A David and Goliath moment while mowing

For several years I have labored and struggled over mowing my lawn, which painfully takes about three hours out of my schedule to complete.
I’m not typically one to complain, but as I grow older I keep thinking to myself that it’s time I get a riding mower to get the job done in less than half the time it takes me now. 
What gets me is my racing mind. As I cut the grass, I can’t help but think what better things I could be doing with that time. There are many other activities I’d rather be doing than the yard work.  
To be honest, it doesn’t bother me too much, especially when I can absorb nature and get some good exercise on top of it all. 
That’s until my latest lawn mowing episode this past weekend.
As I was carefully mowing the front yard and only about 15 minutes into my long ordeal, a friendly neighbor raced up the street with his riding lawn mower and pulled right in my yard, stopping me dead in my tracks with the little bitty mower I have gotten to know so well. 
It was like a David and Goliath moment. 
I felt like a midget standing next to a giant.
“Why don’t you have a riding mower?” he cockily quipped at me. 
I tried to explain why I’m still huffing around the yard with a push mower, but he wasn’t buying it.
“It just pains me every time I drive by and see you mowing with that little mower,” he said. 
Now he’s talking.
Ah, ha… that’s the ammunition I need to plead my case with my family for getting a riding mower. 
And then the unthinkable happened. 
No, he didn’t give me a riding mower. But he at least offered to mow the rest of the lawn for me. I’ll take it. He saved me a couple hours of my Saturday afternoon.
This same neighbor has helped me out a few times clearing out my driveway after a whopper of a snowstorm. 
His actions fit right into my pastor’s sermon the next morning. The pastor challenged us to go into God’s wide kingdom and push ourselves to help others, even those right in our back yard. Right away I thought of my friendly neighbor. How did he know?
Let’s get back to my lawn mower dilemma. Over the years I’ve dropped some subtle hints around home that I wouldn’t mind having a riding mower. After all, it’s what I grew up using on the farm. I had a blast mowing lawn without having to huff it and puff it in order to get the grass cut. 
But to this day nobody has picked up on my suggestion for a gift. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a gift for Christmas, my birthday, Father’s Day or heck even April Fool’s Day. Second thought maybe not Fool’s Day because it probably would end up being a joke at my expense.
Kids are you reading this? Hint, my birthday is coming up!
With two kids trying to pay college tuition, the reality of me getting a riding mower is probably non-existent. 
I’ll just have to get used to the fact that I’m stuck zipping around the yard with a little Toro push mower. Nothing flashy or spectacular about it, but it gets the job done. Well, unless one of the wheels comes loose like what happened a couple weeks ago. A trip to the repair shop and a $100 later and I’m back in business again. 
I guess I can just look on the bright side. Lawn mowing season is nearing an end for another year in just a few short weeks.
It’ll give me time to get rejuvenated just in time for another long mowing season again… with my push mower. Perhaps it’s time to push myself to go in hot pursuit of latching onto a riding mower instead.