12:49 p.m. Today's project was to take a broken brake lever Steve had removed from the lawnmower to the huge Lawn Center store to order a part from the Ryobi company. The mower has not worked for a couple of weeks, but with all of the rain, there wouldn't have been any mowing going on any way.
This mower was a blessed gift from our friends Howard and Charlotte, given to us last year. It is very powerful and Steve has really enjoyed using it. So making a small investment in repairing it won't be a problem. Hearing of our plight, my dad came over on Tuesday to see if he and Steve could fix it. Turned out that the brake lever is broken, so getting a part shouldn't be a problem. Daddy wrote down all of the model and serial numbers since that is too hard for Steve now.
Proverbs 16:31 says, "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness." And this is one role our seniors can play and play well: advising their children with less experience and ability. My dad has been an invaluable resource for Steve,, able to help him on projects without consideration for the fact that Steve would never have needed help to fix a machine of any kind before Alzheimer's. Or if an undertaking were a two-man job, he would have had all of the steps and equipment laid out!
We took the part and all of the information my dad had written to the Lawnmower Center on the Northside of Riverside, and showed it all and the broken brake lever to the counter man. He entered the serial number in the computer and it came up as Ryobi's leafblower series! He went to the back repair shop and looked around, and came to the same conclusion: there had to be a different serial number, one that doesn't start with 11A. My dad isn't one to carelessly make mistakes, but anyone can transpose or write a wrong number. So we took our leave and our lever and came back home.
In the garage, I looked at the number and sure enough, it began with 11A. Looks like we've hit a pothole for now on our progress toward a working mower. Maybe the Lord wants us to bless a young man we know with some lawn work for a few weeks while we figure this out.
It's funny how we take things for granted that have served us well, and assume that they'll always work well. Our mental image of our bodies is a good illustration of this principle, because it always comes as a surprise when we can't eat whatever we like without getting heartburn or can't read small print after 40! In my case, whereas I walked up the entire length of the 45- degree-angled hill that leads to our house years ago, last summer I had to take small lengths of it and very gradually add distance each evening. Bummer! But a factual bummer, nonetheless.
In our walk with the Lord, we find that a gift or a ministry or even a way of relating to people that has been fruitful in the past or in a different setting seems to hit a pothole, and it no longer makes sense. There's nothing unscriptural going on; it's just that God wants to do a fresh work. I am very energized lately to witness to people I know, or don't know at all, in recognition of the dire days we are living in. Ove the last 30 years, I have witnessed rather boldly to many people and led some to the Lord. But now I seem to have a lot less fear about it--the urgency is too strong. "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel," Paul said in I Corinthians 9:16. That's how I feel.
I also find myself a published author a of a book that lays down Christian doctrine very strictly, in a day when things are getting quite loose and cults are really making a push to deceive even believers. How does God plan to use Galatians: an Exploration of Faith and Freedom? This is
truly a new season of service, and I need to be prayerful and ready for what God wants to do!
Steve and I may get our mower repaired, or hire help, or purchase a new one. At this point I can't say. But our lawn will get mowed!
And God will see to it that His work is accomplished before the Lord Jesus returns, using His Church in whatever way He chooses!
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