Learning Perseverance

One of the things I've always enjoyed doing is cutting grass. Perhaps it's because I like the feeling of control, pushing or driving a dangerous machine that chews through grass before spitting it out. Perhaps it's the smell of newly cut grass or the sense of accomplishment, making tall grass become short, though I'm not completely sure that this counts as much of an accomplishment. When we arrived in Salatiga three months ago, our backyard was starting to look overgrown. I immediately found myself wanting to cut some grass.
Soon, school started and I forgot all about the tall grass in the backyard. The school sends a gardener to each teacher's house at least once a month to help maintain the property. I asked that the gardener cut the grass in our backyard since the front yard requires virtually no care. Slowly, the gardener has been "mowing" strips of our back yard. I must confess that I've been a bit disappointed with his slow progress. So, being the American I am, I decided to cut the grass myself. Filled with a sense of the pioneer spirit I decided to walk downtown to buy a tool to cut the grass. Notice I said tool not lawn mower. The walk took me a bit longer than I thought it might and my initial attempt to locate a vendor selling what I was looking for failed. I couldn't remember where I had seen the man selling tools. Before long I found a different vendor and purchased my hand scythe for 20,000 rupiah ($2 US). I returned home eager to cut some grass.

I decided to cut a strip of the backyard like the gardener had been doing. Five minutes into my lawn cutting project I soon realized why the gardener only cut a small section of the yard at a time. It's not particularly hard work just slow. Two hours later I finished my small section of the lawn. Dripping with sweat, I look with satisfaction at the small area I had cut.
It is amazing how two hours of cutting the grass had changed my expectations. Normally, I like nice straight lines when I mow and an even cut. With my hand scythe, I was pleased to just cut the grass. There are no lines and it is certainly not cut evenly but at least it's cut. The grandeur of my accomplishment quickly fades as I survey the rest of the yard. The good news is that there are only about 5 more hours of cutting to do. The bad news is that I don't know how to keep up with "hand mowing" 14-16 hours a week during the rainy season. These reality make me feel discouraged and hesitant to even continue the lawn mowing project.

When despair starts to set in I like to put my situation in perspective, theologically speaking. Dripping with sweat and bleeding from two self-inflicted wounds due to my lack of experience with the hand scythe I'm reminded of other situations in my life when I've felt similarly. These memories are some of God's best gifts to me. Some of the memories are triumphant where everything works out just like a Hallmark made for television movie. Some, remind me of failures; times where my knowledge, strength and/or perseverance failed. While I don't like to dwell on failure, these stories remind me that despite the negative outcomes, God has seen me through them. I know it sounds cliche but maybe that is the point. Through good or bad, God is faithful. Through good and bad God calls us to be faithful. Perhaps God will use my hand scythe and love of mowing to teach me more about faith. As I learn I'll pass it on. God bless. Jeff