We have been dealing with an ice situation like we do each year because our home faces north. The sun during the winter cannot reach our sidewalk or the top part of our driveway. Also the downspouts are situated where they run off onto the driveway and a portion of the sidewalk. We recently replaced a large portion of the front sidewalk causing the ice to build up thick in the sections we didn’t replace. It’s a winter nightmare.
Even though this situation is frustrating, most winters we just throw a bunch of salt on the icy areas and they eventually disappear.
But this winter has been different. Last winter we had the majority of 30 pound bag of salt left over from the previous year. With the lack of snow and ice the salt turned hard, rock hard. I decided instead of us hammering the block of salt to make it usable I would just throw it away and buy new salt.
I was extremely happy when I found a 10-pound bag, so I purchased only one after asking the manager if they would continue to carry that size all winter. He assured me they would. The previous year I saw a very large display of 10-pound bags towards the end of winter in this same store so I believed him. I didn’t want us to have to deal with hardened salt next winter if I could avoid it.
Never did I expect this would be the winter of all winters with an unusually heavy amount of snow and extremely cold temperatures. Our 10-pound bag was rarely used due to the extremely cold temperatures since the snow didn’t melt off from the roof or surrounding areas of the sidewalks and driveway. Until… twice we had an inch or two of snow followed by a downpour of rain followed immediately by more snow and extremely cold temperatures.
Our 10-pound bag of salt quickly vanished trying to remove the ice from steps and a portion of the sidewalk never realizing that due to the large amount of snow salt was scare. With spring approaching the large chain stores weren’t expecting additional winter salt to arrive. Various stores kept telling me call back on Tuesday, call back on Thursday. I called everywhere I thought they just might happen to have salt without any luck.
In the meantime, we spent over two hours with garden shovels breaking up the ice on a warm day which allowed water to form underneath the ice dislodging it enough for us to chip it away. The snow alongside the sidewalk and roof continued to melt throughout the night collecting on a few areas which we were so excited to be rid of ice. Before morning the temperatures dropped below freezing and the ice returned.
Desperately I searched for salt again without any luck. Before the ice was crunchy with only a few slick spots, but now the ice was like a skating rink… smooth and extremely slippery.
Of course, I was the only one worried about this because of my health condition and for the delivery guys that bring me presents from online ordering.
I prayed to find salt, but my prayers were not serious and therefore I didn’t find any. Now I needed help that only God could provide.
I turned the situation over to God and He reminded me that we still had two containers of cat litter stored away in the event we decided to adopt another cat since our last little one had passed away. I retrieved the cat litter and sparsely sprinkled it onto the ice. It just sat on top making it still slick maybe even slicker. I thought at least I would have some traction, but not so.
I never lost faith that God would get us through the remainder of February and March with the melting and freezing that lie ahead.
I had to run an errand three days after turning the situation over to God. Each day I kept my eye on the ice which never changed.
I was pleasantly ecstatic after bundling up to face the extremely cold temperatures when I saw the ice was gone. The icy patch was approximately nine to ten feet long and thick. We had temperatures below zero with highs in the teens since I turned the situation over to God. There is no way it could have melted on its own. It was God. He performed a miracle because I put my trust in Him.
God loves us. God created us just to love Him and fellowship with Him. He wants to be part of our daily life. He wants to go to work with us, spend the day with us, He wants to go shopping with us. Every place we go, He goes with us.
Sadly, we often ignore Him, when all He desires is to give us the best that life has to offer. But in order to receive we must put our life in His hands. We need to allow Him to take care of us. That’s all He asks of us.
He is a good Dad. He is a great Dad. He is an awesome Dad.
God doesn’t always perform miracles in our lives, but He had equipped us to handle each situation that comes our way. He has given us the Bible with the answers to leading to a healthy, prosperous life full of peace, joy, love, happiness and contentment. But unless we know His Word we will never experience all that He desires for us.
This is not the first time I put a situation into His hands with miraculous results. I have put large problems in His hands trusting Him and He came through at the moment it was needed. Just like with the Miracle of the Ice.
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