January is coming to an end! Yaaay!!! One more month of winter is ending. Mary has informed me that we are going to have an early spring. She bases that on the gestation period of cats and how the females do not get pregnant in the winter until they are certain that their kittens will have survivable weather in which to be born. I know it makes some sort of sense, who am I to argue with the forces of nature and the instincts of animals. I've seen that in late births on the farm. The cows had a way of knowing when the weather was going to get too tough for birthing. They were not 100% correct all the time but I would venture to say it was in the upper 90th percentile.
As for myself I am just looking forward to temperatures in the upper forties so that the snow will dissipate and the roads will clear enough for me to "clear" my head by riding the highway. I miss that. We all need to clear up our thoughts and take time for communing with our Creator from time to time. This has already been a long winter on the Great American Desert and I fear that we will have at least eight more weeks of it as Mary predicts. Music helps a lot. Then there is the new job to keep a portion of my mind occupied for 5-6 hours a day. These things cannot compete with the feeling of "being in the wind" and listening to the rumble of my engine as miles fall behind. It seems as though the road can stretch on forever in every direction and life is once again filled with options and possibilities. I like the emotions that accompany endless freedom. I don't know how that is going to work out these next four years. I have my concerns for our constitutional freedoms, not to mention the economic freedoms that seem to be slipping away rapidly. The things we could do a few years ago with ease(Disney World, Memphis, Dallas, Mexico just to mention a few favorites)now seem far removed from our experience of "freedom." God will provide answers for the America we used to know and love so well. The jobless rate will diminish and our country shall rise once again from the financial debacle we have all been privy to. I pray for our country and the leaders daily. I also include the populace legal or illegal. We are all stuck in this boat that money cannot bailout.
During WWII folks around these parts grew "victory" gardens. I do believe my wife and I are going to pursue that avenue this coming spring. Victory is a wonderful word. It implies winning and I do love winning as much as anyone can. The greatest prize, however, is the victory I have won in Christ Jesus. And I do believe that is the source of my greatest freedom. So I've got it all right here in my life. I just want more and that is natural, human, and to be expected from baby boomers. Gas really was 19 cents a gallon at the pump during the sixties. Maybe one day we will be able to look back and see the humor in the world we have helped to create. Until then we pray for the world in which we live. In Christ's Love, Preacher.
