September 19 – “A new crew”

We had quite the surprise yesterday.  Well, at least I was surprised.  Chris knew it was coming.  Kel and his family came over.  OK, not that unusual, especially for a Friday.  They often make the trek all the way down here from Texas (LaMarque) on Fridays to have a snack or two and usually some pizza.  But this time was considerably different.  They brought tools - outdoor tools – the kind useful for doing yard work.  Yep.  The  whole family worked out in our yard (which needed it badly).  Kel and 11-year-old Jachin did a tag team on the mowing (Well, they did after we went over and borrowed Nathan’s lawn mower.  Ours kept dying again).  8-year-old Micah was a master at the weedeater, edging the front so that it looked great.  4-year-old Josiah then stepped in with his assignment – the grass blower.  He also helped his Mom do some flower bed weeding.  And finally came 2-year-old Noah with a full-sized broom, sweeping up the grass remnants. 

Jachin was having a really difficult time maneuvering the jet-pack that was Nathan’s lawn mower.  He made it through about half of the front lawn before I realized two things.  One was an oversight on my part.  I had forgotten to raise the level of the wheels, so it was really having to struggle through our high grass.  The second one I guess I should have acted upon sooner, but he was building up some key muscles for the next time he attacked a lawn.  See, Nathan’s jet pack lawn mower included an attachment that sent power to the wheels.  He didn’t have to push the thing at all.  Boy did that ever make a difference for him.  He may actually do the whole mowing thing again now.  Micah didn’t seem to have any trouble at all, save for the typical extension cord tangle woes.  Josiah lasted a good five or ten seconds before that massive leaf blower became just too heavy for him, so Mom took over for him.  But he did a great job of scooping up the gathered grass and hauling it over to Forty Steps (aka the vacant lot next door).  Noa was great with a broom.  Sweeping with it, I mean.  As far as I could tell she never tried to ride it, so I think we may be safe on the Hogwarts front.  Kel handled the back yard by himself.  It was a great surprise and an even greater blessing for this old sore backed dude.  Gotta be proud of the youngsters for helping out.  Made the pizza lunch taste just a little bit sweeter.

2 Tim 4:2 says, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.”

Father, thank you for sending us a yard crew yesterday.  Bless them for the efforts.  Amen.