Thawing Out

Last week was so challenging. It seemed to be a week full of small frustrations--each of which I could have handled well; but to have them all attack me at once felt draining and unfair. By Thursday, I was completely irate with the world. I was tired of an unbalanced work schedule, I was tired of snow and cold, I was tired of dealing with drivers on icy roads, I was tired of spending upwards of 3hrs a day on those roads, and I was tired of the every day glitches that were being thrown at me in between all of that.

Driving to work on Thursday morning, I told God, "You need to get me out of this! I don't know how I am supposed to continue to handle this!" And I left it at that.

One at a time, I handled the glitches that I could. Voice mails at work reassured me that this coming week, things could be sorted out and a sense of equilibrium restored. It finally stopped snowing. And the sun even came out.

This evening, the graters came through my neighbourhood and plowed the streets. As grateful as I was that they did this, it was the second time that they left a pile of snow rubble across the entrance to my driveway. The last pile I was able to drive through. This pile was twice as high and had larger chunks. I found myself slightly frustrated; although notably, not nearly as frustrated as I would have been if this had been a few days ago. I was able to calmly accept the fact that after supper I would go out and spend some time tossing chunks of snow aside. And then, just before I headed to the kitchen, I glanced out the living room window. The rubble was gone. A small Bobcat was a couple driveways down. He had cleared out the rubble that the graters had left behind. And not only that, but in doing so he had also cleared the mound that had been remaining from the previous blockage. The entrance to my driveway was completely clear. And flat.

Weeks of building dissatisfaction, frustration, and patience-testing have been dissipated with a weekend's worth of blessing. Sleeping in, thawing out, spending time with those I love. And a clear path to drive back out into the world.