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Episode #5: One Woman, a Yard, and an Aching Back

~ It’s April, time to tackle the yard, but there’s only so much a woman can do.

Where is that help that God promised in times of trouble?~ 

It was a chore she could put off no longer. Jessica Ransford stood in her front yard, eyeing the shaggy bushes along the house, the wild onions that were growing in the lawn and in her flower beds, and the grass which needed a trim. Leaves and twigs were poking out of the gutters. She sighed. What a time for her husband, Sam, to be gone. She had assumed that the fight against terrorism would have been won by now, had assumed that Sam would be home to handle the yardwork. But, that was not the case and, on this beautiful weekend in April, Jessica determined to tackle the job before the neighbors started complaining. Wearing Sam’s work gloves and a grim smile, she hauled the lawn mower out of the garage. 

Within half an hour, Jessica was lying on the couch waiting for the pain reliever to take effect, angry and upset and depressed. 

The lawn mower always started for Sam. She’d seen him poke the rubber button on the side, and then give the cord three hard yanks, and be rewarded with a steady growl of the motor. Well, she’d poked that button until her finger was sore, and jerked on that cord at least ten times with each arm until she wrenched her back. It didn’t help matters that Caleb, the 10-year-old know-it-all, had stood beside her criticizing every move she made. “That’s not how Daddy does it. I bet I can get it started!” “Your face is getting red. You’d better let me do it!” She’d wanted to bean the little twerp, but had managed to hold her temper in check. As it was, big John Durning from next door couldn’t even start it! 

Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes as she stared at the ceiling. God knew that she had to take care of the house and yard all by herself. Why couldn’t He make the mower start? Was that too much to ask? 

After a while she sat up and reached for the phone to call her friend, Kate Hunsrucker. 

“Kate, do you think Paul could look at my mower and see what’s wrong with it?” 

“You sound upset. What’s wrong?” Kate asked perceptively. 

Jessica explained how her plans for the day were foiled by a broken mower and her sore back; her voice began to wobble halfway through the list of outdoor chores. “What am I going to do? How am I supposed to get anything done when I can’t even start a stupid mower?” 

“Oh, Jess, don’t worry about that,” Kate said kindly. “One week won’t make much difference. I’m almost sure that Paul can come over next Saturday, and that you can borrow our mower if he can’t fix yours. In the meantime, why don’t you take a long soak in the tub?” 

It was a tempting idea. “But it’s in the middle of the day, and I haven’t accomplished anything yet!” Jessica argued. 

Kate laughed. “Look, instead of thinking of this as a spoiled Yardwork Day, rename it Pampering Jessica Day, and see how many nice things you can do for yourself!” 

After checking on the kids, who were all outside enjoying the spring weather, and after receiving Maggie’s promise to be responsible so Mom could have some privacy, Jessica spent the remainder of the day taking care of herself. That night, even though the yard still looked unkempt, Jessica enjoyed a deep, peaceful sleep. 

When the phone rang at 9:30 am the following Saturday, the sky was a robin’s egg blue with only a few wispy clouds drifting along. Jessica was sipping her morning coffee, dressed in her grubbiest jeans and ready to tackle the yard. 

“Hey, Jessica,” Paul said in his normal, easy-going manner, “we thought we’d be over there about 10 o’clock, if that suits you.” 

Kate must be coming, too. That will be fun. “Be sure you bring a mallet to teach my lawn mower a lesson,” Jessica joked. 

Paul laughed. “Oh, I don’t think we’ll resort to anything that drastic. See you in a few!” 

Caleb and Brianna were watching cartoons and Maggie apparently wasn’t up yet, when the sound of a vehicle pulling into their driveway reached Jessica’s ears. She quickly rinsed her coffee mug and put it in the dishwasher. 

“Hey, Mom!” Brianna shouted. “There’s a truck and two cars here!” 

There were certainly more car door slams than she expected to hear. Jessica hurried into the living room. Her children were peering between the slats of the mini-blinds. 

“Another truck just pulled up!” Caleb announced. “Can I go outside?” 

From all the commotion, you’d have thought Jessica was having the granddaddy of all yard sales. She got to the door just as the doorbell rang. Throwing it open, she found herself face to face with Paul Hunsrucker. 

“We’re here!” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. 

“What’s going on?” 

“I called the other deacons and let them know you needed some yard work done, and we decided to bring the youth group with us to pitch in and get you all fixed up! Now where’s that lawn mower of yours?” 

Jessica was at a loss for words. She stepped outside and looked at the men and the teenagers piling out of cars and trucks, unloading rakes and pruning shears and lawn bags, and stopping to grin and wave at her. 

“Wow! Isn’t this neat, Mom?” Caleb said enthusiastically. “Hey, Josh! Over here!” 

Brianna skipped after Caleb as he ran to greet his favorite teen. Maggie slipped out of the house and past Jessica, headed for the girls of the youth group, who were starting to pull weeds in the flower bed. Jessica’s motherly gaze noticed that her normally late-sleeping daughter had donned make-up and her newest top, and that although she was heading for the girls, her glances were aimed at the boys. 

Jessica showed Paul the mower. The first thing he did was unscrew the gas cap. Dismay brought her hand to her mouth as he peered into the tank. Oh no. I never thought about gas! 

Paul winked as he said, “I bet this’ll start once we fill ’er up.” Then, before Jessica could think of something clever to say (feeling anything but clever at the moment), he added, “Looks like this is a great day to do yard work.” 

“I can’t believe that so many people would give up a beautiful day on my behalf!” Jessica said in awe. “To sacrifice a Saturday to work in someone else’s yard -- I don’t know how to say thank you.”  

“It isn’t a sacrifice when you do it out of love,” Kate said, coming up behind Jessica. “We all love you. We know how hard it is on you to have Sam be gone so long.” She gave Jessica a warm hug. “Let us know when you need help. We’re here for you. You got that?” 

Jessica thought back to last week, when she was so upset with God for not helping her take care of her yard. She had felt abandoned. Yet God was so good, that He sent her more help than she could possibly have imagined! 

As it says in Ephesians 3:20, God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Praise his Holy Name!

Copyright 2002 by Brenda B. Covert