One of the hardest things about having a large family is growing grass! Every spring I recommit to having a “normal lawn” where the grass is green and plentiful. And every spring we routinely buy loads of seed, set up the sprinklers and vow to have a better lawn by Labor Day. Then, like clockwork, about half of the way through summer we fall short on watering, thanks to our busy summer schedule. And by late summer, bare, muddy spots begin to appear from kickball games, homemade slip and slides or construction sites for Tonka trucks! So it should come as no surprise that while mowing the backyard for the first time this year I was feeling a bit depressed about the state of the lawn and reflecting on how no matter how hard I try, we just can’t grow the green stuff!
I imagined having a nice family dinner on the back patio while looking at our beautiful green space, and how good a game of tag would be if I could do it running barefoot on lush, soft turf. And then I sighed and began to accept the fact that when you have 6 kids you are going to have some “heavy traffic areas” and as a result- NO GRASS.
Nonetheless, while mowing, I decided to pray about it and tell the Lord about my desire to have a nice backyard and ask for His help. Surprisingly, within a matter of only a few days, a nice neighbor decided to create a big flower bed in his backyard and offered me his sod. I thanked him, smiled and said a prayer of thanksgiving to God, for I knew this was a gift straight from the Lord! And in His typical fashion, when God gives, He gives abundantly… for my neighbor is a single man who just so happens to work in the lawn care industry and keeps a PERFECT lawn. I am fairly sure his purgatory is looking at our less than perfect lawn with bikes and toys scattered throughout.
Not wanting to squander such a precious gift, I continue to water it multiple times a day so it doesn’t turn into hay and remind my children to please stay off it until it is established. Once again, I am reminded that God listens to our prayers and really cares about the things we care about. In the end, we need only to ask, while at the same time, not be so preoccupied with our lives that we fail to recognize the subtle ways in which He provides for our needs and wants as we live out the “Ordinary Times” in our lives..