Tag: mowing

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, life, love, loving others, Scripture, thankful, Trials

A Tale of Two Mowers

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” 1 John 3:18

It was time to buy a mower.  A while back my son-in-law and daughter moved back from Oklahoma to Paducah.  That meant that once again our family circle was close together again.  He had been in the Army and had been assigned twice eleven hours away (Savanah, Georgia and Lawton, Oklahoma) and once for a couple of years in Korea. Trust me…that was a lot more than eleven hours.  But happily, the tribe can finally get together occasionally.  They rented a house in Paducah, Kentucky…a house with a good-sized yard.  However, since they lived “on post” at his last assignment, they didn’t have a lawnmower.  They thought about buying a goat (smile) but Judy and I offered to give them our mower and I would go and get another one.

My mower was my friend.  We had been together for about ten years, and it was still in great shape.  It was a solid brand; commercial grade mower and we made a great team.  Honestly, I really hated to part with it, but it felt good to be a little generous.  So, I began the search for a replacement. I researched and asked around to try and make a good decision.  A friend of mine used to own a small engine shop and dealership, so he was my go-to person.  His advice was to buy a good one with a dependable engine…like a Briggs and Stratton. So, after a long search I settled on a big name, expensive, brand…a Honda…with the hopes it would take me well into the future.

During my chase for a new mower, I discovered that my semi-local big box store (or just about any store for that matter) didn’t carry much stock.  That meant I had to order it and the nice FedEx man would deliver it to my house.  After ordering, I waited several days for it to come and finally the day arrived.  FedEx usually leaves my packages at the front door and because this was going to be a big one, I left a nice big note on the front door that said, “Please leave package at back door.”  He apparently didn’t see the note and deposited the lawn mower on my front porch.

Well, upon examination I discovered that part of the handle had broken through the box and was sticking out.  I knew that couldn’t be good.  I opened the box and discovered that the handle was bent and one of the front wheels was too.  Bummer.  Well, to make a long story short that meant I had to haul the mower to the big box store (and it was not going to fit in my car) and reorder another one.  I told my grass to stop growing because of the delay and it said, “No.” Well, now I was in a pickle. I went to “Plan B.”

“Plan B” went like this. Another big box store had a lesser brand (but with the required good engine) and it was half the price.  Smile.  Then I discovered it was an additional ninety dollars off.  Big smile.  So, the very expensive damaged mower, which by the way was very poorly packaged, went back and the cheaper, lesser brand came to live with me.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the lesser brand and discovered the company (here in the USA, by the way) had built a wooden frame around the mower to protect it.  Not surprisingly…it was in perfect condition.  So, the expensive mower was left to bang around in its cardboard box and the lesser brand (that cost a whole lot less) came in some type of wood reenforced cardboard box.  Some things just don’t make sense.

Well, only time will tell the end of this story.  I used the new lesser brand the other day and it did very well.  Smile.  Regardless of its “lesser” name, I expect for the foreseeable future my grass will be shorter and that is what matters. In this case the quality of the packaging and the price trumped the better branded mower.  One package said, “We care about you and our product, and one said, “Oops and good luck.”

You see, the packaging, in this case was as important as the product.  It is true in lawn mowers, and it is true in life. It matters how people perceive who we are. If we want people to think a certain way about us…we must live that certain way. A guy named John who was a disciple of Jesus wrote and said, “Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” Yup…actions matter more than words…and never is that truer than in our Jesus walk.

It has been said people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  In a world that is way short on love and kindness, we need to put it right out there so there is no question that we care.  Our packaging really does matter. So, I’ll let you know how the mower thing plays out.  Regardless, I know this.  The lesser brand sent me, the consumer, a message—we care about you, and we care about our product.  God has a message for us too.  It simply says, “I’ve got this.”  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, Grace, gratitude, life, prayer, Scripture, thankful, Trials

When We Need a Win

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards.” Song of Solomon 2:15

It was one of those days…and I needed a win.  Well, it was Saturday and as days go that should have been a good thing…and I suppose in the scope of the universe it was. But closer to home in my universe, it was a bit more challenging.  I’ve learned that the things that make things challenging aren’t usually the big, scary monsters of life but rather the little things that go sideways. And it isn’t one small thing but rather when there is an avalanche of them.  Solomon said in the Song of Songs (a book about love in the Jewish and Christian Old Testament), “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards.” Let me translate that for you, “Watch out for the little things that come your way, so they don’t spoil your day.” I guess I wasn’t watching.

I decided to begin the day by mowing and trimming the yard.  I also decided to trim first and mow second.  Bad choice. My string trimmer normally is pretty cooperative but that day it decided not to be. I primed, pulled, choked, unchoked, and pulled some more.  The answer was no, no and no so I went and got the mower and started mowing. By then I was a little hot and more than a little bothered.  When I finished, I tried the trimmer again and this time it decided to start and I told it, “Why didn’t you do that to start with?” Why indeed.

