Through My Eyes: Phoenix	PDF | Print | E-mail
	Author: Ben Evans
	Location: Phoenix, AZ

Photos by: Chris Weedon

This weekend I had the privilege of spending time with my lovely girlfriend Julie who came to watch me race in Phoenix. I just started dating Julie a few weeks ago. She lives in Boise, ID and I live in So Cal, so I appreciate any time I spend with her. We met up during Christmas and New years and that is how our relationship began. This gave me a little something extra to look forward to at this race. Each and every weekend of racing I come to take care of business on the track. During the week I prepare as best as possible, and I try to fix the things that were missing from the race before. I know a lot of other racers have this same mentality.

What’s different about me from most racers though is that I also come to spread some light on those around me. I want people to see that there is something different about me, something contagious! I had an old friend come up to me as I was heading down into the stadium. We had talked several times before about God, ladies, music, racing, and all kinds of stuff. He noticed that I had a girl hanging around me this time.

We had talked last year about ladies when I was single and still acting like a dork, well some things don’t change :), and he was curious why I was not out sleeping with girls then. I was bold enough to tell him that I was waiting for marriage. I was able to tell him that sleeping with another lady that ends up not being your wife usually ends painfully. It’s like snuggling up to duct tape, which is a strong bond, and then ripping it off your skin really fast. It hurts!

People like when you are real with them and tell them what you are really about instead of being something you are not. The Bible has a stereotype of being a book of rules that hinders you from having fun in your life. The thing is that God gave us this book as more of guide line to life to keep us from getting hurt. Having sex is a beautiful thing, but outside of marriage it usually ends badly if the relationship goes south. I tried to explain this to him as best as I could.

What he asked me though in the tunnel was if I was still staying true to what I said now that I had a beautiful girl in my life. He remembered what I had said from the year before. The good news is that I was able to tell him that I was living out what I had said a year before. I am not perfect by any means, but I want my actions to back up my words. 1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

My intentions were not to tell him what he was doing wrong, but rather be an example of what a healthy fun relationship looks like. I train hard each week on my bike to look good on the track, but I also want to look good off of the track. “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promises for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8. I didn’t make the biggest splash this weekend on the track finishing 17th in the main, but hopefully I made a difference in this young man’s life!

Ben Evans #42