me about building
people up and not tearing them down. Of encouraging and looking for what is good. And reminding me that no
matter what, I was a person of worth to her. A pretty good way to live out what God wants us to do and be.
Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 NLT Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. (15) See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
Remember I’m praying for you,
PJ
Here’s our Bible verse for today…
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 NLT Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. (15) See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.
Remember I’m praying for you,
PJ