Snowfort

Snow days were never complete without a walk down to our favorite pizza place on the corner and building a snowfort that would withstand the next storm.  One time I remember Lia went crazy building a really cool fort with the pile of snow at the end of the driveway.  Every minute she had outside I’d find her perfecting the architectural intricacies of that little tunnel home.  She chiseled and scraped and made that pile into a dwelling fit for a queen. 

Then one day, she got off the bus and I could tell something was on her mind.    After some small talk over a snack I said, "Alright, what's going on?" Surprised that I knew "something” was on her mind she went on to say that she was talking to someone that day who had said something bad about another person.  Apparently, she had told them that they shouldn't say those things and they weren't open to her altruistic advice. This didn't sit right with her.  She wanted to make everyone happy and she certainly didn't want to upset her friend but I helped her to see that she did the right thing by standing up for the person who couldn't defend themselves. 

Sometimes doing the right thing makes you want to crawl into a hole- or a snow fort-and hide there for the rest of the day or…much longer.  It's so important though to do it anyway and know that anytime we have the opportunity to speak for truth or justice, we should.  I think of her whittling away at that snow fort and I think of how it is these circumstances that God uses to "whittle" away at our souls and shape us into the person He meant for us to be.  A snow fort lasts for a week or so, but the lessons we learn if we allow ourselves to be "chiseled" will last an eternity.