385 - Very Much Alive

i smirk thinking about a local car dealer - Sam Stevens - in one of his commercials, climbing out of the trunk of a car and stating, "Hi, Sam Stevens here, and i'm not dead."  Such are the small town tv ads that show us a humorous side of our neighbors, just that touch of humanness that unites us.  Some days it may seem like we, as people united in this world together, are still locked in the trunk of the car. But we have a choice.   Let's chose to step out into the world for a while since you are reading this now and are very much alive and breathing.  Thanks to that first breath of Life that primed the pump for us all at birth.

This winter cold spell sure has sent many of us indoors to deal with the change in weather.  i pray for those that work outside in the elements everyday and those others that just have no shelter, or anything that we would call shelter.  Last year i was behind an industrial rip saw working indoors but not in a conditioned or heated space.  The wind was kept out by the metal building but that was about it.  This winter has been a bit different and i have been able to work in between the breaks in the weather.  Work has slowed considerably to just a couple days a week, so i have been forced to search for income in other areas, eat less and simpler meals and conserve.  Prayer is always the first step, in or out of season - in good and bad times, and i do know that any trying times are merely God strengthening our faith.  Whenever paying work has slowed in the past, God has placed a need to serve someone in my path, a definite ministry outlet.

i am not up on a scaffolding working on exterior trim today due to the freezing rain on the tail end of this arctic front.  i should be back up there tomorrow though - as the the ice thaws and the rain briefly subsides.  Prayers go out to the Salvation Army bell ringers all over the country.  You are continuing in a ministry outreach effort that God began in the heart of a man named William Booth.

http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/0/c2af02232cb1f005802568cd0034a9fa?OpenDocument


Stay warm, be blessed.  Love,  ~antbrother