Long Cold Journey

 I love Spring.  New life is everywhere.  The sunshine creates thousands of shades of green, millions of different colors decorating the landscape, and in Alabama temperature changes that baffle the mind.  In the mornings you need heat and clothes that keep you warm and are removable because afternoon you need an air-conditioner and shed clothing.

Night times are marvelous with clear skies and billions of stars that remind us how insignificant we seem in this universe God created.  The Bible reminds us that humanity is His greatest creation and all that He created was for us.

One beautiful spring Saturday, my son Aaron and I decided to make a road trip.  Living in Linden, Alabama we were a hundred miles from Sugar Ridge my home where I grew up and where I am now retired.  Aaron has a Jeep Wrangler, and we removed the hard top and doors and started to make the trip just to check on the house and property.

I went into the house and got me a jacket.  It was a good sun shining morning and Aaron questioned my getting my leather jacket.  I reminded him that it might turn cold before we returned to Linden.  He reluctantly got him a jacket, a down one I might add. 

Aaron had a friend that had testicle cancer and had lost all his hair due to treatments.  Aaron decided to shave his head to encourage his friend.  He asked me to shave it, and I did.  I add this information because it is pertinent to our adventure.

The journey was one that helps bring a father-son relationship a cherished one.  Aaron had the best time that day.  My hair was blowing in the wind while Aaron's bald head was getting a tan.  It was exhilarating viewing the spring unfolding its beauty.  It was fantastic watching from the jeep.  We took our time and took in every special moment.

The Spring began sinking into the western horizon.  Sunsets are gorgeous on Sugar Ridge.  We started our one-hundred-mile journey back to Linden.  My leather jacket looks great but lacks any warm thermal qualities.  I carried mostly for blocking the wind.  Aaron started home in his short sleeves.  We went through Clanton the county set of Chilton County got us some grub from Sonic as darkness dominated the skies.  The air began to cool.

Traveling down Alabama Highway 22, it got cold and colder.  Aaron finally put on his jacket and turned the Jeep's heater to high.  On 22, we discovered all the cold spots and the colder spot that trees had shaded during the day.  Warm spots we few and far between.  My leather jacket did not warm me.

With the temperature steady falling, I begged Aaron to stop, and I would use political signs to make us doors for the jeep.  It was election year and there was plenty if signs.  He pulled his jacket over his bald head, I shivered, and the Jeep began a refrigerator.  When we reached Selma, we stopped at a redlight and the heat from the pavement temporally gave us some warmth.  

I don't know if the cold froze Aaron's brain, but he would not stop.  Outside Selma we were halfway to Linden.  We could not feel the heater any longer.  Aaron was driving so his left leg was exposed the cold from the missing door.  As passenger I my right leg was freezing.  He slowed the Jeep hoping it would reduce the and we could feel the heater.  It did not good.  Two icicles finally arrived in Linden to a warm house.  Both of us still had cold legs.

We laugh at our frozen escapade now.  It was a journey that I will always cherish mostly because I made this wonderful memory with my teenage son.  

Thanks, Aaron, for making life fun and unforgettable.

Thank you, God, for your wonderful creation and unpredictable Alabama weather.

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:  All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.  O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!  Psalm 8 KJV

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22 KJV

WE CAN’T DO MUCH, BUT WE’RE HERE TO HELP

 

            The men’s ministry at Union Springs Baptist Church in Randolph, Alabama, voted to put new shingles on the roof of the old educational wing. Several of the men were carpenters, and they met on a Saturday morning with others who knew how to help replace shingles.

            As summer days in Alabama are hot and humid, the men and boys decided to start work by seven o’clock. Some roof repairmen will leave the old shingles on for added protection, but the shingles on this old building were too deteriorated. To do the job right, workers remove the old shingles.

            Around six thirty the men and boys started gathering. Two men, Ollie and Cody, came that morning. Ollie was well into his seventies, and Cody was in his early sixties and had glaucoma. Both of them said, “We can’t do much, but we’re here to help.” Both men enjoyed working around the church and always came ready to do something.

            Men and boys started the laborious job of tearing off the old shingles and pushing them off the roof. Torn shingles, nails, and old tarpaper went tumbling over the edge of the roof and onto the ground. The boys got a thrill being destructive.

            When the roof was clean, men and boys carried new rolls of tarpaper, new shingles, and new nails onto the roof. Chalk lines marked the places where new shingles would go, and the noise of hammers pounding against new nails sounded in a methodical rhythm as the shingles were systematically attached to the roof.

            The ladies of the church said that they would bring dinner for the crew. Because of the great turnout of men and boys, the roof was finished before eleven o’clock and before the ladies arrived with dinner!

            Before the workmen started down from the roof to get ready for dinner, they took a break to cool off. The topic of conversation was the cleanup. All the old shingles, tarpaper, nails, paper that had wrapped the new shingles, and scrap pieces from the new shingles were on the ground. The sun was almost straight overhead, and it was hot.

            Every worker got a surprise when he got to the ground. There was not a single piece of refuse there! Ollie and Cody had picked up every piece and hauled it away in a wheelbarrow. They burned what they could and threw the rest in the trash. The two men who “could not do anything” had finished the part that all the men and boys were dreading. It was a wonderful feeling to be doing something for God’s house!

            Everyone complimented each other. Ollie and Cody said the new roof was perfect. The men and the boys thanked Ollie and Cody for their great cleanup. Everyone thanked the ladies for a delicious dinner.

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart. (Nehemiah 4:6, NIV)

 

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. (I Corinthians 3:8–9, King James Version)

 

Think about this: When was the last time you thanked someone who surprised you by doing a task you dreaded to tackle?

Take a moment to write down the names of some people who do the small, but important, things around your church.

What gifts do you have, and how are you using them for the Lord?

Prayer: Father, You give each of us gifts to minister in Your kingdom. In the eyes of men, we may not offer much, but You take our limitations and do miraculous work. Help us to do what we can to be intentional in our ministries and faithful in living the Great Commission. Thank You for using people who think they cannot do much, but who do incredible ministries that inspire more for You. Help us to give a word of encouragement or a note of appreciation to those who labor in Your kingdom and help make Your house and worship so wonderful.