The Snow Removal Ministry began in my own front yard. It was way more snow than I had anticipated and as I write this at 1pm in the afternoon, it is still coming down heavily. My snow blower couldn’t handle the volume of snow. The snow blower can handle about a foot of snow, so the three feet bank of snow just swallowed it. So, I shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled.

I checked my e-mail and facebook looking for people wanting help and for volunteers to pick up. I loaded my snow blower, shovel, broom, a cup of coffee, and gps and started out.

I took 464 to 15N and after about two miles it became clear that I was not going to be able to help very many people today. The main roads were barely plowed, and I had to drive for miles just to find a place to turn around. For the hour I was gone I saw perhaps a dozen vehicles total and most of them were county plows and service vehicles. So instead of getting in their way, I decided to head back home.

Often times in disastrous times there is an overwhelming desire to help people, but there may be reasons why we can’t. It might be a person can’t handle the emotional stress, the distance, the physical requirements (like shoveling), or some other obstacle that prevents them from helping. There has to be a ‘first responder’ group that has the proper training or equipment to go to work first, plowing the way for those that want to help to come in later.

There may even be people who are suffering and questioning why no one is coming to help them, not knowing that there may be obstacles keeping those who want to help from taking action. If I kept going on 15 I would have eventually gotten in the way of the plows or eventually needed county resources to get me out of a snow bank. We all have to know our limitations, and be willing to help within that limit.
So the snow removal ministry has been delayed because of snow, and we will give it another try tomorrow. Perhaps by that time the roads will be clear, the snow will have stopped, and we will be ready to help.