There is that old saying that I believe every one of us can relate to, and yet we all say it.
Today, while mowing the lawn for the first time in my life, I was pondering all the "I will never…" statements I have made. Beginning with, I will never mow the lawn, that's for boys – it's okay, go ahead and cringe. It didn't take long to drift back all the way to high school when I said I would never marry a Mexican. Go figure, I married Arthur Ortiz, you can't get more Mexican than that, will maybe you can – point is, I married a Mexican – and I'm glad I did.
No worries, I won't take you through every "I will never" statement – just the last three biggies (four including the mowing the lawn one.)
Fifteen years ago this month, I said I would never move to Oregon. I am a city girl and there are too many trees and gravel roads. July 11, 1994, we pulled into our little town. Talk about culture shock! We lived on 5 acres of land that had a stream running through the property. There were apple trees, cherry trees, and pear trees. Instead of cars screeching to avoid another car, cars were screeching to avoid the deer, cows, chickens, turkeys, or the horses that escaped from their barns.
After a few years of country living, my husband decided he was going to go deer hunting – oh my! "I will never eat Bambi! You can't make me!"
Yes, you guessed it, but that is only the half of it, not only did I eat; I took the meat to the local butcher to have it packaged. To date, it is the best I have ever tasted – and I'm glad I did.
In year 12, I said I would never move back to California – nothing or nobody can make me do it.
This brings me back to mowing the lawn. As I made the 4th loop on the riding lawnmower that I said I would never ride to never mow the lawn, I noticed my husband and my son sitting on the porch smoking a cigar – what is wrong with this picture? Nevertheless, I had fun learning how to drive the contraption – and I'm glad I did.
Three month's from now we will be busy packing and moving back to California. We were fighting, trying everything to stay in this beautiful country, and we will miss the deer coming to eat the apples from the trees. But after a lot of prayer and some insight to the wonderful things and people that await us, we surrendered – and we are glad we did.
After an hour on the riding lawn mower, I was getting tired of all the grass blowing in my face every time the wind blew. Then I heard a loud snap – the belt on the mower broke – and I'm glad it did.
Imagine all this just to say, I Never ever, no do not ever want to go to Hawaii some day.
Amazing the things one can think about while mowing the lawn. Isn't it great when the "I never's" of our life turn out to be the best thing for us?
Thanks for riding along. Have a beautiful life!
