Please don't breathe on me!

Here I am tip toeing around and trying to avoid contact with those who are obviously carrying the flu virus as they struggle to work each day, on this Friday, January 23, 2009. We seem to be having a mini-epidemic among some of our guys here at the plant. Since I am the official early bird person I get the phone calls from those too sick to come in to work. Fever, chills, aches, and feeling like death warmed over are some of the words used to describe their symptoms. I believe doctors say that weather changes are not a key part of bringing on illness but yesterday morning it was 39 F and yesterday afternoon it was trying to grab hold of 80 F. These swings may not be the cause but it’s hard to believe they have zero influence. It’s like doctors telling moms that teething has nothing to do with a child being sick. The doctor is not with the child 24 by 7, and most moms totally reject this so-called scientific assessment.

We’ve had our little Alex down with a solid case of flu this past week. He has run as high as 104 degrees of temperature and his Poppy has been very concerned about him. He's much better now and we continue to pray for him and for his family that this bug doesn’t get passed on to the rest of them. When I go out into the shop, at times there seems to be a cacophony of wheezing, coughing, and choking. While it’s not exactly a very inviting welcome you have to respect our guys who continue to give their best even as they struggle with the challenges associated with the onset of cold and flu season. On Tuesday evenings when I go to our inner city Bible club there’s typically a half dozen or more of the kids who are spreading cold and sniffle germs like wildfire. Here at work I keep my distance as much as I can but with the kids, well, you just have to get in there and love on them and pray that God will protect you.

We have a hugely busy Saturday and Sunday planned. We expect out of town family who will be in to visit Brother Milton. We have much to do around the house to put the final touches on our rebuilding project. As the old saying goes: We have things to do and people to see. I will soon be starting a new series in our Sunday morning Bible study and we will be looking at the facts of our faith as taught from Genesis. This means I have been spending as much time as possible in getting ready to get ready. Our typical approach is to work our way through each text on a verse by verse basis, therefore, after a few weeks of introduction, we will begin a journey into the facts concerning God and His revealed truths regarding how all of this got started. I am looking forward, with God’s help and leadership, to this challenge which could easily cover the next eighteen months to two years. (Genesis has 50 chapters.) But, I do hope and pray that you and yours will have a great end of the week on Saturday, and that you will choose to attend a service devoted to worshipping God and hearing from Him at a local fellowship where believers meet on Sunday, the first day of the week, where we honor our Savior and His resurrection! Amen. …..More later.