This week has been a pretty good week for me despite crazy low temperatures in the Chicagoland area. The Detroit Lions got a new head coach (not that i'm hopeful for wins), my home is warm, my kids are healthy, food is in the fridge, God is still The Creator of All and in Love with his creation, and the Gaither Vocal band has got it's best members of all time back. (sorry for the southern gospel reference there at the end)
However, just before all the crazy low temps hit I had a chance to shovel 3 feet of snow off my driveway. My whole life this has always been an enjoyable time for me. When i was a young kid I would go outside as early as I could to shovel the sidewalk and driveway. My neighbors had their snow throwers working and I would always try to get done before they did. In my younger years, this was possible, but now that I'm a little older I find myself just getting started by the time my neighbors have their driveway, sidewalk, and half my street done. :) Despite my lack of snow thrower I still enjoy getting out there and creating a cleaner driveway for my minivan.
This year my older son is 4. This is the first year that he is able to join me out in the driveway for his first lesson in manhood. The good news is that he enjoys it just as much as I did when I was young. But I couldn't help but notice a few things while we were out there shoveling. The first thing that I noticed is that I was doing all the work. :) This is not to discredit my 4 year old son, it's just that I not only had the strength to do it, but knew exactly where the driveway ended and started. I knew where the snow needed to go, and how heavy each shovel load was going to be. My son on the other hand knew only that he had a shovel and that shovel made things happen. He could hardly pick up his shovel without snow, let alone with snow in it. He didn't seem to understand what I was trying to accomplish, but he had heart. He would usually find a pile of snow on the side that I had just pushed away and get that back out and spread it around. To him he was accomplishing a lot. He just kept looking up at me for approval....which is all I needed to see.
In no way am I saying that God is happy with us just doing whatever we want. My son was out there working with me, side by side. He knew that I knew what to do. He trusted that the job was going to be done despite his efforts. He allowed me to even help him push his snow around. You see, in the end the job was done because I wanted it done. I dind't need my son, but I loved that he was there. In fact, it was easily 10 times more enjoyable watching him work along side of me. I think that is how God is with us. He is more than capable of doing things himself, but loves to work side by side with us. In comparison to him we are but mere infants. Our vision is weak, our strength is lacking, our product is often messed up. But in the end He will work it out. It's not up to us to create! That is the great news.
Keeping our heart connection with God will allow us to work side by side in such a way that we are directed by the Father. There is a lot of grace there....a lot of freedom to even mess up. It's not about us DOING it right....it's about being with Him, enjoying Him, and loving every minute of it.
I hope this is encouraging to you today. I hope you know that the creator of the universe wants to shovel snow with you.
Fred
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