Shoveling Snow

by Kay Heitsch

I know some people wonder what in the world is a 5' 1" almost 66 year old woman doing shoveling snow. I wonder that too sometimes.

For the most part I like being outside. Doing work like shoveling or mowing in the warmer months, gives me a reason to be outside.

I've found I can enjoy doing both IF I keep a positive attitude. By keeping a positive attitude I mean thinking of good reasons why I'm enjoying doing this work. I think, I'm burning calories! This helps my heart and muscles! Being out here gives me time to think good thoughts. I love to see the snow sparkling and the beauty of the white snow. I wave at people passing by.

I know I can not allow myself to even start to do down the road of negative thinking. I know if I do I will feel unhappy and the job will be nothing but misery. Why would I want to do that?

My Bible text Matthew 11:28 & 29 today had the words, "learn from Me" in it. If I really want to keep a good attitude while shoveling or mowing I need to think about how Jesus handled life. I leaned one BIG thing that when he was under stress He kept his mouth shut! I don't know, but I bet He didn't allow negative thoughts to fill his mind either. He stopped to help others. This has helped me too.

It snowed a lot more last night, but I see the sun trying to shine. I'll be out once again today. I ran out of gas in the snowblower yesterday, but I have more. I'll fill the tank up, but if it's windy I'll just use little RED.