Not big deal, but…

Hopped on my riding mower and mowed the lawn yesterday. So what? That’s no big deal, you might say. Normally, you would be right. But while my cruise around the lawn was not a big deal, on this occasion it was significant.

It was a milestone in recovery from my four-bypass heart surgery.

Back in June when it was discovered that I had blockages and surgery was necessary, mowing the lawn was an activity I had to cease doing. Carol wasn’t too keen on having me suffer a heart attack while mowing the lawn; and, frankly, the idea wasn’t real appealing to me either. So, the mower went into storage; and, in a sense, so did I.

Thankfully, we have friendly and helpful neighbors on either side of our house. Between the two of them, they kept our lawn mowed all summer, and one even did the edging. All I had to do was watch and say thank you several times.

However, I am experiencing a great recovery, and the time has come to continue increasing my activities. Yesterday, I decided it was time to test my chest muscles and see if the pressure of wheeling the lawnmower around would cause any chest pain.

Thankfully, it didn’t. All went well.

Chances are, I could have mowed a week or two sooner, but I heeded the caution of my surgeon to use common sense in resuming activities and the urging of my wife not to rush things.

For reasons perhaps unexplainable, doing a routine chore such as mowing the lawn often turns into an adventure or unexpected extended project for me. Yesterday’s lawn mowing was no exception to this general rule.

Actually, I started out to mow the lawn the day before (Monday). I decided at mid-afternoon that the grass had dried enough (don’t like to mow wet grass), so I put on jeans, a t-shirt and a cap, grabbed the lawnmower key, and headed down the back steps to where the lawnmower was under the deck. I uncovered it, bounced into the seat, stuck the key in, and turned on the ignition.

Only it didn’t come on. Yep, you guessed it. Dead battery. Many times over the past several weeks, I had cautioned myself to go crank up the lawnmower so that the battery would not go dead. I failed to heed self-warnings and paid the price.

Now, I had to pull the battery, borrow a charger from neighbor, and charge up the battery. (I’m too cheap to take it to the store for a charge. Besides, the clerk might remember that I had to bring it in one other time because I had allowed it to go dead. I know, I’m a slow learner about some things.)

So, having restored the battery to life, I replaced it in the lawnmower yesterday, and the engine sprang, er, choked, to life. We were off and riding and grass clippings were flying. It was a great feeling.

Mowing the lawn was not a big deal, but the occasion was worth a time of reflection. Sometimes, we don’t appreciate the routine things in life until we can’t do them and then we realize that they have significance to us. I’m not a person who loves working in the yard, but I don’t mind mowing the grass. There is a certain satisfaction in doing the job.

The dead battery was a reminder to me of the importance of not letting something we know we should do slide by undone. I knew I should periodically crank up the mower or the battery would be dead when I needed it. I’m glad it was only a dead lawnmower battery this time. It could have been something far more serious.

I wonder. Do we allow our faith battery to go dead because we don’t charge it as we should?