The back yard of our home has two companions this morning. Our dog Gibbs and myself are seated on the patio taking in some fresh air as well as enjoying a very hot cup of Door County Chocolate Cherry Coffee. I surveyed the vegetable garden and found three tomatoes who have sprouted from the blossoms. I welcomed them to the day with a smile.
Yesterday I had the nice experience of going shooting on a sporting clays course with two friends from work.We walked the course, I shot for diddly do but the exercise and companionship was a great time. Both of these guys are considerably younger than I am. Between the shooting stations you walk to get to the next one and it isn't all that far and the overall course, when finished is a mile walk so they tell me. Now both of them could move pretty fast and to be honest there was no need at all to rush. But their natural walk moved them a little quicker than I was moving. I forced myself to pick up the pace so they would not have to wait for me. It wasn't that I couldn't go faster, I was just enjoying the day, the walk and the banter that goes with guys hanging out together.
I came home and it was sadly apparent that Rene had mowed the lawn the day before. My share of the work is to trim the edges. When I say that it was apparent the overall lawn looked great but the "Trim Areas" looked like a dog with a case of the mange. I came into the house, grabbed some cold water and went out and trimmed the yard. I cleaned up the clippings from my lawn rescue and watered all the flowers as well as giving them some plant food.
When I was all finished I was a little sweaty and smelled like freshly trimmed grass. While I was replenishing my cold water supply. My wife Rene who is the brains in this relationship said. "Do you realize what you have done? Do you have any idea what you did?" I looked around and could tell she had been scrubbing the floors in the house. I checked my clothes and there weren't any grass clippings on my jeans. So there were none on her clean floors. I had already removed my boots in the garage and knew that couldn't be the issue. I checked our dog who accompanied me on every step of my outdoor chores and he was fine. I looked at my water mug and I hadn't spilled or even dripped any water on the floor or the kitchen counter top.
I stood there like a school boy in the principal's office with my head hung a little and replied. " Mam, I have no idea what I did, please enlighten this shell of a man as to what domestic crime I have committed." I then quickly ran to see if I had left the toilet seat up. I came back because I hadn't failed potty 101 either.
Job 1:21 Living Bible (TLB)
21 “I came naked from my mother’s womb,” he said, “and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”Rene was quick to laugh and she said. "You shot sporting clays this morning. You came home, and hit the yard work, trimming, sweeping, weeding a little, and then watering everything. Last year your knees were so bad that the yard work would have had to be done tomorrow. You would have been on the couch with ice packs on your legs. The decision to have knee replacement surgery should have taken place years ago. But most of all when there was doubt in December when the post operative pain was high and the therapy was grimacing at times, God healed you and carried you through some tough going. When the snow storms of January hit and you took care of the snow removal hobbling behind the snow blower He carried you. Last night when we attended the baseball game and we were walking to our cheap seats and you did not want to miss the singing of our national anthem, I saw you scooting up the stadium ramp like days of old and I knew God was carrying you again. You turned back to see if I was keeping up with you. I had to hurry a little but my thoughts were . You go Buddy, don't wait on me. God gave you the use of some new wheels just keep going."
I hadn't thought about it at all, and was a bit ashamed of myself for not stopping to thank God for the ability He gave me to experience walking pain free once more in life. It's bad when you have to be reminded to praise God for what I already have taken for granted. As I was dressing to go to church last night I sat on the side of the bed, bent my legs and put on my cowboy boots. That was another thing I couldn't do last year either. Rene's lecture still ringing in my ears caused me to stop, smile, look up and say "Thanks Dad".
Friends don't forget to be thankful while you still have the chance for all that God does for you. As fast as the blessings come they can also disappear.
Love to all,
Marty
No comments:
Post a Comment