Month: February 2023

The Big Freeze (Angel in the Kitchen)

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We’d like to introduce you to yet another member of our family of faithful kitchen appliances: our upright freezer! Take a bow, Freezer! Freezer? Ahem. Sorry, folks, but he prefers to be addressed as MISTER Freeze! Okay, that’s cool. Now say hello to our readers, Mr. Freeze.

Mr. Freeze? Uh, he’s not talking today. Please forgive him. Like Mr. T, he has a bit of an attitude but, after all, it is his nature to be cold.

Mr. Freeze has been with us for quite a few years. He’s older than his cousin, Fridgey. In fact, he’s the eldest of his clan, and he’ll soon turn 25! — Mr. Freeze! Be nice. (He doesn’t like it when we discuss his age.) Anyway, because Mr. Freeze is an older — excuse us — a “classic” model, he has a habit of quickly accumulating a thick layer of ice on each of his shelves. But as we’ll soon explain, this characteristic has come in handy.

Mr. Freeze is a loner — mostly — so he resides in our garage. But he’s never totally alone; Mr. Freeze periodically hangs out with our blue SUV. That is, when Blue isn’t running the road. And at night, while we sleep, these two faithful servants share stories. Blue usually has the most exciting tales to relate, hair-raising adventures of the freeway and … well ….

Mr. Freeze has his own share of legends to relate, and one night he — What? Okay. Mr. Freeze wants to tell the story:

It was a dark and stormy night … and all through the house, not a creature was stirring — except this one goofy mouse.

Christmas Eve Caper: “Did somebody say big cheese?” NO! We said Big FREEZE!

That was way back in 1999, during the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. While my friends, Tom and Wilma, snoozed, a massive ice storm moved over the southeast and dropped several inches of freezing rain. (Grrr, what a show-off!)

My friends awoke to the sounds of tree branches breaking under the weight of a thick coating of ice. (The nerve! I make the ice around here!) Anyway, there were downed power lines everywhere, and Woodhaven didn’t have electricity for ten days. But did Tom and Wilma’s food go bad? Not while I’m on the job!

Sure, I didn’t have any power either, but I’m well insulated; and my layers of ice kept things good and cold — just like a big igloo cooler! So everything that needed refrigeration, I kept nice and fresh! Hey, Fridgey, did ya hear that?

Um, we all heard it, Mr. Freeze. But yes, it’s true, you saved the day! You’re a hero, a true legend in the annals of kitchen history. And because you’re an elder appliance, you deserve our respect and admiration.

By the way, some people are just like Mr. Freeze: they come across as cold (and distant). When we get around these people, they tend to give us a frosty reception (they’re grumpy). But like Mr. Freeze, they’ve endured many storms in life. Their outlook and emotions have been chilled by hurts and disappointments; and they’ve built up protective layers to insulate themselves from the world. Many of them have become as cold and hardened as pack ice.

Jesus warns us, “Because lawlessness will multiple, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12 Holman Christian Standard) In other words, the chill of our hurts and disappointments can cause pain, resentment, distrust, unforgiveness, and even a general feeling of bitterness to accumulate like layers of ice around our hearts. We can eventually become much like the shelves within Mr. freeze: bound by “ice” and frozen in life.

It’s easy to turn and walk away from people who are hurting and “iced up.” Because as Joyce Meyers often states, “Hurting people hurt people.” But the mister and missus freezes of this world nevertheless need our help, as well as the thawing influence of genuine love. King Solomon wrote, “Love is as strong as death…. [It] flashes like fire…. Many waters cannot quench love….” (Song of Solomon 8:6-7 NLT)

Love is the most powerful force in the universe; and God’s love is life’s universal antifreeze. 1 Corinthians 13 describes its “composition.” When we apply it, God’s supernatural Agape Love allows us to endure a little frostbite and eventually break through the ice that insulates people. God’s Love allows us to look beyond bad attitudes and nasty dispositions. It enables our Lord to use us to melt the coldest heart.

So drop the ice pick and put down the tongs, because “Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8 ISV)

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See How He Runs! (Diet for Dreamers)

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Around 1917, the citizens of Elkhart, a small impoverished town in Kansas, often remarked about eight-year-old Glenn Cunningham, “See how he runs?” In the early morning hours, they frequently watched as the energetic youth dashed through vacant lots and empty fields, on his way to the tiny schoolhouse where he was enrolled. Glenn and his older brother Floyd had a special job to perform each morning before class: lighting the stove in the schoolhouse to ensure the rooms were sufficiently warm by the time the other students arrived. It was a simple chore, but one that required the boys to arise early and make great haste along chilly, dimly-lit streets.

Glenn never complained, because the task was just another excuse to run! And he loved to run! Perhaps he even lived to run. Running gave the boy both a sense of freedom and purpose. When Glenn ran he experienced the joy and excitement of knowing that he was going places — fast — with the world rushing by in a quiet, sleepy blur. When he wasn’t running, he dreamed about it!

On a morning that felt like those of countless days before, Glenn and Floyd arrived at the silent schoolhouse to light the stove. Still breathing hard from their race through town, the boys fetched the kerosene can they’d used the previous morning — unaware that someone had mistakenly refilled the can with gasoline! When Floyd lit the fluid the stove exploded in a fireball that engulfed the brothers. Floyd died in the fire. He was thirteen.

Glenn miraculously survived the explosion, but his legs were burned seemingly beyond repair. All the flesh from his knees to his feet was burnt away, and his left foot was practically destroyed: he’d lost the toes, as well as the ligaments and tendons located in the arch of the foot, which are necessary to support body weight and maintain balance when walking. Glenn’s doctor felt the boy would never stand again, let alone walk. So he strongly recommended that Glenn’s legs be amputated well above the knees.

The sheer terror of losing his legs, of never running again, sent Glenn into uncontrollable hysterics. He screamed and pleaded with his parents until they finally relented and refused to allow the doctor to go through with the amputations.

After a long hospital stay, Glenn finally went home, where he continued the arduous journey to recovery. He was determined, however, not only to walk again, but also to run. Even as a child he had great faith in his God, and held tightly to what quickly became his favorite Bible verse, “But those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 KJV)

Two years after the accident, Glenn took his first painful steps. That was in 1919. By 1929 he was training for the 1932 Olympic Games. As he dashed through vacant lots and empty fields, the citizens of Elkhart would remark, “See how he runs?” With intense pride, Glenn’s neighbors named him the “Elkhart Express”! But in the 1932 Games, where he took fourth place in the 1500-meter run, he was known as the “Kansas Flyer.”

Glenn continued to run, always with the goal of getting faster. He again competed in the Olympics — this time in the 1936 Games in Berlin — taking home the silver in the 1500-meter run. He also set the world record in the 800-meter run that year. But Glenn’s greatest achievement came in 1934, when he ran the mile in 4 minutes and 6.8 seconds, setting a world record that remained unbroken for three years.

Fast as he was, though, one of Glenn’s big dreams remained unfulfilled. He wanted to break the 4-minute mile, but he was never able to shave more than 2 to 3 seconds off his own best time. Of course, as with most of the world’s greatest accomplishments, there were plenty of people around at the time who swore it simply couldn’t be done. (Another dream-chaser, Roger Bannister, proved them wrong in 1954.) Still, not bad at all for the Elkhart Express!

One last detail remains. When Glenn Cunningham ran, he had this peculiar way of tilting back his head — as though he were looking down his nose at the world around him. Some people took exception to this, and commented, “See how he runs? He thinks he’s better than us!” But the man who was voted “Most Popular Athlete” by his fellow 1936 Olympians always remembered that it was God who enabled him to run! He remained humble throughout his career; but he did continue to look down his nose whenever he ran! You see, the accident that nearly claimed his legs had also severely scorched his lungs; but by tilting back his head, Glenn was better able to breathe!

Folks, never give up. Keep the faith and follow your dreams. Run if you can, crawl if you must — but never allow the shortsighted opinions of those who merely stand by and watch, to keep you from your prize! Let the whole world see how you run. Afterward, you’ll be able to echo the words of the Apostle Paul, who also overcame great odds: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV)

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