A Servant's heart

We got our first snow (that required a shovel) of the season a few days ago. This winter has been uncharacteristically mild, so the kids have been anxiously anticipating snow for months. Finally, they woke up to everything covered in white. They were thrilled! Colton went to preschool in the morning (and had a fantastic Valentine's Day party) and Natalie changed into her snowsuit and boots immediately after getting home from dropping him off at school. Addy was feeling a little under the weather, so Natalie headed out in the front yard to play in the snow by herself. Trust me, she didn't mind. She was pumped to say the least.

I kept peeking out the window to check on her and see what she was up to. After she had been outside for about 30 minutes or so (scooping snow into a bucket), she went into the garage and drug out my big shovel. She then drug it over to the neighbor's driveway and started shoveling their driveway. If you know Natalie personally, then you know that her strengths do not lie in her coordination or muscle power. So, the fact that she was shovelling the neighbor's driveway was not something I would expect for her to be able to accomplish without a great deal of effort. I stood in the window and just watched her. She kept at it for over an hour. She tripped and fell more than once, but she got right back up and started shovelling again.

Finally, after an hour and a half, I called her inside to change into dry clothes and have something to eat before picking up Colton. I asked her why she was shovelling the neighbor's driveway and she told me she did it just to be kind. She then told me that she got tired and felt like stopping, but she thought that God would probably want her to keep working at it and not give up. Wow! Amen sister! What a lesson I can learn from my sweet 6 year old. So often, when I'm faced with an obstacle, I just compain and throw my hands up in defeat. I could stand to emulate my daughter a little more and pick up my shovel and get right back at it.