Encouragement

Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Today I was encouraged - first by the enthusiasm of my dear niece Karen. She had to shovel snow (in BC where it is wet and heavy) and was so grateful for the good workout it gave her. I have a few acquaintances like that... ones who take the situations most of us complain about and turn them into blessings. (Reminds me of another niece who had a way of turning bedtime - 'jammy time' - into the most exciting time of day. But I think every time of day was met with that same enthusiasm in that home!)

Back to the shoveling... I do have a bit of a conundrum. We have the world's most slippery driveway. 'Not shoveling' seemed like a good idea - not as slippery this way. But it is beginning to snow again, and the longer I wait, the harder it will be. Today is a beautiful day by Winnipeg standards. It is -9 (Celsius) with no wind. Can't beat that in January!

So, with a little less enthusiasm that Karen, I bundled up and went out. The toque soon came off and my driveway was about 1/3 done when the neighbor came out with the 3 children in her care. We started chatting, and it turns out they have had a snowblower for a few years, and her husband complains that he never gets to use it. She's too quick with the shovel.

"But," she said to me, "The kids love to be outside, and it's a beautiful day, so why would I stay inside and do nothing when I can get my workout by shoveling." Her husband had come to our place one day with his snowblower (I'm not surprised - that is the kind of neighborhood we have) - but didn't get very far when he realized how slippery it was. With a brand new job he couldn't afford to fall and hurt himself.

An hour and a half later I'm back in... I'm not sure how much of that time was spent chatting with the neighbor, but it is done. Next time I won't wait as long. If we haven't driven over the snow, it is much easier to move... And next winter, hopefully, we'll have done something to the driveway to make it easier to move on it without all the slip-sliding!