Thankful Thursday

Yesterday we had our third snowstorm of the season.  It was the first time the snow actually accumulated on the pavement.  So it was the first time Wally actually had to take care of the snow removal here at the Polo Club.  It is mostly done by hand shoveling and he arranged for day laborers to do the work.  The snow was letting up just before noon and 16 men descended on our community.  There are 126 driveways, sidewalks and four mailbox kiosks. The roads and perimeter all get plowed by a truck. Wally thought it would take six hours and then wondered if it would get done.  Guess what??  In two hours, they were half done.  Those guys really worked! 

I am thankful that the first snow removal went well For Wally.  I am thankful he has a good job and we have a warm home to live in.  But I am also thankful for the opportunity to just show kindness to other people.  I cannot judge as to why these men do not have jobs or if they have a warm place to return to at night.  But they are definitely men who do not have a whole lot in life.  When they stopped for a break I had some cookies to give them.  I asked if they wanted hot chocolate and was told, “I think they’ll eat anything”.  So it made me think of some antelope sausage we had in the fridge.  I finished cutting it up and Wally took it down with some crackers.  He said he could not believe how fast they ate it up!  You know, it just gave me a warm feeling inside when they all thanked me later on! 

In Bible study this year we are studying The Acts of the Apostles.  One lesson keeps coming around to me.  I may not always speak the gospel, but I do need to be living it.  I have many opportunities in our new community to do that, to show kindness, to live before them as Jesus would.  And then perhaps I will also have the opportunity to speak the gospel also!

‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

Matthew 25:35 and 45