I finished the yard and went inside to have a late shower and breakfast and then decided to mess with one of my clocks. I had messed with it a couple of days before. It was running when I started and not running when I finished. Bummer.  So, every time I looked at the clock that proudly showed the wrong time, I was reminded of my failure. I had an idea of what was wrong, so I took it off the wall and messed with it again. Turns out that wasn’t the problem, so my clock was still messed up and I had an epic fail. Before putting it back together (this was one of those large, wind-up clocks) I went to the kitchen for something and I prayed a five-word prayer, “Lord, I need a win.” That was it.

I put the clock back together and back on the wall, and, just for fun, gave the pendulum a push and guess what happened…the clock started ticking and tocking and well, it is still running. Now what was that all about?  Well, for me there is only one answer—God heard the simple, five-word prayer from one of His kids.  It wasn’t profound and it wasn’t even spiritual—in fact, it may have been just a hair selfish—but my Dearest Daddy agreed that day—I needed a win—and answered my prayer. How about that?

It’s so good, so reassuring to know that we have a Father who is not too busy to hear us in the biggest and smallest moments of our lives. Sometimes it’s a yes, sometimes it’s a no, and sometimes it is a later but always, He hears.  Take that one to the bank…my Father, your Father loves us and cares for us.  No matter what, we can always know that “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, love, loving others, Scripture, Southern born, thankful, Trials

#friends

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

There were times when having a sister was not a bad thing. So, I am the baby of eight kids.  Daddy and Momma, probably unintentionally, grouped the kids.  There were three older boys, then a girl and a boy, and finally two more girls and me—the object of my parent’s delight—the perfect child. Ok, that is not even close to true but after all, it is my story. Growing up there was not a brother too close to my age, so I was kinda a solo act and too often the object of my sister’s merciless teasing and testing. More often than not…we were at odds.  And, of course, they would run to Momma and tell her how bad I was.  But she knew better…oh yes, she knew better.

Now with all that said, there were times when having a sister was not a bad thing.  When they became teenagers a few years before me, sometimes I got to tag along on dates. Since their boyfriends had their driver’s license, it meant…freedom!   Yup, even sisters have advantages. Another of those advantages involved manual labor. You see when I was a kid, one of my responsibilities was to mow the yard.  While our yard was good sized, we also had a couple of acres that was just a big open field.  Every once in a while, that field had to be mowed.  Riding mower?  You’ve got to be kidding.

At one time or another, I do remember we had two push mowers.  They were nothing special—in fact they were anything but.  They were usually lawnmower corpuses that my Daddy had resurrected using spare parts.  I particularly remember one that didn’t have an off position on the throttle.  The only way to turn it off was to pull off the plug wire.  It was this mower that taught me the value of doing something carefully because if you didn’t remove the wire very carefully…well, let’s just say it was a shocking experience!

Well, I’m not whining (no, really) but that was a lot of weeds to mow.  So, every once in a while, I would talk one of my sisters into helping and sometimes they would even volunteer.  I mean you know how girls…even sisters…are about their figures and what I saw as work they saw as a weight loss plan.  Anyway, I would lead with mower number 1 and my sister would follow with mower number 2.  It sure helped–both physically and psychologically.  Just knowing I wasn’t all alone was really encouraging.  Well, I remember the time I was mowing my little heart out thinking my sister was right behind me with mower number 2.  Around and around, I went…never looking back…believing that she was still there.

Well, the bottom line is I went and went till I happened to look back only to realize that she had quit, and I was all alone.  Instantly the task seemed impossible and the field bigger than ever and I wanted to quit too.  The difference:  I was alone.  At that moment I realized that even though I didn’t always like my sister…I needed her. We may have fussed and fought but when it came to mowing, she was my helper–my partner.

Well, the point is this:  we really do need each other…especially in our life journeys, our spiritual journeys, our day-to-day bump into stuff journeys.  Having someone we can talk with, someone we can share our burdens with, someone who will pray with us and for us, someone who is slow to judge and quick to love is just invaluable.  Someone said, “No man is an island” and that is just the truth. I’m learning that you don’t have to always agree with someone to love that someone…or even like that someone.

Even as a person who values alone time—I know there is value in walking side by side. In the Old Testament part of the Bible, Ecclesiastes 4:9–10, one of the smartest guys ever to live said, “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” Well, let me just tell you, I know that is true when you are nine or ten and mowing two acres and it is true today and every day.  There is no better best friend than the One who wants to be your Dearest Daddy.  He will never leave you alone…never quit.  You can trust that “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne