Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3

This may sound silly, but this shovel keeps me humble. It’s not made of colored carbon with flashy aluminum flanges and a comfortable plush grip. There’s really nothing impressive about it! It’s an old rusty shovel with a worn down hickory handle. But, it fits my hands perfect and it rests right in the callouses it’s made over the years. The first time I picked this up and shoveled dirt with it was over 30 years ago.

I’ll be honest, when I was little I never looked at those dirt piles as fun for long. Especially when I knew I was going to be moving that entire pile one shovel full at a time. I used to watch my friends ride by on their bikes trying to get my attention. I’d wave if I had a free hand and tell them I’d be along soon, in my disgruntled voice. I always looked at them as better than me for not having to move dirt after school. But, as I’ve grown older, I now see that those piles were character builders. I get great satisfaction from taking one shovel full of dirt at a time and carrying it across my yard to fill those holes in the grass. You’ll almost see me every afternoon as the sun sets carrying this shovel. To this day if anyone needs any dirt moved, I’ll show up with my trusty hickory handled shovel that has an iron forged blade sharpened by all the dirt it’s scooped. It’s nothing to look at. But, this shovel keeps me humble.

(originally posted on May 24, 2017 on divinecrosses.com)