Tipping out the snow

Here I am on this bitter, winter day in Colorado, watching the big snowflakes trickle down from the sky; all bundled up in my favorite blanket, sitting next to the fireplace wanting to share my latest adventure with you all. Well, I guess, adventure may not be the best use of words, because it literally just happened in my front yard. But…. I always like to think of it in the way that every day is an adventure when you’re walking with God! So, an adventure it is.

Alright, so let me set the scene for you. Here we are in the middle of winter in Colorado, where the weather has been very mild with minimal snow fall. When all of a sudden, this week Mother Nature has decided it is time for a full-fledged winter marathon to try and make up for lost snow, or something like that. I’m not entirely sure what she’s thinking, but either way this week has been Winter, and I mean… WINTER. Like, I’m talking white-out everyday, temperatures dropping below zero, double the amount of snowfall that was predicted, EVERYDAY…. And the kicker for you; when it’s so bitter cold that your snot and tears freeze to your delicate face as you realize your life is over and you have to go back into hibernation until the sunshine and warmth you’re used to comes back. Okay, okay, maybe I’m being just a bit dramatic. But you feel me here, right? Yah, that kind of winter.

So, it’s been a great week of cold and snow (lots and lots of snow) and just life happening. It also just so happened to be the week that my stepdad, John, was out of town for work (not on his terms, but he obliged). Now, we are very blessed to have such a beautiful horse property in the foothills of Colorado, where we have five acres of land full of pine trees and such a wonderful home for all of our animals. Which by the way we have 14 animals out here, between horses, dogs, goats and now cats. But one thing that comes with the land is also the responsibility of taking care of that much land and all those animals in freezing temps and feet deep of snow. God has blessed me with such a hard-working family where we all help out to get the job done and keep everyone safe, warm and happy. The only problem is we all have other jobs that aren’t for the non-profit or the ranch, and sometimes those other jobs demand our time from us. You know those grown-up jobs that pay the bills and allow for such amazing things such as a ranch full of animals. Between my mom, John and I, we usually always plan our schedules accordingly to have someone at home to take care of the animals at almost all times, to the best of our abilities. Well, unfortunately this week was the time that John had to be gone for work and so my mom and I tried our best to pick up the slack. We always said that having the three of us working on the ranch together was the only way we could get everything done that we needed to. I feel like God gave us each other so that we could use each other’s strengths to get everything done that God wanted us to. It always reminded me of the three stranded cord that is not easily broken because, “Two people are better than one. When two people work together, they get more work done. If one person falls, the other person can reach out to help. But those who are alone when they fall have no one to help them. An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back-to-back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger. They are like a rope that has three parts wrapped together—it is very hard to break.” -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 ERV

We can honestly say the truth behind this is profound and we really, truly wouldn’t be able to do all God has called us to do without each other! I am very blessed, to say the least! So, what I realized with John being gone these last couple days is that the work doesn’t stop just because he’s gone, the responsibility just changes. I took on more and so did my mom and we tried our best to make up for our missing piece. It’s hard to try and do other people’s talents when we were all created differently, and don’t all have the same talents. So, although my mom and I tried our best to be like John and take on his God-given talents, there were just somethings we couldn’t do. And I realized that’s okay. It’s okay that I can’t do everything he does, because that’s why I have him, specifically, in my life. If we were all created to do the same things, then there wouldn’t be anything for all of us to do, and that’s not how God wanted our lives to work. So, he created us each individually with our own gifts and talents and then put us in the world to help others. Then we find other talents that work well with ours or what we want to do, and we work together to build something with our God-given gifts for God. But we wouldn’t be able to do it exactly how God created it to be without each individual person playing their part in the whole. All of these things I have been seeing first hand this last week as I find my own limitations or blind/weak spots. I realize those are the areas I need someone in, and man, am I lucky for the people who have filled those areas.

But what I didn’t realize was that for so long I was trying to make myself have every talent I could. I mean logically speaking that sounds like a good idea, right? You want to be versatile and helpful in as many areas as possible. So, you prepared just in case you may need to use that skill set some day. I am a person who is always prepared. Ugh, honestly sometimes it is exhausting how prepared I make myself be. I can admit I’m working on this, but only after I have identified it. Because again, going back to how God created us to be was to be different than everyone else. Why do I need to try and take on John’s talents for myself? When clearly he is better at them and they come more naturally for him, and he doesn’t end up hurting himself in order to do certain things. At first, that felt like an imperfection or a flaw to me. I felt like every time I found something I wasn’t good at, or honestly, just flat out couldn’t do, that meant I wasn’t good enough. So, what do I do? I work harder in that area, because I’ve got to be better at it. I’m also a recovering perfectionist, if you haven’t realized by this point as well.

So, I’m working through all these ideas in my head, of who I am, and that it’s okay that I literally can’t do everything or be good at everything, and I came to this realization. At some point you have to rely on someone else who has those talents and not put yourself down because you don’t. Instead, you should bless those who do have those talents because guess what? Those people don’t have the same talents that you have. They may have something you don’t, but you also have something they don’t. And this life isn’t a competition as to who has the most talents. It is great to always be bettering yourself and I always try to do that as well, but don’t let it consume you to the point that you can’t see other people’s talents for the amazingness that they are. Because I hope when I see how amazing other people’s talents are in them, that people would also see how amazing my talents are in me. We are all in this together, don’t let the enemy divide you over who can do more. Ask God what your talents are from Him and let Him show you! I know He’d be glad to. He made us so perfect and intricate, and He wants us to live up to our full potential!

So yes, I feel like I kind of ran all over the place in this post, but here’s a sneak peek into how my mind works. All of these thoughts came flooding to me, after I saw our hammock full of snow. I was waddling back in my full snow suit attire, like the kid from “A Christmas Story”, and noticed our bright orange hammock just sagging to the ground. It was so full of snow. At first, I kept walking, but I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me over to it. As I walked over, I investigated it. The rope that we have tied around the trees to hold it up, were stretched to their max and were starting to fray. The bed of the hammock itself was so heavy it was touching the ground, as if some invisible person was laying in it. And the beautiful, bright colored, magical pattern on the hammock was completely covered with heavy snow. It was so heavy and strained that it couldn’t sway back and forth like it’s meant to do. It looked stuck, like it couldn’t move under all of the weight.

My instinct was to grab the edges and flip the hammock right over. All of a sudden, all of the snow came tumbling out and landed with a loud thud on the ground. And just like that, the hammock was free and light again. It instantly started to sway back and forth and back and forth, like it was meant to do. You could see the beautiful intricate pattern on the hammock seat again. The rope on the edges was loose again and no longer strained and stuck in place. As I’m standing there staring at this mess of snow on the ground, I felt the Holy Spirit say, “What stuff do you need to tip out of your hammock today, that would make you feel much lighter again?”

When the load gets too heavy to carry by yourself and you feel like you’re stuck and strained and weighed down with something, remember whose burden is light. How about grabbing that weighed down hammock and flipping it over, to tip all of that messy and heavy snow out? How much better would you feel then?

Just something to ponder on this cold snowy day.

With love,

Kaley