Mueller Iron Foundry

 

In 1972 I began working at Mueller Iron Foundry in Chattanooga.  It was hot and heavy work, but it paid well.  Mueller made cast iron fire hydrants on a huge machine.  It took a crew of twenty workers to keep the MoldMaster running.  The MoldMaster had thirty or so huge steel molds that held compacted sand in the shape of fire hydrants on the inside.  There was an overhead monorail system that carried one-ton ladles with liquid iron to pour into the molds.  The iron was at about 2800°F and would splash just like water … only at a searing temperature.  When I poured the iron, I had a whole array of safety equipment to wear.  I had steel-toed shoes with rubber spats over the laces.  I had thick leather gloves with dark-tinted safety glasses.  A shield kept the heat off my face, and a hard hat kept the splattering iron off my hair.  I wore two long-sleeved shirts and two pair of jeans just to keep the heat at bay.  Most of the men word bibbed overalls, and one afternoon I found out why.  I was pouring iron when a splash of liquid iron bounced off my hat and went down the back of my shirt collar.  I wriggled my shoulders and the iron rolled down my back, but stopped at my belt.  I scrambled, ripping off my belt and pulling off my pants, but it was too late.  The iron had burned right into my skin.  I went to the infirmary where the nurse took out the piece of iron that was the size of a BB.  Over the next week, the cooked flesh around the area left a scar about the size of a dime.  I had to work to keep it clean.  I still have a tiny scar on my back-left side at my waistline.  Hey, if you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will burn in hell someday.  If that little burn hurt me so much, imagine how painful hell will be FOR ETERNITY!  I hate to be the one to tell you of hell, but I am warning you as a friend.  God doesn’t hate sinners; God just hates sin.  And a burning hell demonstrates how much God hates sin.  But God loves sinners so much that He gave His only Son to die in your place.  God has done everything that He can to rescue you from hell, but the choice is up to you.  Paul said in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Accept Jesus while you can.  Make no mistake, hell is hot.

Efficient

 

I like to be efficient with my steps when I put things away at the house.  But sometimes I become obsessed with my efficiency.  Yesterday morning was a classic example.  I just finished a quilt for a friend and had two long yardsticks to put away.  One was a wooden yardstick that went into my bedroom.  It lives there with some thin plywood patterns beside my dresser.  But the other yardstick was an aluminum yardstick that goes in the garage.  I walked by the stairs on the way to my bedroom, so I left the aluminum yardstick propped against the stair post to take down later.  Saving steps.  Later, I took a load of laundry downstairs, so I picked up the aluminum yardstick with the basket of clothes and took both downstairs.  But before I took the clothes over to the washer, I propped up the aluminum yardstick by the garage door to take out later.  Saving steps.  I changed out the washer/dryer and took the dry clothes upstairs to fold.  Later, I tied up the kitchen garbage bag to take to the big garbage can outside.  I took the kitchen bag downstairs picking up the aluminum yardstick on the way outside, finally depositing the aluminum yardstick where it lived by the outside door.  It took 3 stops and forty minutes to efficiently get the aluminum yardstick where it belonged!  I suppose I saved time, but I’m not sure.  But really, that’s nothing.  The dear Lord has been patiently working on me for 76 years.  Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Gas Gauge

 

Friday morning, I was in a hurry.  I needed to get gas the night before, but I had forgotten.  So, when I hopped into the truck at 5:30 am, the fuel warning light was on, and the indicator needle was down near the red E.  I should have stopped at a gas station, but the all-night gas stations are so expensive.  Costco didn’t open until 6 am, so I chanced it.  I worried all the way to cardiac rehab keeping an eye on that gas gauge.  After cardiac rehab, I headed for Costco on the way home.  But as I glanced at the gauge, it was above the empty line.  Not bad!  Parking downhill must have helped the gas gauge find a little more gas in the tank.  But as I took a few turns out of the parking lot, the gas gauge moved up more and more!  And then I realized that I was looking at the temperature gauge and not the gas gauge!  Dummy!  The gas gauge was still on empty and Costco was eight miles away!  Fortunately, I made it to Costco on fumes.  Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”  In life, be careful of the way that you are headed in.  Be careful not to trust in the wrong advice.  Stop and consider your ways before it is too late.