The Divine Crash

According to some other pastors in my conference, I live in one of the nicest parsonages.  I tend to agree with them.  This parsonage is quite a step up from my last place.  Including the yard.  In my last house I could mow the lawn in 15 minutes, including the trim, now it takes me an hour with a riding mower.  This riding mower has become quite an adventure for me.

Prior to living in this parsonage I had been on a riding mower twice.

Once, when I was 13 and my grandfather tried to teach me how to drive using his riding mower.  I promptly drove into the house damaging the rain gutter, siding, and the wall.  He never let me drive again.

The other time was when I was 19 and a family I was living with went away on vacation and asked me to mow their lawn while they were away.   This was a disaster, I missed huge spots and at one point I ran over a groundhog hole and broke the wheel and axle.  While the family didn’t ask me to pay for the damages they never asked me to mow the lawn again.

So I approached this riding mower with fear and trepidation.  Last week was my first time using it, it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to start it.  I set the mower deck as low as it goes and start.  My first lap nothing cut because I didn’t realize I had to start the mower deck separately.  I finally finish and it was a mess.  I had set the blades so low that they were hitting the ground and I had giant brown spots in some spots and as a result the blades would stop and not mow certain places.  I also wasn’t cutting evenly and so I had giant clumps of grass everywhere.  Not to mention that my lines weren’t straight, they were all over the place.

This week went much better.  I set the deck higher and everything went easier.  I also noticed something to help me drive in a straight line.

Instead of trying to line my tire up with the previous path, I can focus on something in the distance and drive straight at it.  Usually a tree, shrub, or something like that.  When I look forward and focus on what I am driving towards my lines are straighter and it saves me a love time, and it looks a lot nicer.

Maybe this is what it means when the author of Hebrews says:

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2 NIV

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Pastoral Life by RevBT