All during the evening, Friday night, Larry kept looking for the snow and talking about not seeing any. He seemed to be the only one in the family that wanted the snow to come quickly.

Just before they went to bed, Larry and Lisa were talking.

Lisa asked, “So, Larry. How much snow do we have now?!”

Larry responded in a very disappointing voice, “Well, I don’t know. I went outside a few minutes ago with my ruler to stick into the snow.”

Lisa exclaimed, “What?! You mean to tell me that there’s actually enough snow to measure with your ruler?”

Larry said, “Actually, no. But I thought I should check anyway.“

Lisa said, “Do you think you’re even going to be able to sleep tonight? You seem to be too excited.”

Larry said, “Who knows? But I’m gonna be ready tomorrow for that snow. We’re going to attack it. And we’re going to win!”

Lisa said, “Yeah, Larry. You’re gonna have to calm down a little bit if you want to sleep at all tonight.”

Larry went into his room, and sat on the edge of his bed. Sam came over to him, and sat next to his buddy.

Larry looked at the picture of Daniel in the lion’s den on his wall. Somebody might’ve thought this was a tradition, but really it was more a comfort for him. He was hoping that it wasn’t becoming an idol.

Larry said to the Lord, “I need you to help me understand when things are not as important as I think they are. I need to stay focused on what You want me to do, but not on trying to do it by myself. I remember the story of Daniel. He knew he had something very hard to do. Actually, it wasn’t something to do. It was something to NOT do. Help me to know when I’m doing things I’m not supposed to be doing.“

——

Early in the morning, even before the sun came up, Larry was looking out the window. Larry wasn’t sure whether he slept at all that night. But he still had lots of energy. He was ready to attack the snow.

At breakfast, the Lewis family was chatting about the snow some more.

Larry said, “I went outside this morning with my ruler. I stuck it in the snow. I’m very disappointed. According to my ruler, we only have about 3 inches.“

Mr. Lewis said, “Well, Larry. It is still snowing. And the weathermen say that it’s going to snow most of the day. So, you don’t have to worry about having too little snow today!“

Mrs. Lewis said, “I am so glad that you are all excited about helping each other shovel. But Larry, you’re going to have to calm down. We don’t want you having a heart attack even before you start.”

Lisa said, “Good advice, Mom. Larry, did you hear that?”

Larry had already finished his breakfast and was looking out the window. His family wasn’t sure that he was even listening to them at all. They thought he was thinking about the snow, but actually he was thinking about what he was talking to the Lord about before he went to bed last night. Larry was still struggling, knowing when to attack and went to just stand firm.

Mrs. Lewis said, “I guess we’re just going to have to let Larry have some fun watching the snow, since he isn’t going to stop anyway.”

Then Mrs. Lewis said to Sam, “What do you think, Sam? Do you want to go out and play in the snow?”

Sam got really excited whenever somebody was talking to him. Everybody wondered if Sam understood English. But it didn’t matter, because Sam knew when people got excited about going outside, he probably was going to go outside, also.

Larry said, “Oh, that’s a great idea! I think Sam and I will go out and run around and check to see how much snow we have now. Is that OK, Mom and dad?”

Mr. Lewis said, “Sure. Do you want to go out with them, Lisa?”

Lisa said, “I guess so. Somebody has to watch out for Larry. And you know Sam! He’s just going to encourage Larry instead of helping him to calm down.“

——

After everybody was finished eating breakfast at the Lewis family home, Larry, Lisa, and Sam went out to play in the snow.

Larry said “Hey, Lisa! Let’s make a snowman, or snow woman.“

Lisa said, “Well, I guess there’s enough snow to try to make a snowman. Just as long as Sam doesn’t keep smashing the snowman before we finish it. You know how Sam is.”

Sam gave off one of his cute little barks. Actually, this one was loud.

Larry said, “So, I wonder why we’re the only ones out here in the snowstorm having fun. Doesn’t everybody else understand they are supposed to have fun before we have to work hard shoveling the snow?“

Lisa said, “Larry, if you are really serious about attacking the snowstorm, you better not wear yourself out playing.”

Larry said, “I don’t think that’s gonna happen!“

——

After they played in the snow for about an hour, Larry and Lisa brought Sam back into the house.

As Larry was warming up, he started thinking about some strategies for “attacking the snow”, or was this a time to just sit and wait? Larry knew that the Lord was trying to talk to him, but Larry still was not a very good listener. He knew that! But how was he going to change?

Larry said, “It looks like it’s going to be snowing most of the day. I guess we won’t be able to get out to shovel the snow until tomorrow. By then, there will be an awful lot of snow on our driveway.“

Larry was talking out loud to his family, but he really just wanted to think about it himself. He knew he needed someone to talk with him about what was happening with the snow.

Mr. Lewis said, “I think you’re right about that, Larry. But there is not much you can do about it. I guess we’ll just have to wait until it stops snowing.”

Larry said, “What if I go out there and shovel the snow off the driveway right now? Then there won’t be so much snow on the driveway when the snow stops.“

Mr. Lewis said, “If you really want to do that, Larry, I guess it’s OK. I just don’t think it’s a really good idea.“

Larry said, “I think I’ll call Charlie and ask him if he wants to go out and do some shoveling with me, now.“

——

Larry said to Charlie, on the phone, “Hey, Charlie! Looks like it’s still snowing. I was just wondering whether you might want to go out with me and do some shoveling right now. That way, there will be less snow on the driveways when the snow stops. What do you think of that?”

Charlie responded, “Ahh. I don’t know, Larry. That doesn’t sound like a really good idea to me. We’re really gonna be cold out there if we shovel while it is snowing. And it’s snowing so hard that we won’t even be able to tell where we shoveled.“

Larry said, sadly, “OK. I just thought I’d ask. I guess we’ll wait until the snow stops. My dad said the same thing.“

Charlie said, “OK, Larry. Looks like it’s probably going to be tomorrow before we can start.”

Larry thanked the Lord, quietly, that He gave him friends and family that were willing to listen, and had good advice.