The Snow Angel
February 11th, 2010
When you have two snow days in a row, the novelty wears off. I was really struggling with something interesting to put on here.
I could tell you that I ran 4.5 miles on the treadmill. It was a “tempo” run, but let’s face it, there’s no such thing in my world as a tempo run on a treadmill. I think it is exciting that I made it that far. But still, treadmills are boring, so what do I have to write about? I watched Ellen and Drew Brees was a guest. He cut his hair.
I also could talk about some of the exercise clothing I bought at Target and Old Navy, or just post a picture.

I’ll do the same with Dave’s Valentine’s gift.

Exciting, right?
However, I did end up receiving an email from my mom with a story about her parents that I thought would be nice to share on the blog.
They are the two most loving, selfless, kind, caring people you will ever meet.
Steve and his wife live in Hong Kong and their four daughters are scattered across the world.
Then there’s my mom, she, my dad and my little brother are currently snowed in about 25 minutes from where my grandparents live.
My Uncle David and his wife Ying Ying live in Taiwan with their 7 year old daughter, Ana.
Then there’s Missy. Missy was born with cerebral palsy and lives in an apartment about 30 minutes from my grandparents. She has a roommate and a live-in in personal care assistant. Despite the help she has from her assistant and social worker, my mom and countless others, my grandparents do almost everything for her.
Their hardwork and selflessness isn’t limited to the needs of my aunt. Grammy is always whipping up dinners and Pappy is always working on some “project”. They aren’t just the benevolent grandparents that you visit on Easter and Christmas. Pappy taught me how to drive. Grammy taught me how to take blood pressure and make “hospital corners” on beds. If I got sick at school, Pappy would pick me up and Grammy would make me soup. They are pillars in their church and the backbone of our family. Grammy and Pappy are constantly giving, serving and loving.
Next month Grammy will be turning 80 and, in April, Pappy will also be 80. Despite the fact that they are very active, they are suffering from the inevitable aches and pains that come with age. Do you think any of the family has heard them complain about it? Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. My mom is constantly reminding them that they need to take it easy! And apparently my uncles overseas do the same thing.
The snowfall accumulation back “home” was almost 3 feet. When my Uncle Steve heard about it, he called my grandparents begging them to find someone to shovel for them, knowing that my mom is was snowed in as well. Pappy doesn’t ask people to do things for him, rather, he does things for others. In fact, Pappy was probably already making plans to shovel himself out, then drive to my Aunt Missy’s to shovel her out and bring out the salt trucks, and to make sure she wouldn’t slip on the sidewalks. You can imagine that it took a few more pleas from his kids to get him to realize that he can’t be the one to shovel them out.
With this weighing on his heart, he went up to his room to pray about it.
While he was up there there was a knock and my grandmother answered to find a boy, whom she had never met, named Jake. Jake asked if he could please shovel for them. My grandparents, having learned from 80 years of experience that God’s timing is impeccable, accepted his offer. How sweet!
Jake shoveled for them and when he was finished, my grandparents were so pleased that they not only paid him, but took his name and phone number to call if it snowed again… only to learn that he wasn’t even from the neighborhood! As he turned to leave, Grammy noticed his hood was full of snow, so she offered him a dry hat and scarf for his walk home.
You can imagine the relief of their children who were separated by snow and oceans when they heard of the snow angel that God had sent. It’s amazing how God listens to our prayers, even when they seem to be so small. It’s also amazing how those prayers are answered, like Jake and his shovel–the snow angel.


