After two hours of shoveling dense, wet snow, I was almost done. The parking pad, the walkway, and the steps were all clear. My car, which my beloved had done most of the snowblowing around the day before, still needed some work.

Armed with a broom and a scraper, I cleared off the last layer of snow. And just as I finished freeing my car, I turned around to see that the snowplow had just come through and plowed me in! A two foot high barrier of ice and hard packed snow boulders just filled in what I had cleared.

I could have cried. I was feeling sorry for myself.

The boulders were too heavy to shovel, so I rolled them across the driveway and formed a lovely snow bank.  My physical endurance was sorely tested. As I finished up my shoveling, a neighbor came by, walking her dog and taking in a little sunshine. We’d only met a few times, and her dog was enthusiastic in meeting “new” people. So I rested my arms and back and we chatted.

And in that moment of physical endurance, not feeling like really being friendly, there was a “God moment.” For she had just been through a devastating personal loss and needed a pastor. And my extended labors on the driveway meant that I was there to listen, and offer a bit of God’s love.

There’s nothing like being shown how I really am an instrument in God’s hands…

Humbled and grateful… thanks be to God!