I don’t think Steve has mowed a lawn, except a time or two, for about twenty years since Nathan turned twelve and was given lawn mowing responsibility. All of our son’s have been lawn mowers for our family. Now our youngest son is thirteen, and this is the third year he has been in charge of our lawn plus he mows Grandad and Grandma’s and a few others in the neighborhood.
Not only has Jesse whole heartedly accepted the responsibility for the mowing – which he does with no reminding – but he also has taken on the maintenance of the yard. He observes weeds and pests in the yard, discusses them with his dad, and does research on how to deal with the problem, completing the designated course of action. Jesse is learning the fertilizing needs of the yard, the fertilizing schedule, plus how to apply it to the lawn. Jesse has learned how to give a lawn mower a tune up, and he is beginning a little mower tune up business in addition to the neighborhood yards he mows. Recently he took a riding mower that was given to him but wasn’t working, did some troubleshooting of it, bought parts for it, fixed it, and sold it for a nice profit.
While Jesse mows and fertilizes, Steve’s time is freed up for his writing. In addition, Jesse is serving the family, being responsible, and developing income-producing skill.
These are the fruitful years. The Lord has been faithful in teaching us, through His Word, the importance of implanting His Word in our children’s hearts in a practical day-to-day manner. Those years of planting can become discouraging when you give the same encouragement over and over but don’t see the results immediately.
Just as the farmer does what he needs to do and waits for his harvest, so we as parents do what the Lord Jesus calls us to do, looking forward to the fruitful years with expectation not discouragement. “Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain†(James 5:7).
We, as parents, are the ones who first get to enjoy that fruit that the Lord Jesus produces in our children’s lives. “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits†(2 Timothy 2:6).
Trusting in Jesus,
Teri
Thanks for the reminder. I feel so discouraged with my 14 year old right now, with schoolwork, housework and chores. He is our oldest, so it’s easy to question whether our parenting is working, and become discouraged. If we trust in the Lord, and parent through Him, then surely all will be well, right?
Ahh, the joys of lawn mowing, and lessons learned. I burned up my $750 fancy lawn mower by letting the oil get too low and it will take $500 to fix. I bought a new one for $300 instead. It’s not quite as good as the old one but gets the job done (I didn’t really need a fancy one anyways). Now I have to figure out what to do with the dead one. If you all lived nearby I’d let Jesse work on it :). I may save it for a friend for when his sons are older as they’d like to learn some small engine repair skills (something I never aquired).
jesse is a very impressive young man and it is exciting to see him developing income producing work at such an age.
i love to work in the yard including doing the mowing and necessary work to maintain the yard, as well as the fun of watching my garden grow and produce all summer and fall. I have such fond memories of working in the garden with my dad (who could grow anything 🙂 and it quickly became a hobby for me as well. a couple of years ago we had a knock at our door from a young man (10 years of age, wonderful homeschool family) who lives behind us explaining that he was mowing lawns for the summer and left us with a beautiful flyer he had made up. as much as i love doing it myself, phil and i were so impressed with this young man and after praying over it we felt lead to have him take over mowing for us. he is still mowing for us and i couldn’t be happier with him. we have enjoyed hearing of how he saves and thithes his income, and celebrated with him when he purchased his mountain bike (we live right on the plateau of mt. rainier and we have many mountain bike trails nearby.)
it’s a joy to see these young men developing and growing a strong work ethic.
blessings.
Your posts about how your children have learned to enjoy their work (sewing, cooking, building, lawn maint.) have been so encouraging. Thank you.
Once word gets out that Jessie fixed mowers, he will be swamped. It is a rare man who can troubleshoot and fix engines and especially mowers. The man who does it in our town wants to retire but cannot because of the demand and there is no one with the skill. If they do have the skill, they do not want to. Blessings to you Jessie. Skill, good attitude and good work ethic are a rare but wonderful combination.
today my son and i flew out to chicago for a few days . on the flight out he was telling me about his lawn mower breaking down and how he wished he knew someone who could fix it. i smiled as i told him i knew i young man, jesse, in kentucky 🙂 i had to share this with you.
What an encouraging post! We have an acre to mow (with a push mower 🙂 and yesterday my husband spent four hours caring for the lawn. Our oldest just turned eight so we have a couple more years until he can take over. This post encouraged me that the fruitful season will come 🙂 Thank you!