It was pretty at first. But it kept snowing and didn’t stop. Five inches turned into ten. Then, six more inches fell. Then another nine, and another 14, and still more fell. Soon, we had more snow than I had ever seen before. 

All the snow started causing problems. We could barely get to our chickens. We had to dig out the coop to give them food and water. We also had to dig a path from the house to the woodshed in the backyard. We needed to refill our empty wood racks in the garage to have fires in our wood stove and fireplace. 

And still, it snowed. With more snow came more problems. The local paper and news stations began to report on building collapses in town. The topic on everyone’s mind was roof snow removal. Were residential homes in danger of having roof collapses? 

My husband and I discussed having our roof shoveled and decided to hire someone. He called around, and no company would answer their phones. Voice message mailboxes were full. When he finally talked to a human, the estimate was over $1,500, and the wait was two months. Breakup (when all the snow melts) would be here before we could complete the work.

We researched signs that might indicate stress on a roof. Thankfully, we had none, so we figured our roof was fine. Though our house is older than dirt, it is built well.

Our chicken coop was a different story. I noticed the roof was beginning to sag a little. Being made from plywood and tin sheets over beams, the roof wasn’t super strong. We knew we might have a problem. The weight of the snow was becoming too much for the roof.

Our son decided to shovel the roof for us and save the chickens from possible disaster. He climbed up on the coop, toting a snow shovel, and removed most of the snow. He saved the roof and the chickens. Hooray!

As I thought about the weight of the snow on the roof, I realized stress can pile up in our lives just like the snow. A little bit is okay. It might even be helpful to motivate us to accomplish a goal. But as more adds up, the weight on our shoulders can become an issue. If not dealt with, stress can lead to serious problems. 

We can minimize stress by talking to God about our worries. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” We can trust the Lord with our stress because He loves us so much. He cares about the little details in our lives as well as the overwhelming problems.

God may also use others to remove some of our burdens. Sometimes we cannot do it by ourselves. Galatians 6:2 (ESV) says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” 

We aren’t meant to do life alone. Sometimes we need a friend to shovel some of the weight off our roofs. Sometimes we need to shovel for a friend. How can you help others? Or how has a friend helped you? Please share in the comments.