Loving Through A Lawnmower

This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters. Suppose someone has enough to live and sees a brother or sister in need, but does not help. Then God’s love is not living in that person. My children, we should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring. 1 John 3:16-18 NCV

My family and I have been at our church for a little over a year. Fourteen months to be exact. I loved this place the moment we walked in. The people. It was the people. The greeter didn't just hand me a program and say, "welcome," and send me in the sanctuary. No, it was the sweetest, love-filled hug I had ever received walking into a church. I felt like telling the greeter, you had me at hello.

Almost immediately, we began the next steps classes. Once completed, my son Ethan and I started serving in the café. Around the same time, Ethan began attending student ministry. Before I knew it, Danny and I were serving in the student ministry. We also attended a cooking small group that my husband and I enjoyed. Every time my family and I walked through the church doors, we met more and more people. Worshiping, serving, volunteering, eating together. Small group. Doing life together. Building relationships. Mind you, we didn’t know anyone when we walked through those doors for the first time. My oldest son, Justin had found this church on the internet.

Now plugged into our new church, everything flowed. Justin, who was away at college at the time, could hear the excitement in my voice when we would talk. During one of our conversations he said to me, “Mom, I’m so happy for you. You’ve found community there.” He was right. I had found community, and was building relationships. That’s what the new testament church did. They didn’t just go to “church” together. They did life together.

While serving the student ministry, Danny and I met Rob and Lanette. Serving alongside this friendly couple, we got to know them. Serving together, turned into genuine friendship. Lanette and I have lunch together and spend hours talking about our faith, our families, our lives. Over the months, we’ve laughed, cried, and prayed together. Months! Seems like we’ve known each other for years, not months. And what’s equally amazing is that our husbands became good friends as well.

When Hurricane Harvey hit our area, it was devastating. We, like so many other families, couldn’t get back to our home for almost a month. But in the middle of all this, God continued to rain down His blessings on us. Even though flooding river water was everywhere our eyes could see, and almost all our neighbor’s homes were flooded with water in them, our home didn’t flood. As a matter of fact, the only thing we lost to the flood was our lawnmower. In our haste to evacuate and make sure everything was put away, the one thing we forgot to secure was the lawnmower. It stayed out and was submerged in water. Danny and I were grateful that was all we lost.

As we started to get back to our daily routines, the water started to dry up and it left muddy river residue all over our yard. It was growing and getting taller. I know it bothered Danny not to be able to cut it. Not because of vanity, but because of normalcy. Not being able to do something as simple as cut the grass was another effect of the hurricane.

On a Sunday afternoon after we started settling back in, Lanette called me and asked if she and Rob could stop by and see us. Rob had something he wanted to give Danny. I told her to come on over-- Danny was at the store, but he would be home shortly. We sat in my living room just talking for about thirty minutes, until Danny and Justin walked in. After some small talk, we all went outside because Rob wanted to show Danny something. Lanette, Rob, Danny and I walked to the back of his SUV. Rob clicked on the remote and the door slowly opened. There was huge box. It was a brand new lawnmower.

Danny was speechless. His eyes were filled with so much emotion. He couldn’t say anything but a heartfelt, “thank you.” But the look and bear hug that passed between Rob and Danny said everything that needed to be said. As Lanette looked at her husband with overflowing love, I looked at my husband and I could see his faith going to another level. Danny could see that God is in the details. Remember, "in our haste, we forgot to secure the lawnmower." God never forgets us. He's never too busy. God cared enough to send that lawnmower through His body---the body of Christ.

To the naked eye, it’s just a lawnmower, a machine. To the four people, the two couples standing there, it’s so much more. An answered prayer not yet prayed. A sacrifice. A friendship growing. A bonding experience between a husband and wife. A testimony during a Wednesday night student service, where afterwards, a young man says to me, “Mrs. Jenny, I really liked your generosity moment. That was so good.”

It’s loving people not only with words but actions.

Challenge: How can I show love today without words?