My last selling job was with Bowman Distribution, the same one that now goes as Barnes Group, the blue and white sticker on the fender of NASCAR racers. They are a major contingency sponsor, paying big bucks to have their sticker on that fender. And at the time being far removed from any tracks, PIR was the closest, I put together a contingency plan for SCORE and FUD, the two biggest race series in off road desert racing. Difficult at first, have you ever tried describing a desert to someone in Cleveland, their home office? And how do you race with no track? But they overcame it, I think my enthusiasm had something to do with it, but probably the thought of more business was the persuading argument.
I dealt with all the classes, but my favorite was the Trophy Trucks. Factory backed, and using NASCAR motors, these trucks could go over 140mph, in the dirt, and had suspension travel of over 38"! An E ticket ride in any competition. And you may recognize the names I dealt with. Paul and Dave Simon, Robbie Gordon, Ricky Johnson of MX fame, Jimmie Johnson-he used to call me sir, Jimmy Smith-whose dad helped start NASCAR, Larry Ragland, Rob Mac Cachran, The Herbst brothers, and the Ironman himself, Ivan Stewart. All heroes to those who followed desert racing. With Ivan himself, more well known than all the others. Especially in Mexico, where he had won the Baja 500 and 1000 so many times he was legendary. E-von they called him in Spanish!
I did business with plants in Tijuana at the time, and got posters and stickers for my accounts there. These off road racers were legends there, and at the races fans would flock the booths during contingency just to get a sticker. Sometimes waiting all morning in line. So when the 1000 went out of Tijuana in 1995, I arranged for some to meet me at contingency, and meet the racers. They got to sit in the trucks, have pictures taken, and get behind the scene views that they could only dream about. Things that never would have happened without my connections. But one person was absent, the one they all came for-Ivan.
But walking down a side street next to contingency to avoid the crowds, Mario and his family walked with me. Carrying posters, stickers, and wearing huge smiles, this was better than Disneyland. Better than they could have ever dreamed, they were on sensory overload. Memories that they would cherish, and make their friends idolize them, for they had a first hand experience with the drivers, teams, and the trucks. They got to be backstage, on the other side of the barriers, and were welcomed. And then as so often happens in story books, Ivan comes walking up the street. Trying to avoid the crowds that mobbed him, he had walked up a side street, and called to me when he saw me, happy to see a familiar face. We visited for a few seconds, and then introduced him to my friends. He took pictures with each one of them, signed posters, and the shirts they were wearing, talked with them, and they left in total shock. The look on their faces showed somewhere between total disbelief and awe. Wait until there friends saw they actually met him, and they would tell their friends they know him! Just look at the pictures. But the words that Mario said that day, stuck with me. "Mike, you told me you knew him, but I didn't realize he was your friend." Being his friend made all the difference, as Mario was also my friend.
Jesus calls us friends. Where we were once strangers, when we give our heart to Him, we become friends. And He is able to tell us things, show us things, and we enjoy a special relationship with Him, because we are now family. And the things He tells us we now understand, because we are His friends. And although we have Peter times, where we ignore Him or don't listen, why is it always women who lead men astray, He forgives us, and wants to be our friend, even when we aren't His, and long before He became ours.
Is Jesus your friend? Wouldn't you like to have Him call to you when you see each other? The choice is yours. Stranger or friend. You can't be both. And there will be no strangers in heaven, just strange people who got to know Jesus-a group of friends of His in heaven. But you can hang with Him now, and be blessed.
Ask Him to forgive you, trust Him, get to know Him, and watch as your life changes for the better-and is blessed. Mario and his family that day met their hero, and I know the stories and pictures live in their hearts today of a chance meeting with Ivan Stewart. It is no chance you are reading this-turn it over to Jesus, be born again.
Posters and stickers are optional, and He has even signed you into the book of life. Now that is one autograph I'm glad to have-and will never see on E-bay!
He calls us friends. Get over the religion, and get on with life! His contingency plan pays for all who enter, and is good for all eternity. NO FEAR! Or as my Mexican friends say SIN NIEDO!
Be His friend today!
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com