The harsh realities

Yes...well, this is the worst you are going to see.
Only the clean laundry...not the dirty!

Time goes by so fast with activities, schedules, the everyday and nonstop circus. But every now and then, socks must be matched. Clothes need to be washed and folded. Bathrooms disinfected, dishes washed, beds made. Life needs to be cleaned up and arranged! That is what I am trying to work on this weekend. My family room actually looked like a college dorm. What you see in the picture is the cleaned up version, believe it or not!

But it is life as we know it, sometimes a harsh reality.
But...nothing like others have been experiencing...

The last few days have been the coldest that Ohio has seen in quite some time. Not just with the weather, with 15 below 0 registering as the air temperature, but also with things going on in the world.

30 people lost their jobs this week in our company. Although I have seen much of that happen in my career, it never makes it easy to see the those you consider "work friends" having to be sent home, and unexpectedly so. During this "winter" of our economy, it is a harsh reality that is happening more and more.

Circuit City and Goody's are closing down all of their stores, and all of their employees are out of a job. Another harsh reality of retail. Of the greed that took over the industry in general, led by those pressuring retail to grow, grow, grow despite the obvious drop in demand over the last few years.

The unemployment office in the state of Ohio ran OUT of funding this week. What??? Yes, it's true. They are borrowing from the federal government to support those who are out of work. My question is...didn't the budget for the new year just reset? If so how could they be out of money? Wow. Harsh reality of budgets not meeting expenses.

Then there are the harsh realities of life itself when things don't go well. One thing that is constantly on my mind whenever we experience bad weather is the homeless. Imagine for one moment stepping outside this morning (when it was still 12 below 0) and staying out there for any length of time, even bundled up with a down coat, gloves, scarf, earmuffs and hat. I don't know about you, but I went to the mailbox and back, and my face was frozen, my hands were tingling and I felt cold all the way to my bones. That was being outside for one minute! On Thursday they showed video footage of folks living down by the Scioto River in tents. I cannot begin to imagine...there are shelters but even so, these people did not want to leave the only home that they know.

The good news is...our weather is going to warm up a bit (if you consider 28 degrees warm, which at this point, I do.:)
The good news is...that US Air pilot landed in the HUDSON RIVER and saved 151 people this week in New York.
The good news is...there is somewhere better than here...if you let faith lead you there.