“By the breath of God frost is given…” –Job 37:10

Cold, cold morning – below freezing kind of morning. Cold, colder house – broken furnace kind of house.

After our parents parted in 1970, my brother, two sisters and I learned what it was like more and more to make do with less and less. The time came when our old oil furnace was on it’s last leg. We quickly learned the value of having a stove in the kitchen.

We would go to sleep each night covered by an avalanche of blankets and awoke the next day blowing smoke when we spoke. Without hesitation, we would skip across those cold floors to the stove and turn on the oven. There we found instant heat and relief.

Hold it! Wait just a minute. Do you know what below freezing mornings plus broken furnace houses equals? You’re right! Frozen water pipes.

Something else we learned was to leave the kitchen faucet dripping at night so we could boil water the next morning to take a bath in. And, yes – a little pot plus a big tub equaled red-hot bottoms and freezing cold legs! However, mom did say one day, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

Another way we learned to make the most of our situation was to keep a 5 gallon bucket full of water in the bathroom to force-flush the toilet with. We learned to adapt and to do what we had to do. We also learned, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

God wants us to live our lives in such a way that we make the most of what we have. As with Moses, He expects us to use the rod that is in our hand and find a way to do our part as we trust Him to do His part.

Hey, life is an adventure! Ask God for wisdom. Be willing to adapt and be creative. And, have a good attitude. Ovens can do a lot more than you think. Thank God!

“Do your best
and leave the rest.
It will all come right
some day or night.”