The Key

'Twas a dark and windy night. As the mercury dropped to a place it hadn't visited in years, a young women lay warm and snug in her bed. The wind whipped the outside of her house, begging to be let into the warm and quiet, if only for a little respite from the frigid cold (wind chill was -22 degrees). But the woman and her family continued to sleep comfortably, blissfully unaware at the war raging outside- her daughter was snug in her bed, wearing a warm and toasty footsy pajama as extra protection and her husband safe and warm beside the wife in . . . wait, no! That poor bloke! He wasn't beside her. He, unlike the lazy wife, arose before the sun had a chance to spread its hand across the land and left for school before 7:00 am. He had to venture out into the world, taking on the mighty North Wind, defying the cold to stop him. As he walked out the front door, he braced himself for the obstacle and challenges that the cold would surely throw in his way to thwart him. The first test- would the car in fact start or would the the cold claim victory over its old battery? His wife listened with bated breath, though still snug and now spread out in her warm bed, as he husband tried to start the car. She heard it turn over, slowly, slowly. . . . He tried again, only to have less success than the first try. There was no denying the truth. . . the battery was de ad; it had given up the ghost; it had gone the way of the earth. Bitter Cold: 1. Husband: 0.

But our story doesn't stop there. The husband was no quitter and he had come prepared. He had a spare battery, but now his challenge was to replace the battery whilst standing exposed to the the -22 degree wind. His wife listened from bed, hoping that it wouldn't take long to replace the battery. She was planning what she would do if she didn't hear him start the car after ten minutes. She would make the long and arduous trek from the bed to the window to make sure he hadn't succumbed to hypothermia or lost any appendages to frost bite. But after about 7 minutes and probably many cuss words delivered under his breath, the husband had installed the battery and once again tried to start the car. It turned over, slowly, and then. . . vvvrrroooom. It started!!! Take that Bitter Cold and North Wind. You cannot defeat the mighty husband!!

But of course, the warm wife and child are not even going to attempt to challenge the elements. The child wants to, more than anything, go out and play in the snow. She just doesn't understand what it means when the loving, kind mother says, "It's too cold outside. Your fingers will freeze and fall off." So indoors they remain and have remained since the cold snap began several weeks ago. The situation is starting to turn desperate, as the only company they have had is themselves for several weeks! As the groceries start to dwindle, because the wife is too big of a chicken to face the cold to go grocery shopping, the family is forced to live off from pancakes, every other meal.

Well, to make a long story short, it's cold here!!!

But this is really the Key: Joshua 6:4