Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Mysterious One Legged Man
Today it is snowing in Philadelphia, the first real snow of the year. As we headed out at 9 am for groceries to beat the worst of it and to beat the "panic shoppers", my kids asked "why do people not like the snow mom?" As I explained that grownups didn't like it because of the extra work of shoveling and the extra work and danger of getting around in it, they looked at me with somewhat un believing faces and said something to the effect of " they should just have fun and enjoy it like us." That was when the blessings began.
You need to understand that for me getting groceries for me today meant walking about 10 blocks pushing our granny cart over uneven Philadelphia sidewalks that where now hidden under wet sticky snow that stuck to the cart wheels. We also had to do it. I am not a "snow panic shopper" but it had been a tight budget week and today was pay day so off we went. I have to admit that I did not have the best of attitudes about facing the walk. If you have to face a similar snow adventure my advice is take a 6 year old boy and his imagination with you.
All the way there and back he just reveled in the snow, scraping it off every ledge, fence etc. That we passed and flinging it at something while saying 'look, I'm helping people clean". He also made foot patterns in the snow including "the mysterious one legged man" made by hopping for a few feet and meant to confuse people as to who made it. It was just a joy to see all the fun he had, it made the trip fun and showed me the blessing God has for us when we have an attitude of thankfulness to what he brings. As a thank you to the kids I took them sledding in the park later in the day after we got a little school work done. (Hey, everyone needs recess!)
If the snow has you down and your attitude needs adjusting and you don't have a 6 year old handy you can also try a virtual trip to the Green Zone in Baghdad with Captain KJ the daughter of my mother in laws best friend or read a Letter from Rome and join the Skeel family on their sabbatical in Rome Italy.
You need to understand that for me getting groceries for me today meant walking about 10 blocks pushing our granny cart over uneven Philadelphia sidewalks that where now hidden under wet sticky snow that stuck to the cart wheels. We also had to do it. I am not a "snow panic shopper" but it had been a tight budget week and today was pay day so off we went. I have to admit that I did not have the best of attitudes about facing the walk. If you have to face a similar snow adventure my advice is take a 6 year old boy and his imagination with you.
All the way there and back he just reveled in the snow, scraping it off every ledge, fence etc. That we passed and flinging it at something while saying 'look, I'm helping people clean". He also made foot patterns in the snow including "the mysterious one legged man" made by hopping for a few feet and meant to confuse people as to who made it. It was just a joy to see all the fun he had, it made the trip fun and showed me the blessing God has for us when we have an attitude of thankfulness to what he brings. As a thank you to the kids I took them sledding in the park later in the day after we got a little school work done. (Hey, everyone needs recess!)
If the snow has you down and your attitude needs adjusting and you don't have a 6 year old handy you can also try a virtual trip to the Green Zone in Baghdad with Captain KJ the daughter of my mother in laws best friend or read a Letter from Rome and join the Skeel family on their sabbatical in Rome Italy.
