God Made That

Most anyone who knows me knows this one truth... I really don't like mowing. That's actually not entirely true. What I dislike is performing huge amounts of manual labor, or even lots of energy, on something which will have to be done again, with the same amount of energy in a week. Some people love this, time alone to think, enjoy nature and see God's beauty. Same with gardening, just not my thing, I don't like the idea of getting all dirty and spending hours for something I'll have to clean up and (in many cases) replant next year. Call me lazy but I prefer to do something once and reuse that solution (which is why programming is so up my alley).

All that leads back to mowing (okay, maybe it doesn't, but bear with me). Last fall we purchased a new riding mower from Sears to replace our older riding mower which conked out on us. This mower has a WONDERFUL 42 inch cutting deck (the width which is cut by the blades, about 3 1/2 feet) AND it has a plow which made me so happy this past winter. Cut the time is takes to cut our back yard from 15 minutes to 30.

Our front yard has always been another matter entirely. It has a slight grade to it. Slight meaning it starts slight quickly goes into a 90 degree pitfall (okay, that's an exaggeration, but it's steep). I've gone through three push mowers, sweating, panting and miserable after 15 minutes of mowing. That all changed today.

We purchased a Craftsman multi-speed, self-propelled, 6.5hp, rear wheel drive 21" deck mower. That's enough big words to make anyone salivate, even if we don't know what it means. What it does means to me is that I mowed that horrible hill in 15 minutes (usually takes 30 - 45) with almost no effort (thanks to the rear wheel drive). I had so much energy I even cut some of the tricky areas in back with the new mower (normally I'd leave them be, rednecks would love me). I then grabbed the riding mower and mowed the back.

While I was mowing I was reminded of a conversation I had with Alex L. last Thursday. We got on the topic that everything in this world was made by God. We had some more clarification there but it boiled down to the fact that the iPod so many have, the computer on your desk, the car you bring to work, or the new lawn mower which makes life so easy was created through man by God.

So right now I love this new lawn mower and that it turns a job I used to hate into a job I currently like. Once the newness wears off I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune and wish my robotic lawn mower worked. But around that time I'll have my wife take over mowing the front. Yes, like the great lawn mower, I chose a great wife. No idea how I get her to marry me, but a wife who mows is worth keeping! For the moment I'm going to celebrate this event by bringing ColdStone to youth group tonight!

We see the things in life that God has given us pretty clearly. My question is simply this... What have you done or created which improves the life of others? What great solutions to problems has God worked through you?

Peace.

posted by Tom at 2:31 PM