God's Report Card

I am still sweating from mowing and have given this post much thought. I am in hopes that I have mellowed a little while I worked out my frustration with the mower. I truly do not want to offend anyone.........

Remember Flip Wilson from the 70's. He had a brief run on TV with a comedy show. He played himself and others including a woman known as Geraldine. One of his alter egos would always proclaim "the devil made me do it" whenever he did something objectionable. It became the catch phrase for awhile.

It has come to my attention of late that there seems to be a lot of folks claiming to be following the directions of God when they want to share an opinion that might not be well received. They would appear to have a much better relationship with God than all of us lesser folk. So Instead of proclaiming "the devil made me do it" one is enlightened with "the Lord has spoken to me and wants me to be his messenger to you".

Last night as I was painting more picnic tables and checking in late arrivals a class C motor home pulled in. The older gentleman came into the office and I inquired about his electric needs, etc. He only wanted 30 amp electric, said he did not need a sewer hook-up or water. It is , after all cheaper. He also wanted every discount available. I complied with his wishes and gave him a discount and supplied him with a map. I apologized that the sites were not yet numbered and showed him on the map where he was to go. I even offered to escort him to the site and he declined, saying he could find it. As I continued to paint even though I was losing light he came up and asked where the bathrooms were (he was standing right next to the men's room with a sign indicating that). I merely pointed to it and smiled. I am so used to being asked where things are that I really don't take note anymore. Come to think of it, I am approached in stores and asked where things are. I guess I look helpful.

I got up this morning and got the pool ready, threw on a couple loads of laundry, cleaned the restrooms and began mowing. I prep the areas for love of my life to get with the big mower and that takes about two hours with the push mower. I was mowing under on of my apple trees when the man from last night came up to the dumpster to toss his garbage. This is on the way out and I thought they were leaving so I simply waved and continued with my work. He comes up behind me and scares the fool out of me to ask where to dump his sewer........ I am a little annoyed with this because I would have put him in a site with sewer and he had insisted he didn't need a sewer hook-up. He saved $3 by doing this. I let it go and tell him where to find what he has requested and continue mowing.

I have finished with mowing around things and I am on the side of the building moving benches and tables out of Drew's way when the man pulls up, stops, gets out and approaches me. It is only 10 o'clock and I don't open the store until 11 during the week so that I can accomplish a few maintenance projects, but I reluctantly head towards him thinking he may need ice or some such item. No, he does not want me to open the store. He has what looks like a postcard in his hand, so I am thinking he has something he would like me to mail for him. Wrong again.

He is a missionary and he and his wife are on a return trip from Mexico where they have been spreading the gospel. I say something appropriate about his work and he continues to tell me that they have only stayed in one other RV park in their journey home and that friends have hosted them otherwise. My mind is churning wondering what he is leading up to...... does he want a refund, a donation, what? He has this card in his hand with a photo of him and his wife and a description of their ministry..........

It seems that the Lord spoke to this missionary man and told him to enlighten me to all the faults of my park. Why is it that people think it is okay to insult someone as long as they preface that insult with the statement "God told me to"? Mr. Missionary drew out a chart on the flip side of his post card that proclaims him to be a carpenter for Jesus. He has rated my park and found me to be failing in certain areas. This is all documented, yet he still wants to tell me in what areas I have failed. Ironically the one he keeps mentioning is the numbering of my new sites. He is quite smug and self-righteous (after all, he is just God's mouthpiece here). I find that I am less than receptive as I stand there dripping with sweat. His parting comment that he will pray that I work harder to make my park a better place is not sitting well in my mind...........

I mowed. I mowed a lot more than I should have as I muttered to myself about opinions. I am very hot and very thankful for this release. I am proud to say that I held my tongue and my only reply was to tell Mr. Missionary that he had failed to obey my speed limit. I guess he feels that doing God's bidding affords him the right to disregard the rules that the rest of us are subject to.