My father died when I was 16 and my younger brother, Layton, was 14.  Mother could get $50 a month Mother’s allowance.  I quit school in Grade 9 and went to work.  My first job was burning green slabs at a mill in Upper Belmont, Nova Scotia.  I was making $4 a day with room and board.  Eleven men slept in a camp approximately 10 by 12 feet and we burnt these green slabs to heat the camp.  In the morning, it would be so cold that one of the men would arise early to start the fire with green slabs and a little kerosene.

 

            One morning I awoke as one of the men was starting the fire.  Outside the door were two cans – one with kerosene and another with naphtha gas.  Apparently, he had reached out the door and grabbed a can he thought was kerosene but was instead the naphtha gas can.  One of the other men who arose early as well, spotted the can and told him he had the naphtha gas can.

 

            If all of these 11 men were to get up at the same time, you wouldn’t have been able to move, so in order to find my clothes in all the confusion, I rose early.  If they had put naphtha gas instead of kerosene on the fire, a terrible disaster would have happened and I wouldn’t be writing about this today.

 

            As I look back on those early years, I can see how the Lord was watching over us.  I believe that was January 1951 but there have been many times over the years that we have seen God’s protection upon our family.

 

            A few months back I celebrated my 83rd birthday and Donna & I have celebrated 62 years of marriage.  We have three children and five grandchildren.  I attended Eastern Pentecostal Bible College and Acadia Divinity College and retired at 75 after 50 years in the ministry.

 

            It has been a privilege to share these stories with you.  Why not contact your friends and tell them about “Sharing Life’s Memories”?  Also, we would love to hear from you.