July 1 - “In the long run”

I had a bit of a back issue night before last. I woke up around three with an all-too familiar throbbing. I couldn’t really tell at the time whether it was hip or back. I just knew it was keeping me awake. Rather than live with it or choose my usual, option two - get up - I decided on option three. I sort of got up, at least long enough to get into the bathroom. I took one my Tylenols and crawled back into bed. Of course that meant I had to start my routine all over again, but rather than turning the light on and waking up Chris, I scrolled around on Facebook for a few minutes. That was enough to knock me back out. I finally woke up again around six. I’ll take that. 

Yesterday had been solemnly set aside as a day of … mowing. No. Not mourning (except maybe for the loss of sleep). And not moaning (although there was some of that involved). Not a typo.  Just mowing. It was just time to mow the grass. Chris seemed hesitant to let me go for it, but I assured her I wanted to give it a try. What better way to test out this back full of steroids. 

She went on and did her walk while I got started. I gotta admit, I was a little nervous. After all, the mower is not in the best shape right now. The automatic front wheel drive is completely out of commission. And the pull string broke in half, so I had to tie it back together. So … hard to start. Hard to push. And add in … it was really hot out there. Great test factors for a bum back. Fortunately. The grass wasn’t all that thick. As usual, the hardest part for me was the weed eater. Too much like sweeping, I guess. Chris did the actual sweeping, though. Happy for her to take that on. 

So, results. The yard looks great. Oh. Not what you meant? OK. My back did hang in there through the whole process. And my recovery time seemed to be pretty short, once I sat down inside and guzzled a bottle of water. We’ll see how it handles the aftermath in the long run. 

Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ says, “rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

Father, thanks for the sun. I know you created it to give light and be hot. It works. Amen.