A series of unfortunate events:

Not the movie, but my past 2 days...

I made it to work on Wednesday. It took me almost an hour due to the severe snow storm. I can usually make it in 25 minutes. Anyway, after making to work, it became more obvious that my co-workers are not as loyal (or poor) as I am. People were calling off left and right. By the end of the night, all of the staff members for 3rd shift had called off. Since I wasn't looking forward to driving home at night in the snow, I made the decision to stay and work the extra shift. By the time the morning shift started to approach, all of it's staff members had called stating that they might not be able to make it in. I was looking at working 3 shifts in a row. Which is not only dangerous, but illegal. Finally another staff member strolled through the doors. I was ready to kiss him. I so badly wanted to go to sleep. It took me nearly an hour and a half to get home, at which point my car got stuck in my cul-de-sac. The plows were nowhere to be seen in my neighborhood.

I left the car where it was, went to bed for a few hours and awoke knowing that I had not finished battling Mother Nature today. I bundled up and went to shoveling. I don't mind shoveling, seriously. it is tiresome, and somewhat agonizing, but I like to be witness to God's awesome power and glory. I see it all around me when I look at 24 inches of frozen water in my drive and in my neighborhood. I could only work in shifts of 20 minutes or so, due to the fatigue I was feeling. I could barely catch my breath before I would head back out.

I saw a good majority of my neighbors shoveling. I waved to one man across the street. Michelle and I have lived here for over a year and I had never spoken to him. He waved back and smiled as he cheerfully shoveled his lot. I was returning from a rest break, when I saw him using a snow blower on his next door neighbor's drive. I continued to shovel, secretly hoping he would have pity on my and my meager attempts to move mounds of God's glory. Then it happened. He came over and in 20 minutes he moved more snow than I could have shoveled in 3 hours. We exchanged names. His name is Joe. I offered him a little cash for helping me, but he politely refused saying, "Happy holidays."

By the time I made it inside, Michelle had a big pot of homemade vegetable-beef stew made. I enjoyed it as it warmed my entire body. Will and Alicia and their son, Aiden came over to share our meal. We laughed and enjoyed each other for an hour or so and then they went home.

I am mentally and physically exhausted. This has been the longest 36 hours in my life.
One other good thing did come out of all this: I was able to spend some time writing my book last night. I wrote nearly 20 pages.
And I might have come up with a title for the project: Outside the Box, Christianity in a Changing Culture.
It is a working title anyway.

I hope we don't have more snow overnight.

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