Title
The Uncool Cooler
Title
631

The Uncool Cooler

We have had some issues with freezers this year, sadly that saga continues…

Our refrigerator has been with us ever since we got married almost 11 years ago.  It has moved with us at least three times since then.  A lot of memories have been made around this appliance.  I can still remember the day, early in our marriage, that I woke up to find the coils in the freezer red hot!  I imagined that something had really gone wrong.  I unplugged it so that our apartment would not burn down while we were at work.  All day I worried about needing to buy a new freezer, about how we couldn’t afford it, and how I didn’t know a thing about fixing a freezer.  When I got home I tore the freezer to pieces, just to find out that it had an automatic defrosting coil that was supposed to heat up every so often… who knew!

Since that time I have had to do some regular maintenance.  I have cleaned the dust off the cooling coils, I have de-iced the freezer when the drain was clogged, and I have bandaged a few broken pieces here and there.  Overall, the device has served us well for many years.  Most of the time, it has simply done its job without any complaint.

I pulled out a frozen pizza to make for myself and the munchkins.  As I pulled it out I noticed that it wasn’t exactly frozen.  I assumed it must have been placed in the freezer recently – I really didn’t think much of it.  A few days later we began realizing that nothing was as cold as it should have been.  Upon closely inspecting things – we saw that there was a problem.  Things were cool but not as cool as they should have been.

I cleaned the coils and de-iced things a little bit.  I tried to make sure that there was nothing hindering the device from operating properly.  But, as I awoke this morning, it was obvious that things were not getting any better.  The freezer was about the temperature of what the refrigerator should have been, and the refrigerator was staying just cool enough to keep our food from immediately spoiling.

The family jumped in and began bringing our secondary fridge out of the garage.  We transferred all the food over and made our “backup” fridge into our new main appliance.   It was sad that our refrigerator died but we were happy that there was a younger and stronger one ready to take its place.  Yes, we have had to deal with a few inconveniences.  It is a little smaller and we needed to reorganize some things.  The ice machine, that had not been used in years, needed a little TLC.  The first batch of ice was a wee bit off, but it seems to be doing much better now.

The sad truth is that age affects more than just appliances.  We all will one day come to a point where we can’t do what we use to.  Our physical strength will one day fail us.  Our mental acuity will one day dim on us.  We simply will no longer be capable of handling things like we once did.  That is why it is so important that there are others ready to take our place.

Those that have faithfully done the work for years easily see the importance of having others ready.  Often they have found themselves looking for someone, anyone to handle the task that is becoming more and more of a burden.  Sadly it seems that the younger generation just isn’t stepping up as we all wish they would.   It is easy to find ourselves growing upset that no one is ready – no one is there – no one is prepared.

What I learned from this backup freezer is the importance of training.  If that freezer was not there, doing the job already, it would not have been there when the need arose.  Our backup freezer was not opened every day.  It did not hold any of the immediately important items.  But it was constantly in use, constantly being trained if you will.  Training is often overlooked because it takes meekness, longsuffering, and a whole lot of patience!  Training others is not easy – it is quite hard.  But, oh how important it is for us to train the next generation.  To pass along the knowledge and skills that we have gained.  Because one day, we will not be able to do the job.  If we have not trained anyone, then we cannot expect there to be anyone around to take our place.

patience

Do you think we train others in the ministry as we should? Should we be allowing our children, teens, and young adults to do more? Are the mistakes and issues caused by their lack of experience worth the difficulties? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Sure, you can send this article to anybody you want. And, if you’re REAL awesome, you’ll even tell them where it came from!

2 thoughts on “The Uncool Cooler”

  1. That training also goes two ways….the person being trained must be willing. In our own personal experience I can remember a man that was trained by a very good Pastor, but when that Pastor passed away, and this young man took over, much of his training he ignored, because he thought his way was much better…..which caused quite the church split, as he drove out most of the workers in the church, with his overworking them, and those with the inability to do what he wanted left, because he was so harsh with them. In time he may learn, but to this day, he still does not like to listen to advice from those who have been in places he has yet to be. Our training, also, never truly should stop. 🙂

    1. Very true. It is heartbreaking when one that has had so much poured into them does not accept the training they received. This truth, however, will cause us to stop training others if we are not careful. We must see the importance of training others, and be willing to pay the price.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *