3rd Gear

We planted grass seed for our lawn and we are now happy homeowners with dirt, weeds and some grass around our house. The greenery that was growing through the dirt needed to be mowed and my husband had mentioned that he might do it tomorrow.

It is a busy season for my auto mechanic husband. Vehicles seem to crash and burn more when it's really hot or really cold. So, in a burst of generosity, I decided that I would mow the lawn for the second time to relieve him of one thing from his list.

We have an old rider, but it works fine for now. My husband showed me how to use it last time and things had gone pretty well. I was getting confident in my skills as a lawn mower driver, so I put on my dust mask and started in 3rd gear.

We have a large pile of 8 foot oak logs on the edge of our lawn that will heat the house this winter. I got a bit too close to this pile and the laws of physics came into play. All I can say is that I'm thankful that we didn't get a new lawnmower yet. It still runs fine, but it's not the mower that it was. I finished the lawn in 1st and 2nd gears. (I decided that it cuts the grass and weeds nicely at this speed and I had more time to plan my moves and avoid hitting other large, prominent obstacles.)

I will say that I felt a bit like Pigpen...you know, Charlie Brown's friend? When I got to the point of almost finishing an area and circling a small patch, I had to guess where to cut because I couldn't see for all the dust.

I then called my husband at work. He is such a gracious man. He was prepared for the worst when I said, "I got too close to the woodpile." When I told him the damage, he said, "Oh, that's not too bad. Using the mower takes some getting used to doesn't it?"

He doesn't have "mowing the lawn" on his list anymore, he has "fix the lawnmower" instead.

I wonder how many times I try to help out God, when in fact I didn't. I think that I know what needs to happen and jump ahead in 3rd gear. Just helping Him out of course.

Thankfully, God can use all things for His good, even when I have messed up.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:28

I do know a couple good things that came out of my lawnmower incident. God used it to remind me again of what a wonderful a husband I have and to teach me that I need to start out in 1st gear next time.