the lawnmower

our son joe loves lawnmowers. when the family comes over to mow our lawn on mondays he bounces for joy at seeing them take out the lawnmower and start to get to work. if we're around and we feel like giving him a little fun, we let him go outside and he will chase the person mowing the lawn, up and down the yard, laughing boisterously at the fun of it all. when we go to the local hardware store he points to where the lawnmowers are sitting and if our attention wanders we can always find him there.

a couple weeks ago my husband and i started talking about looking for an old lawnmower at a garage sale to pick up for joe. something he could push around the lawn for fun and exercise. a few days later joe got out of the house, before we could blink we were looking all over for him. we found him coming down the sidewalk pushing a red lawnmower. we assumed it was our neighbors so we put in his back yard. the next day our n'bor told us it wasn't his. so joe and michael pushed the lawnmower to the next n'bors house. it wasn't theirs either so they left it on the front sidewalk hoping that the owner would see it and grab it. after 3 or 4 days no one had claimed it.

during those 3 days joe insistantly told us in his non-verbal way that he wanted to push that lawnmower. since no one had claimed it we decided it was a gift from God for Joe and let him play with it. we leave it on our front lawn in case the rightful owner should turn up to claim it, after 2 weeks no one has.

i am in awe of God's goodness and compassion in my son's life. if he could i'm sure joe would have prayed and asked God for a lawnmower, in his own way he was always asking us for one! and even tho joe couldn't pray the way we tend to think of prayer, God granted his fervent request and brought a lawnmower to him. tho i dont' know if joe understands that this is a gift from heaven, he is happy and shows his thankfulness every day by the joy he exhibits as he pushes that old lawnmower around the yard.

i am inspired by my son's example of thankfulness. i too, want to react with joy when the Lord brings a gift into my life, whether i have been praying for it or not. i want to acknowledge that He is the giver of all good things and that those good things that come into my life are not driven by luck or chance, but by a Heavenly Father who loves me. i want to enjoy those gifts that the Lord brings, but also remember that they are on loan. i am not the rightful owner. i must hold loosely what God has given me in case He takes it away.

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." James 1:17

sept 19th, postscript:

sunday afternoon after i wrote this, daisy ran away. after walking around the n'borhood looking for her and talking with a couple n'bors we had to conclude that she was gone. hoping that she would make her way home, by nighttime those hopes were dashed.

i woke up that night feeling sad and fretful about losing daisy. but i have to conclude that it was not a coincidence in timing. the Lord was testing me, to see if i was really living what i was sharing. so i had to give daisy over to the Lord. the verse from Job came to mind "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord" and so i gave her over to the Lord, thankful for the time we had had with her.

monday michael suggested i call the pound just in case. i wasn't enthused about doing so as i had truly thot she was gone for good, but i called. they didn't have her, but they took my name just in case. 3 hours later the pound called and said they thot they might have her. we went to check it out. the walls reverbrated with the sounds of barking dogs. i went down the aisle scanning to see if there was a black and white terrier. i saw one that was similiar and my heart sank, it wasn't her, but i kept walking. at the end of the room in the last kennel was daisy, trembling with fear. once she saw me she stood up and a huge smile replaced her earlier woeful look. i couldn't believe it was our daisy. the Lord had restored her to us. after taking care of the paperwork we took her home and she and i snuggled on the couch.

i am in awe of how the Lord works in our lives and how He is faithful to teach us what we need to know. its easy to share things that the Lord brings to mind but harder to actually live them out. yet the Lord knows that if its just words, it has no power. it must be in my heart and my life to make a difference. i pray that this lesson will stay in my heart forever. may all of us be able to say "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord"