"HEY MOW!"

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25)

FIRST THINGS FIRST:  I think I need to start this one with a DISCLAIMER.  My wife (and several other people) have expressed to me at times that I should not discuss personal problems, bad days, frustrations, and matters such as that on the blog.  Mary Ann has (correctly) pointed out that if one reads (say) the blog of a big name pastor or evangelist or of one of the executives of the Assemblies of God, the material will always be very classy, polished, professional, uplifting and edifying.  Mary Ann (along with a few others) doesn’t like me appearing to be weak, petty, childish, vindictive, you know, that sort of thing.  I’ve admitted that they DO have a point and over the past three or four weeks, I’ve really tried to watch that.  THIS ONE, however, I just could not pass up, and I DO think there are positive reasons for posting it.  I WILL say that some readers could definitely believe I’m being weak, petty, childish, vindictive,etc. with this posting.  IF you’re really bothered by that, you probably should close this up and not read it.  You’ve been warned!  If you read it and it offends you, well, I think I’m in the clear!

When a person “sets up” a posting for their “journal” on AOL there are a number of choices to pick for the “mood”.  I had a hard time with this one.  There are probably at least seven choices I could have made, but I HAD to choose one.  Please understand I have MANY moods and thoughts as I write.  I’ve had a disappointing and frustrating experience today, but I’m really trying to “process” it and see what (if anything) God wants me to do with it and to learn from it.  If this was ten or fifteen years ago, I would have been yelling in anger like some kind of a maniac and my whole day would have been ruined.  I’m amazed that I’m pretty calm and reflective as I write this around 7 p.m. and I hope that indicates there HAS been some Christian growth in this fragile, earthen vessel.

Many of you know I’m a real “Three Stooges nut”!  I am.  But the title is NOT a misspelling.  It IS a take-off on Curly or Shemp yelling, “Hey Moe!” but in a few moments you’ll understand the spelling of  “Hey Mow!”.  I’m really not much of an outdoors person.  I’m not at all a handyman.  That continually bothers me  because my father and brother were both amazing handymen and my father really looked down on men who were not good mechanics, carpenters, etc.  Maybe the deeper part of that is for sharing another time.  As much as I’m NOT outdoorsy, I am one of those guys who really gets into having a nice lawn.  I’ve learned a lot about lawn care over the past few years.  The parsonage I live in may be 116-years-old and in an older, blue-collar neighborhood, but the place HAS A GREAT LOOKING LAWN.  I’ve put a lot of time, labor, and effort into the lawn and I’m really proud of it.  Like Hank Hill on the “King of the Hill” cartoon show, it’s almost a spiritual experience for me to cut the lawn.  (My kids have compared me to Hank Hill and I think in some respects it’s a fair comparison.)  Many times when I cut the lawn, I pray as I’m mowing.  The mowing is so loud, people can’t hear you, and, well, smelling that fresh cut grass, looking at the “green carpet” and talking to God at the same time, well, WOW, that’s a natural high for me.  

Over the years, I’ve had Sears Craftsmen lawn mowers.  In 1996 my mower was old and “shot”.  I used to bring my mower over to Canton a couple of times a month to cut my parents’ lawn, so my mother gave me the money to buy a brand new mower that year.  Ten years went by quickly, and by 2006 it was starting to run rough and needing to be replaced.  To my surprise, on Memorial Day weekend of 2006 a couple from our church presented me with a brand new Electrolux Weedeater lawn mower (which actually has a Briggs & Stratton engine).  I sold my Sears mower at a yard sale and proceeded to enjoy the Electrolux.   The new mower wasn’t bad UNTIL THIS YEAR.

This year it just did NOT run right.  Starting it was a pain.  It ran rough.  It would cut out at times.  It seemed ten years old instead of two.  I HAD my friend Bill (one of the best mechanics I know)  do some minor maintenance on it on ’07, but I decided I didn’t want to bother Bill this year so I put the lawn mower in for service at one of the few “Mom & Pop” hardware stores left in MetroWest.  THAT day in early July was tough.  The mower kept cutting out and cutting out.  I was only able to get the lawn half done and I had to finish it with my weedwhacker!  The mower was in the hardware store for two weeks.  I was thrilled to pick  it up.  The first time I used it the mower pretty much ran O.K.  The second time it was AWFUL.  I had to finish the lawn with the weedwhacker again!  The third time it was EVEN MORE AWFUL.  Again, I had to finish the lawn with the weedwhacker.  I took the mower back to the hardware store.

At the store, I asked, “Do I get a discount since this was in here just a few weeks ago?”

No kidding, They angrily said “NO!”
The guy who actually repairs the mowers proceeded to give me a lecture.  He told me it was all my fault and I was putting bad gas in my mower.  He said I had old gas in my gas can which was now mixed with water due to  condensation.  I wasn’t sure I believed that, but I left the mower.  The good news is, they actually DID charge me much less for this repair than for the previous one.  The main thing the hardware store did THIS time was clean the carburetor.  But there’s plenty of bad news coming...

Today, (my day off) I went to Home Depot and bought a new gas can and put about a gallon of gasoline in at a local station.  I went and picked up the mower.  I was so happy.  “Now I can mow the lawn without any problems and without needing to finish the job with the weekwhacker,” I happily thought.  Less then ten minutes into cutting the lawn the mower cut out and would not restart.  I could not get it restarted for about a half hour...the same symptoms I’d had before!  To say I was disappointed was putting it mildly.  I was able to restart it a couple of times. Each time it would run a minute or two and then cut out.  

You guessed it.  I ended up cutting 75% of the lawn with the weedwhacker.  You haven’t lived until you’ve cut a lawn with a weedwhacker!  Four times in a summer!  Well, it’s something I don’t ever want to do again!

Yes, a lot of things went through my mind about that hardware store.  I know I can take that mower back there 47 times and it will never be right.  In the past I’d have named the store.  If you live in Boston’s MetroWest suburbs, it’s likely you’ll figure it out.  Think of the letter “M”.  It’s NOT a horrible store.  They are a propane filling station and I use them for that.  They are efficient and reasonable with that.  They’re a good place to stop when you need a hose nozzle, or some penny nails, or some woodfiller  or whatever.  I use them for stuff like that when I don’t want to take the time to go to Home Depot or Lowes.  But it occurred to me when I brought back the lawn mower that they really didn’t seem to care about me as a customer and they really didn’t seem to care about solving my problem.  I’m not saying I’ll never go there again but I will never take a lawn mower there again.  AND, I will say, if they continue to treat customers with a “couldn’t care less” attitude, they won’t be around much longer.

I mentioned Bill earlier.  Bill is from the church I pastor.  Bill is a very busy man with a lot going on in his life and family.  He works much harder than a man of almost 68 should have to work. Bill’s had a pretty difficult year with the tragic death of his granddaughter’s husband, among other things.  I absolutely did not want to bother Bill.  After I got in around supper time and got cleaned up, I called Bill’s cell phone.  I kind of took a lesson from Paul’s letter to Philemon and poured on my “help me please, Bill” request.  Bill is sometimes quite stressed and carrying a heavy load, but he was very patient with me, and kind of chuckled.  I actually think in a crazy way he was enjoying the chance to help me.  After I described the symptoms, Bill told me it’s very likely the lawn mower has a bad spark plug.  He laughed when I told him I finished the lawn with the weedwhacker!  Bill is going to make every effort to look at the mower on Saturday.

SO, maybe I should have called on Bill in the first place.
It DOESN’T let that hardware store which begins with “M” off the hook.
It also doesn’t take away from the fact that (physically speaking) I had a draining and terrible day...but God is still on the throne...

This story is not over at this point.  Maybe someday it will be a good sermon illustration.  Right now, I’m LIVING it...

Whaddya think??