HER Lawn

I arrive on Sunday, but the wind did a number on her

beautifully manicured lawn on Friday night. 

“The mowers come on Tuesday and all that has to be picked up 

and I guess I’ll have do it,” she murmurs. 

I look at her lawn and it looks fine to me.

The next morning I went out early for a walk and noticed the sticks

hidden down in the grass so I spent the next hour collecting and disposing

of sticks and pine cones. The trash seemed to multiply. But, it was such a 

joy to do this for my 88 year old Mother-in-law, Ruth. 

The next thing I knew, Ruth was talking to a teenager and asking him to

come over to do some projects including the lawn. I tried to show her that

I had worked on it, but to no avail. Imagine my surprise when the teenager

found an hours worth of sticks and pine cones! I watched him.

I was triggered!

I was MAD!

“I did all that work, and, without a kind word, she is doing it all again?”

“I can’t seem to please her when I try to do the outside work. She does

it over again”--for this was not the first time this sort of thing had happened.

“I can tell by the way she looks at me that she is not happy with me.”

(which was not true!)

This sort of conversation within myself continues throughout the afternoon.

A little grumble here and a little grumble there can become a big overflowing

outburst and then what? I have a wonderful mother-in-law who has a passion

for the outside of her house. She almost died four months ago. What is all this

about, really? Me! If I concentrate on the beautiful person she is and all the fun we

have, if I look at the whole instead of the quirks, then things drop into perspective 

and I can let the whole thing go. My sweet Papa shines the light into my heart;

I receive His perspective, and peace reigns!