Paid Forward - Part1

After a hearty discussion recently with my landlord, the topic of how much she was paying to have her expansive property mowed came up. Trying to get the mower to come out had been a daunting task, even more so now that the yard needed some major cutting. I told her I could cut her front yard, for the time being. That conversation turned into she and I agreeing to go in together in buying a used riding lawn mower and I would be the one doing the cutting.

After assessing the time it would take to mow the entire property, I had come to a realization that I must be crazy if I thought I would be able to mow the lot with my little push mower.
Nevertheless, Saturday morning I was at their front yard as promised. It took me almost 2 hours to mow just the front yard, and I was exhausted. Taking a break, I went inside my house (also on the same lot) to get a drink of water when a couple of minutes later, I hear knocking on my door. It was a young man (I say young, he’s probably in his mid-20’s – but compared to me --- young) greeting me saying he wanted to show me something. I looked over his shoulder to his truck pulling a trailer; on the trailer was a brand new Cub Cadet riding mower, with Linda (my landlord) proudly showing it off with a huge grin on her face. Linda motioned for me to come over to check out the new “toy”.

Of course, I masked my glee with the casual “nice mower” – even though inside, there was a little kid jumping up and down. I let the young man make his speech on the proper operation and maintenance of the mower, then asked me to jump on board. I took the helm on my new mustang and happily rode off into the sunset (figuratively speaking)
I gotta tell ya, this baby was sweet!... Ahem!

At any rate, the euphoria of having experienced a half-day joyfully riding on a mower with “My Redeemer Lives” blasting loudly in your ears is something to behold. I was singing along at the top of my lungs without a care in the world (actually, the mower was loud enough that my voice was muffled by the rumbling sound)

But I think back (and with confirmation from Linda) my sweet little angel Marguerite -- Linda’s 93 year-old mom-- must have seen me sweating outside mowing her lawn with a determination that I was going to stick to my promise no matter what. Because of it, she saw it fit to reward me with a gift that makes me happy to do things for them, to help them as much as I could, and to be there whenever they need me.

…not to mention that riding the mower can be therapeutic.


How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1John 3:1