What Season Is It Anyway?!

     Don't you just love the smell of a freshly mowed lawn in the spring?
I do...but it's October and it's still mowing season in Texas!
Don't get me wrong...I love to mow but I'm ready for that season to end. 
It's time for pumpkins, fresh mums on the porch and scents of the season like
cinnamon and cloves.

     Since I love to mow, it's been one of my happy household chores for years --
that is until my little accident.

     There's always been a method to my mowing.  It starts on the north side of the house -- then I move to the front -- then the south side and lastly the back yard.  I'm always careful to mow away from the flowerbeds to keep the weed and grass pulling down.  Oh and there's always a song going in my head as I go.  Because of the rocks that seem to grow in the yard, the first song that normally comes to mind is a children's bible class song --
    
          "If I had a rock, tell me will it grow?
           Oh no, no...oh no, no.
           A rock is not a living thing, it won't grow.
           God didn't plan for rocks to grow."
    
The next song is normally a favorite from The Message or a song from the previous Sunday's worship service.  I love music and I love to sing.  It's just best to sing in my head while mowing.

     On the day of the accident, I got off work, ran an errand and ran home to mow a few patches of blue stem grass in the yard.  now in a large pasture, there are few things more beautiful than a field full of tall, silvery blue-green grass blowing in the wind like waves on the ocean.  But in our yard, a few sparse patches of the tall grass among the Bermuda made the whole yard look bad.  My usual method was out today as a full lawn job wasn't needed. 
I ran in, changed my clothes and went out to jump on my little old faithful riding mower.  To start the mower, you put your foot on the brake and turn the key.  Once it's started, you keep your foot on the brake, move the gear shift to put it in gear, take your foot off the brake and you're off -- the higher the gear, the faster you go.  Well I was in a hurry right -- gotta get supper going.  So I had that little mower in high gear and I was moving!

     I was in mid-turn between the house and the drive way when the steering wheel came off!!  AHHHHH!!!  I was headed for the truck in the driveway when I managed to get the steering wheel back on.  Although I was feeling some relief, I was going too fast to calm down.  I continued mowing the pesky blue stem only to have the steering wheel come back off again in the next turn!   AHHHH!!!  Try as I might, I could not get it back on and I was out of control and heading straight for the house!  I went through the flower bed and WHAM!! I hit the house and came to an abrupt stop with a useless steering wheel in my hands.  Embarrassed and hurting, I looked over only to see my new neighbors.  I don't think they saw the impact...but they heard it.  I waved "I'm okay" and with my tail between my legs, went into the house.  I didn't want to call my husband yet -- this wasn't something to tell him over the phone.  I had messed up the mower and I felt badly.  So looking for a little sympathy, I got my cell phone and snapped a picture of my little mower against the house and sent it to my two kids.  In response, my daughter instantly responded with..."BAA HAA HAAAAA!!"  She was laughing so hysterically that her co-workers had to know what was so funny.  My ever level headed, straight-thinking son answered back..."Mom, if the steering wheel came off -- did the brakes not work either?"
THE BRAKES!! Why didn't I think of simply hitting the brakes?! I panicked! 
It was the steering wheel's fault. 

     After calming down a bit, my leg still smarting from the collision with the house -- guess what song came into my head?  Carrie Underwood's recording of "JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL"!  Now wouldn't that be great...Here Lord, you take it -- I know you would do so much better -- I can't do this on my own -- You do the driving.  The more I thought about it, I could just see myself in the passenger seat and Jesus behind the wheel...my feet up on the dash and hands raised high...WOOHOO!!!  This is great.  No responsibilities -- just sit back and enjoy the ride!  But the Lord doesn't drive us anywhere.  He gives us choices.  He wants us to make a willful decision to follow Him.

     Throughout the gospels, Jesus simply says, "Follow Me" -- not scoot over, I'll do the driving.  He leads and we follow. It's that simple. You know sometimes we get so wrapped up in this fast paced worldly life and forget to simply follow.  Things get so crazy that before you know it, we're out of control with no steering device.  We're going so fast that we forget the brakes and it ends in a disastrous crash!  After we've crashed, then we remember the Lord.  HELP ME LORD!  I could have avoided the crash and life's crashes if I had just remembered the brakes!  It would be a whole lot less painful.

     I need to remember with the start of every day that I am a child of God.  I need to willfully follow where He leads me and trust that He will protect me every step of the way.   When I do, I'll be reflecting His light -- and that light may guide someone else to follow Him too.  You know, someone is always watching...no matter the season. 

For your consideration:  John 10:27-28, Psalms 23, Psalms 25:4-5.

Love till next time,
Lanna