It is the end of another full day, Father. It is also almost the end of another month, and at least for us, the final days of summer break are upon us. But time rolls on. May we make the best of our time. Fill us. Use us, oh, Heavenly Father. Amen.

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Back in July of this year, I spoke of the log splitter that Karen’s father helped put together, which we now have. I referred to it in the post, The Importance of Maintenance.

I mention it again, in that 6 weeks later, it is still a work in progress to address its many issues! It’s crazy how things have not readily come together in the process. Pretty quickly I found someone willing to replace the hydraulic lines and fluid. The problem arose in trying to get it to him.

First of all, the tires are shot. Long story short, they have 14” rims. I ordered tires online but could only get one wheel off the splitter and when I finally got the tire in to be replaced, the rim was too rusted to use. In looking for replacement rims, the junkyard I checked with said it came from a 1970s Dodge. You can’t find them. I ended up buying two new 15” tire and rim combos. And, I still can’t get the other tire off…it is seized up something awful.

Bad weather (I had to be able to get my truck to where it was sitting and didn’t want it getting stuck!), sickness, and busy schedules ate up a lot of time. Then finally today, we decided to try and get it out. The bad tire inflated, and we rotated the splitter so I could back up and hook up to the hitch. Major problem #2 quickly made itself obvious. I had the wrong size ball on my hitch…

Again, a long story short, I ended up having a friend take a blowtorch to the ball – that was the only way to get it off. The heat loosened the rusted-up connection between the threads on the bolt and the nut allowing us to finally get it screwed off! Thankfully, Karen’s dad, God rest his soul, had the right-sized ball in their garage. So, finally, I got it all put together and hooked up and now I’m just waiting for my friend to let me know when I can get it to him. (He’s a farmer and farmers are busy, putting it mildly. I’m grateful he’s helping me out!)

Six weeks, and we’re almost there! It’s crazy how long this has taken.

There are times in life when, despite our best intentions, things do not proceed according to plan. Sometimes there are things in our lives that do that…and sometimes it is simply us.

Throughout my life, there have been spiritual hurdles that I have had to overcome. Sometimes they are from things beyond me that hinder my progress, but I’m sorry to say that far too often it is simply me that hinders my progress.

God calls me to follow His lead, and I do so obediently…for a time. Then something distracts me, and off I go, down paths of my own choosing that are not beneficial to my spiritual health. Gratefully the Lord does not give up on me. He continues to call me to come back to Him. Eventually, much due to the wooing of His Holy Spirit, I realize the futility of my actions and humbly…gratefully…come back into His loving arms – forgiven and free.

Too often it is a long time coming. But it is so worth whatever it takes to come back to Him. Don’t give up on yourself, even though you may have made the journey getting back longer than you intended, He is waiting. All you have to do is ask.

Aug 29th, 2023, Tues, 8:09 pm