One drip at a time, over time, can turn into a lot. I learned that the other day. 

I took a look out our front door and found an olympic-sized skating rink on our front door step.

Okay, it wasn’t olympic-sized but the ice was thick. Anyone thinking about ice fishing would have no trouble hauling out an auger to drill a good-sized hole. 

I’m expecting to see an ice fishing hut right outside my front door any day now. 

The whole reason I checked was because I am having a package delivered in the next few days and I don’t want a lawsuit on my hands. 

We have always had problems with ice on our front step in winter. The way the house was designed has created the perfect conditions for a pool of ice.

I remember years ago I used to play a computer golf game with a couple of buddies. We got together on Wednesday nights at about 10 pm and called it “League Night”. It was the night we would gather around my computer and play a golf game that had lousy graphics by today’s standards. 

One guy in our group, Charlie, was the luckiest of us all. If I hit the ball in the woods, I would always be behind several trees. Not Charlie. Somehow all the trees would line up on either side of his ball like he had a funnel to the green. 

In fact, we started calling it that. Charlie would hit his ball in the woods and Dave and I would call out, “funnel” because he had a clear shot every time. 

Well, the shape of our roof comes in like a funnel above our front door. The snow and ice naturally gathers there. When the sun melts the snow, it runs into the eavestrough over the door and turns to ice at night … but just keeps building up. 

We have six inch icicles hanging down above our front door. They look like an elaborate security system that I could detonate and drop on unsuspecting intruders.

We have been dealing with the ice on the front walk by sprinkling ice melt on the step. It melts the ice when the temperatures are just below freezing, but when the temperature drops lower, it stops working. 

The only good it does then is make it easier to break up the ice. It kind of works like greasing a pan before you start cooking something like eggs.

This is not an adequate fix because the eavestrough is full of ice. In fact, the ice has built up a good inch and a half over the top of the trough. 

The only way I will be able to solve my problem is to clear the gutters … and unless the temperatures start to rise that will be a long time coming. 

For now, I’m left with chipping the ice away that keeps dripping off the trough one drip at a time. 

Here’s the thing: A lot of time we deal with sin by confessing it. Then the next time we sin, we confess it again. But to adequately deal with our sin, we need to deal with the source of the sin. Acknowledge, confess and run from that.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: In what area of your life do you need to fix the source instead of the results? Leave your comments and questions below.

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