A Full Day

September 25, 2021

Living in a small community with our kids and friends (and their friends) nearby has advantages that far outweigh any of the so-called liabilities. Bright lights never held much allure for me. We are close enough to metropolitan areas that we can take in a concert or stage production if we choose, without having to constantly fight traffic and congestion of city life. And these days with their restrictions on public assembly make urban life even less desirable to me.

This morning I got a call from #2 son asking if he could borrow my tractor with bucket loader. He was breaking up some concrete and needed to haul it away. I loaded everything up and delivered the tractor. His neighbor Bob came over and helped throw pieces into the bucket, even bringing some of his tools to help with the project. After moving a couple loads of concrete pieces, I left the tractor there and came home to finish taking down a dead ash in my backyard. I borrowed #1 son’s chainsaw because mine isn’t big enough to make a clean hinge cut. 

The tree came down just as I had hoped. The hinge was perfect and it landed right where I wanted it. Returning the saw, we rehearsed for next week’s funeral. I ran out of time to work my bees, but they’ll wait. Sermon preparation is next in line before grandson Nathan’s soccer game tonight. I hadn’t planned it this way, but today was a fulfillment of Scripture:

“Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” —Ecclesiastes 9:9-10 

I don’t find my life to be vain or empty in any way; instead, it is filled with the blessings of salvation. Linda and I do live joyfully together, through thick and thin, good times and hardship. I live where we can and do help one another out on a regular basis, and I put my hand to work today, giving it everything I have. Should I wake tomorrow morning in the presence of Christ, I would say to him, “I gave you everything I had up till the very end.” I did it far from perfectly, but any failure or shortcoming was not for a lack of desire, and I know grace will continue to go before me till I see Christ face to face.