Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Before I get started, I need to wish everyone a very happy Easter. It is indeed going to be a strange Easter, since, as of this writing, we may still be under the social distancing (stay away from everyone) guidelines. Despite that lingering prospect, we can and should enjoy and give thanks for the blessing this religious holiday represents. We can still hunt eggs and baskets in place and give thanks around the Easter dinner table. OK, so, what else can I share with the pack today? Oh yes! I like candles. And I usually buy the more expensive ones like Yankee candles (note…I do not get any payments for product placement in this article), since I think the scent last longer. The cheaper ones smell good for a while then as they burn down so does the smell. I have found the Yankee candles hold on to their scent much longer, but I do have a problem with them. Sometimes the wick disappears under the wax and no manner of picking and digging can get it back out. So, I got the idea that I will put a new wick in them. Never done this before, but I did not want to throw out perfectly good candles. Now, note that some suggested that I just break off chunks and put them into my candle warmer. I tried that, but it is messy, and you just do not get the same amount of smell from warming versus burning. I could not find any wicks locally, so I had to order them from Amazon. Smallest packet I could find was 100 wicks. This will last me for a lifetime. Next, I got my handy drill out, chose the right size bit, and drilled a hole through the middle being careful not to drill into the glass bottom. Once I had the hole large enough, I pushed a wick down into the hole, shoved the shavings down the hole to stabilize the wick, cut the wick to length, and lit it for a couple of minutes to seal the wick in place. Worked like a charm. I saved eight candles, and only in one did I uncover the existing wick. As I am writing this, I was thinking this kind of reflects how our life cycle works. We are like a new candle when we are born; we start out all fresh, sweet smelling, and burning brightly. Then, as our candle burns over time, it is impacted by a number of variables: wind, ambient temperature, location, we change shape. Sometimes we burn with bright intensity, other times we are barely flickering, struggling to stay lit, and sometimes we lose our flame altogether requiring someone to light us again. Worse of all, in some cases, we lose our wick entirely. We are lost and unable to accomplish what we were intended to do on this round ball of dirt. We are helpless. Then by the grace of God we are reborn. He does not give up on you. He knows you have a light to give to the world, so He digs down deep and helps you build a new and better wick. You come back with a bigger and brighter light. Remember that little song we used to sing in Bible school? “This little light of mine, I am going to let it shine.” Well there you go! Let it shine so the whole world knows that your have been reborn and that you live!
As always, Happy Easter. Wash your hands,keep your distance, and God bless.
-JR
