We know what kind of violent insults can be hurled at coaches whose teams miss the playoffs for a second season in a row. We hear of even college players-nineteen and twenty year-olds, remember-getting death threats after throwing more interceptions than touchdowns.

Each year comes with its share of turmoil, but this year has felt more rocky than most. Threaten a man's job and his nest egg, and you've got a recipe for high anxiety. Add a runaway national debt that seems impossible to sustain, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where this ends well.

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve and succeed. And if we're not careful, the pursuit of one more sale, one more percentage point, or one more dollar sign can utterly consume our lives. If it doesn't, we know they can find someone else who will.

Some people think being a Christian is code-word for slacking off, not expecting much, being more willing to understand and overlook a shoddy day's work. So although there are plenty of us who lean more toward being workaholics, there are plenty more who need to realize that high expectations don't go flying out the window just because you've been promised eternal life.

The life of an athlete requires answering to a lot of people: coaches, media, sponsors, and the public. So does yours, no matter what career you're in. There are clients and customers to serve, supervisors and upper management to please, shareholders and contributors to coddle-lots of people to cater to.

We are all hard at work here!  As you know, the racing season is well underway.  We already had our first race, the Shootout at Daytona.  In the race, we finished fourth, fifth, and seventh.  You might say that it was a good finish for us and to be happy with that but it's amazing what goes on behind the scenes in racing. 

First, a racing update. We're getting close to the season starting and everyone around here is getting excited! It's a short off-season, roughly two and a half months, and now Daytona is just around the corner so final preparations are being made.

Jesus told a story about three men, each presented with an allotment of money to handle in the way they thought best. Two of the men took their share, invested it wisely, and earned a 100% return. But the third man, afraid to risk any loss, buried his money in the ground. Rather than feeling free to be creative with what God had given, rather than enjoying a relationship with his master that gave him room to try and fail, he was always looking over his shoulder, motivated less by success and more by avoiding punishment. He thought of his boss as a “hard man” (Matthew 25:24), itching to crush anyone who crossed him. You never knew what might set him off.