Lawn Mower Molehills

    My nephew was over this summer, bringing the total number of kids at my home to five, all under the age of five. The day was winding down and the kids were getting edgy, so for fun I decided to give them lawn mower rides. (Don’t judge me; I live in the country!) Each one took their turn, sitting in my lap and taking a spin around the property.
    When we were done, I pulled a big no-no. I left the lawn mower sitting in the front yard and didn’t put it back in the shop. The next day, I caught a glimpse of my one-year-old playing on it. Oh well, I thought, it gives him something to do with his love for climbing. (Refer back to the note about living in the country.) Eventually I thought it best to get the lawn mower back in the shop before my husband took notice of it sitting in the front yard.
    There was just one problem.
    The baby had removed the key from the ignition.
    Oh, how I searched and searched for that key! It just had to be around there somewhere! I had my bigger kids help me search: under, inside, in a ten-foot radius… Nothing. With a sigh, I put the machine into neutral and heaved it back into the shop – with a little bit of Preschool Power cheering me on. Again we searched the spot for the key. The next day I dragged all the kids back out there to search on hands and knees through the grass.
    All week I prayed fervently to find that key. Please God, I pleaded, help me find that key so that I don’t have to tell my husband that I lost it. Or how I lost it! Nothing.  Finally Friday came around and I knew that I had to tell him. I girded myself and swallowed my pride and sucked it up and just blurted it out to him.
    Funny thing is, it was no big deal after all. He didn’t mind that I was entertaining the kids with the lawn mower, he thought it was humorous that our little climber had figured out how to remove that stubborn key, and he said he could get a new key easily from the dealer.
    I had tried to deal with the mess in my own power.  Keeping secrets is stressful business! Releasing those secrets to a spiritually mature, trustworthy friend will help you realize that what seems to be a mountain may be nothing more than a molehill. And for heaven’s sake, don’t try and hide your sin or troubles from God. He knows anyway. Search it out, confess it, receive His forgiveness and you’ll be relieved you did.
    Oh, and the next morning, while walking out to my minivan, a glint caught my eye. There, in the same spot I’d searched dozens of times before, laid that shiny lawnmower key — as if dropped there straight out of heaven.