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12 • FEBRUARY 2023 PERSPECTIVE
THETRUCKER.COM
Focus on emotional, physical, spiritual health during ‘heart month’
CHAPLAIN’S
CORNER
REV. MARILOU COINS
Here we are, already in the second month
of our new year. Wow!
February is American Heart Month, recognizing
the importance of physical heart
health. And, as we all know, Valentine’s Day is
right in the middle of the month, celebrating
another type of “heart health.”
I think most of us know what Demar Hamlin,
who plays safety for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills
has gone through. During a January game
against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin had a
heart attack and collapsed on the field, stopping
the game.
This event shook the world’s mind about
how quickly things can happen and change
your life. I know what a heart attack is like — I
had one a few months ago and am still recovering.
Let’s take a look at the heart.
Blood flows through the heart, and the
heart cleanses the blood to keep us safe
from infection. If the passages in and out of
the heart get blocked, it will shut down and
stop cleansing blood. This can lead to death.
Just see where I am trying to lead your
thoughts. Think about Jesus and his cleansing
blood. We, like blood, flow through the heart
of Christ daily, as he cleanses us. How many of
you have heard of the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
And how many have heard the hymn, “Are You
Washed in the Blood?” Have you been washed
in the cleansing blood of the lamb?
Well, now hopefully you know a little bit
more about the flow of blood and its cleansing
power. Just think of all your sins flowing
through the heart of Christ and being
cleansed as they flow through those ventricle
channels. We enter Christ’s heart dark with
sin, but we come out snow white — clean and
refreshed. The sin has been washed away, and
we are renewed in Christ.
He shed his blood on the cross for our
salvation. He carries us daily in his love and
washes us clean.
There are no catches. There are no strings
attached. All we need to do is say, “I’m sorry,”
and he washes us clean again and again.
Just as our hearts cleanse blood continually
in our body, so are we constantly washed
clean through the blood of Christ. However,
just a heart attack can stop the flow of blood
in our bodies, so can an unrepentant spirit
“clog” the heart of Christ.
Still, he will give us time to repent, be revived
in spirit and flow freely again. All we
need to do is repent, to ask for cleansing. He
knows we make mistakes as humans, but his
love for us lets the cleansing blood clean us
again and again.
Never underestimate the power of the flow
of blood through the heart, because it is the
source of life in us — just as it is the source of
life in Christ. Don’t stop that flow, because it’s
the difference between life and death.
Only you can decide to live in freedom from
sin or death; only you can ask for the cleansing
Christ offers us. He gives us the nitroglycerin
pill, so to speak — the grace that jump-starts
RHYTHM cont. from Page 9
our hearts to let the blood flow again. Only
you — no one else can do it for you — can accept
that grace, flow through Christ’s bloodstream
and heart, and come out clean again.
Are you ready for freedom from a heart attack,
whether physical or spiritual? February
is called Heart Month for many reasons other
than Valentine cards, flowers and boxes of
candy. It’s a month of revitalization for all of
us.
Best of the roads, and all gears forward in
Jesus. 8
songs never received respect from Billboard
or radio program managers. And despite his
overwhelming popularity at the ticket window,
by 1984, Buffett thought his music career
was about to come to an abrupt end.
That’s when his college course in business
paid off … by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Buffett largely gave up on dreams of a successful
music career (at least what Billboard
considered success) in the mid ’80s. After his
“Riddles in the Sand” and “Floridays” albums
flopped on the charts, he looked over his legion
of Parrotheads and recognized what had
been staring him in the face for nearly 20 years.
Jimmy Buffett — and “Margaritaville” — represented
wells that had barely been tapped.
As Buffett stated in an interview for CBS’
“60 Minutes,” he saw Parrotheads wearing
shirts purchased from independent retailers
that had his name spelled. He saw an Ohio Army-Navy
store owner selling hundreds of Hawaiian
shirts whenever Buffett performed in
the area. And most importantly, he saw “Margaritaville.”
The song, and its state of mind,
were pasted on every face in the huge crowds
he drew at every tour stop.
So, Buffett got smart. He went into merchandising.
And among his first steps was to
trademark “Margaritaville.”
Today you can find a lot of merchandise
related to Margaritaville. It’s a chain of restaurants
where you can buy a real Cheeseburger
in Paradise (complete with lettuce and tomato,
Heinz 57, french-fried potatoes, a big
Kosher pickle and a cold draft beer). It’s “lost
shakers of salt” lining store shelves licensed to
carry Jimmy Buffett merchandise. It’s replica
parrots, shark fins, beach towels, Hawaiian
shirts, key chains, and T-shirts inscribed with
lyrics to Buffett songs.
And it’s intense protection of the brand. If a
Mom & Pop shop in North Dakota sets its eyes
on making a few bucks off some Jimmy Buffett
knock-off merchandise, Buffett’s people know
about it. Before long, the merchandise police
will return the offending shop to selling “I’d
rather be fishing” and “Big Mouth Billy Bass”
trinkets.
Finally, for Jimmy Buffett, it’s a new lifestyle
– one far from the myth his music exalts. Today,
Buffett spends more time in New York City
than Key West, and rather than going barefoot,
he wears designer shoes (who knows, maybe
even under the brand name “Margaritaville”).
He manages what has grown from a milliondollar
business in the mid-1980s to a cash cow
taking in nearly a billion dollars a year. He has
indeed been successful, both as a musician
and a businessman.
Next time, we’ll look at a couple of Jimmy
Buffett songs that may not have had the commercial
success of “Margaritaville” but will
take you to the same destination. Until then,
as you blow past each exit sign, thinking about
your next vacation, throw Buffett a bone and
pull up “Margaritaville” from your playlist. In
no time, you’ll find yourself on a raft somewhere
around Trinidad and Tobago — and
you might learn something about yourself in
the process. 8
833.617.8001
LEIVA cont. from Page 10
The brother and sister team had motivation
and a good clientele, hauling crude oil for
Draco Energy in south Texas. But Leiva admits
to learning the finer points of running a business
was a “baptism by fire.”
“It was everything, honestly,” she said. “I
knew how to drive. That wasn’t an issue. It was
learning the insurance, how high that would
be because I’m a brand-new driver. Getting
my own authority. Having an LLC. The heavy
highway tax. There are so many things that go
with it.
“I got kind of frustrated because I never
had the mentorship when it comes to having
my own truck, being in that type of business,”
she continued. “I knew my mom did, and it
would have been so easy for me to call her
and be like, ‘Hey, Mom, what’s this? Hey, Mom,
what’s that?’ But I couldn’t do that, obviously.”
Slowly, Leiva gained the experience and
knowledge she needed on the business side of
trucking — enough to start thinking about the
future of the company. Those dreams took a
big step forward with her rookie veteran driver
award, which carries with it a brand-new
Kenworth T680 Next Generation tractor.
Now, she says, she’s looking to build the
kind of company that provides opportunity to
others.
“I want to grow. I want to have more trucks.
I’ll continue to run these two trucks — my
brother in one and me in the other. My sisterin-law
just got her CDL, too,” she said. “I want
to have a fleet eventually. I want to be able to
give other people opportunities like what I
was given — not only with the truck I just won,
but the truck that my mother gave me.
“That was something life-changing and
through that, I was blessed to build myself a
career and my brother a career. If I continue to
do that for other people, I’ll know I have done
something to help change people’s lives,” she
concluded. 8