The Bottom Dropped Out!

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bible, breakdown, God, lawn mower, lawnmower, matthew 6:33, mow, mowing, problem, relationships, repair, riding lawn mower, riding mower, time, verse

I hate it when a project is going along smoothly, and then… BOOM. The bottom drops out.

I was sitting the saddle of my riding lawnmower and cruising the easements between our property and the neighbors. It was a nice evening and the grass was cutting well and then… BOOM!

The deck drive belts that propel the blades gave up the ghost. One belt blew out and the other was in bad shape. The original manufacturer belts were made of kevlar, so they lasted almost 20 years. I really can’t complain about that, but the easements with their strips of long grass looked like a 5-year-old got hold of a pair of scissors and cut his own hair. And I had to leave them like that.

Image by Lincoln Rogers, all rights reserved.

I’ve performed most of the maintenance on our riding lawnmower myself, but I’ve never had to replace the deck drive belts. First time for everything, right?

Yeah, well… it took a few days of figuring.

Figuring out where to get replacement belts for a decades old riding mower. Figuring out how to detach the mower deck and bring it out from under the mower. Figuring out how to replace the belts in the correct alignment. Figuring.

What should have been 3+ hours of a job well done turned into 3+ days, instead. It was my bad. I hadn’t been regularly checking the status of those drive belts on my riding mower. They had been doing just fine for about 20 years, so I took them for granted. If I had stopped to take time and examine them on a regular basis, I would have realized they weren’t in good shape.

Sometimes issues in life are just like that. We think things are going along smooth and then… BOOM. The bottom drops out. And most times, it is our bad. We didn’t stop and take time to examine the important things in our life. We took them for granted.

Maybe this mechanical issue with my riding lawnmower will remind me to stop on a regular basis and examine the more important things in my life. Like my relationships — with God, with my wife, and with my friends. Am I spending the time to keep those relationships in good shape?

Or will the bottom drop out?

God knows what the important things in life are, and exactly what we need. Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

You can find Lincoln Rogers on the conservative,
Pro-America social media platform USA.Life
https://usa.life/LincolnRogersWritingPhotography

A link to USA.Life.
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Helping Those Holiday Blues

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abuse, addiction, anitdote, blues, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Christmas music, depression, difficult, family, friends, giving, grief, help, Holiday, holidays, Licensed Professional Counselor, lincoln rogers, loneliness, loss, merry christmas, positive, pressure, pressures, relationships, serving, stress, supportive, therapist, toxic, volunteer

Sometimes it’s easy to forget…

I look around at a merry atmosphere – Christmas music playing, the blessings of a warm house and plenty of food, the horses safe in the barn, good health and good relationships with family and friends.  In the cheerful bustle of the Christmas season, it can be easy to forget how many people struggle emotionally and psychologically during this time of year.

Why?  The reasons are legion.  People miss loved ones who are gone from their lives – the holidays remind them of family dysfunction and/or childhood abuse – addictive behaviors make frequent appearances during this stressful season – lack of positive/meaningful relationships create a feeling of withdrawal and loneliness – etc., etc., etc.

I have a Masters Degree in Counseling, along with being a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado for a number of years.  During my career as a therapist for troubled families, teens and abused children, I saw a lot of the “other side” of the holidays.  It’s real and it’s difficult. For those struggling during this time, there are several ways to stave off the holiday blues, including:

• Begin a new tradition. Plan a family outing or vacation instead of spending the holidays at home.
• Don’t succumb to holiday pressures. Feel free to leave an event if you aren’t comfortable and be willing to tell others, “I’m not up for this right now.”
• Volunteer. Work at a soup kitchen, organize a gift drive, help a food pantry or simply help the neighbor dig the snow out of his driveway.
• Get back to nature. Going for a walk in the park or the woods helps many people who are feeling overwhelmed to feel better.
• Inject the Antidote. Nearly everyone has one or more “toxic” relationships in their lives – relatives or friends/acquaintances who are relentlessly negative and/or needy.  Find and “inject” the “antidote” relationships during this season.  Consciously spend time with those people who are positive and supportive.

It might be easy to forget how challenging this time of year can be for people, but it’s also easy to remember you can help by being a positive influence to everyone you meet.  After all, Christmas is about giving and serving, not about getting.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/cowboy-boot-christmas-lincoln-rogers.html

Have a giving and positive Christmas season and don’t let your horse come home without ya!

Lincoln

You can find Lincoln’s online gallery of Fine Art Photography here