Runaway Train

This is one of my favorite songs from the 90's. It had a little different meaning for me though. For me it was very spiritual...

So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
I promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep

Growing up was really tough for me. I not only grew up poor, but I grew up in a neighborhood where white kids were the minority. However, I eventually found a light to talk to in the middle of the night. That light was Jesus Christ. He was someone I could share my thoughts and problems with. I no longer felt alone.

Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a blowtorch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning

I can still clearly remember the trip to Lakeview Church camp in 1990 that changed my life forever. It was that weekend that I gave my life to Christ and started looking at the world differently.

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded.

Growing up in a church with a strong youth program is what saved me. It kept me out of trouble, and the guidance I received help me make the right life choices. This is the reason I am so passionate about raising my daughter in a church with a strong youth program. I want my daughter to grow up with other Christian children that she can fellowship with on her level. Youth counselors have a powerful impact on the kids in the program, I know mine did on me. Without the support and guidance from my youth director and my Christian peers, I would still be a runaway train.

Runaway train, never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there

I know where I am now. Keeping myself on track, and keeping my daughter on the right 'tracks' so she does not become a runaway train is... on this cowboys mind.


(Soul Asylum: Runaway Train)