Lessons from a pink shovel

^{Psalm 44}  

 ² With your hand you drove out the nations
       and planted our fathers;
       you crushed the peoples
       and made our fathers flourish.

 ³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,

       nor did their arm bring them victory;
       it was your right hand, your arm,
       and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁶ I do not trust in my bow,
       my sword does not bring me victory;
 ⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
       you put our adversaries to shame.
 ⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
       and we will praise your name forever.

We waited for the blizzard that was predicted over the last few days to hit our area unforgivingly. When the tiny flakes of snow began to appear, I braced myself for the worst. The snow continued to quickly accumulate over the Philly area as we slept, and by the time we woke up the next morning, found that it had settled to nearly 28 record inches high. We looked out the window to a beautiful, white sea; sparkling, brilliant and quiet. No one was on the road, and all federal buildings were closed. It was so peaceful aside from the sounds of my footsteps on our wooden porch as I walked outside for inspection, and the soft, gentle breeze blowing the snow off the tree branches.

The time had come to shovel the walkways and long driveway of our home. I always wanted to live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks, so imagine my joy knowing we wouldn't have to shovel along our property line. As you may have guessed, I don't like shoveling snow. It's hard. I'm serious. Especially after a fall like this one.

We handed out the best shovels to the kids and adults; and as I opened the garage to look for a broom or something to sweep over the cars, found a girl's little pink shovel, about 3 feet long, tucked away along the edge of the wall. I hadn't seen it in years, and remembered how my daughter used it when she was about 5 or so. I laughed at myself as I picked it up and showed everyone how I was going to "help" them with the monumental workload. I don't think they believed me.

I surprised myself. Not only did I begin to clear a few feet of snow from the edge of the driveway, but I worked my way rather quickly and easily to the garbage bins. I didn't care what anybody thought, and I started laughing. Since the head of the shovel was only about 14 inches long, and since the snow was easily packing into it, I found that I was able to lift a 2 cubic ft mound of snow, toss it aside then keep going;  if I had been using a regular adult shovel I would have probably conked out a lot sooner. So, I persevered and made it to one of our vehicles that looked more like a 4 ft. white hill and cleared a good path around it, then went further out into the driveway to meet the others. One household member (nameless) went inside at that point, and as the time passed, others left as well.  Aside from my husband, I was the only one left still holding that little shovel in my hand. I tried to change it once during the excavation, but found I liked using it too much and was more productive with it. I made a big dent in the work and laughed at myself again. I think God is trying to tell me something.

Over the last few years there were so many things I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to learn animation. I wished I could be doing more illustrating and design; I wished to be more productive in the art side of life and I would absolutely love to take classes again; but instead had to teach and of course be involved with family (not that I mind the latter; I love my family and want the best for them). I felt that I wasn't given what others had, but should that make a difference? I knew we are given what He wants to give us, and as long as we are faithful; He will make us succeed according to His timing. Still, I was bothered. I am passionate about manga art.

I was given Psalm 44 a few years back and kept coming across it in my journal entries. It speaks loudly to me; that we are not to trust in ourselves but in God only; HE is the one that gives victory and success, not our talents, giftings, or whatever we possess. Oftentimes I wished to possess more, to do more, to influence more. But somehow I always came back to this passage, and last night was no exception. I opened up my bible to see this psalm with verses 3 and 6 underlined. Maybe I'm finally getting it. That little pink shovel just reinforced that fact. And I have so much thankfulness in the fact that although I feel like I'm taking baby steps to accomplish goals, I know God is ultimately the one who provides the victory. Afterall, He is the one who provides us our little pink shovels.