So often we hear about how surly, moody or arrogant teenagers can be. How often do you see them acting with child-like glee? I did yesterday, and I thank God my son is not above letting me see him in that state of joy (or write about him here).
New Jersey, and much of the northeast, has been hit with snow (and ice and sometimes sleet) almost every third day for over a month (at least it seems like it). My son’s trips with the school ski club have been cancelled three times because of school closings due to snow. How’s that for irony? We are tired of the white stuff. There is nowhere left to put it when we shovel.
Even the kids are now grousing about another snow storm because they’ve used up all their snow days and will now be shortening their spring break. The kids are tired of shoveling, too.
My son is a great kid. He is a faithful child of God, loves to worship, loves Christian radio, and loves his extended family in the congregation of St. Andrew Lutheran Church. He understands that it is the right thing to do to help take care of our elderly neighbor. He helps his parents cut the grass in the summer, rake the leaves in the fall, and shovel snow in the winter…on both properties. He also treks over to my grandmother’s house with me to shovel snow at her house too. Snow is not always fun for this 15 year old boy.
Yesterday, in anticipation of the upcoming snow, sleet and rain, we began working to pull the extra snow and icicles off my neighbor’s roof to reduce the chance of ice damming and water finding its way into her home. I have to say the icicles were impressive!
Of course, being the mom, I wanted to take pictures. I’m so glad I did. The first major icicle, over 4 feet in length, was so thick at the top it broke apart. He was disappointed. He wanted a whole one. He was able to pull off the next one in a single piece. This accomplishment earned me an ear-to-ear smile and a belly laugh like when he was a toddler finding pure enjoyment over something innocently funny. He ran to the window to show the icicle to his dad and our neighbor. He then carried it to the front yard to begin an icicle sculpture. There is now an icicle hand sticking up from the snow in my front yard.
In the midst of all the aggravation caused by this continual snow, God has made me see, once again, that we must seek the child-like joy in our lives, even amidst the aggravation… that pure and simple joy that comes from finding the fun in simple things …like 5 foot icicles from the roof.
And yes, he licked it. Amen!
Where can you find joy amidst all this snow? How do you find child-like joy in your life?
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