Two Shovels

I am on a perpetual adventure to rid my garage of unnecessary things. Thanks to the other five people in my house, I will never complete my odyssey. As the local news hyped us all about a “once in a decade” winter storm, my wife asked why we only had one shovel and no sleds. “Global warming — and our neighbor just bought a snow machine,” I cavalierly replied. When she later returned from what I was originally told was a mission for “essential supplies,” there was no bacon but instead two sleds and one more shovel.

As the snow fell fast and furious, Tricia had us outside on a schedule. “She sent them out two by two,” one child mocked. At one point, our neighbor with the snow machine reminded us, “Why don’t you let it fall, I’ll take care of it in one fell swoop.” Tricia asserted that it built character, and we kept our rotation going without interruption.

As the younger two children watched with anticipation as our neighbor revved up his snow machine engine, they bemoaned their manual labor. Within 5 minutes, the snow machine jammed and our neighbor was using his shovel. “See,” Tricia nudged me with a smile, “two shovels are always better than one.”

As I got ready for my third rotation, I couldn’t help but wonder where else in my life, leadership, and faith I might be waiting for one hero with a plow rather than doing some of the heavy lifting? What blessings am I missing in the journey when I simply wait to be delivered to the promise land? Beyond the good exercise and character building, there might be a snowball or two. What can happen when we work to collaborate with the One who wants to rescue us rather than see us sit idle?

Prayers that you stay safe and warm this week — remember to push and let Him do the heavy lifting!