God uses ordinary people for extraordinary tasks

A Special Surprise
It was a hot summer day, the bugs were ready to attack and my grass was as tall as my three year old. My husband was at work, providing for our family, so I thought I would help my husband by cutting the grass. Granted we have a riding lawn mower, and I am kind of an outdoors kind of girl. I started the lawnmower, checked to see if it had oil and pumped the tires. I began in the front yard and was having a great time, then it happened. The lawnmower started to make a pump noise and felt uneven… you guessed it, I had a flat tire! I pumped and it ran flat five times until I decided I had to find a new tactic. I pushed the lawnmower across the yard again ( cut off because of the safety switch) and by this time I was exhausted. My neighbor, whom I had never spoken to, was out in the yard and I am sweaty and desperate.

​Willing to ask for help
I go to my neighbors yard and out of breath, try to explain how I know nothing about lawnmowers but am trying to surprise my husband by cutting the grass. Now my neighbor, who is an older man in his late seventies, laughs at me and tells his teenage grandson to go fetch the lawnmower and bring it to his yard. He then tells me to go inside and cool off. I am still unsure to trust him, as I was raised to never go into a stranger's house, so I told him I had a child at the house so I couldn't stay too long. By this time his wife came out. She invited me to come inside for something to drink, this time I smiled and said thank you for the offer, but I have a child at home waiting for me. She asked me if I liked tea, then went inside. She came out a few moments later holding a cold glass of tea and a piece of homemade walnut cake. I took it, because it was cake, and stood in the yard while they worked on the lawnmower.

Gaining an extended family
About fifteen minutes later, with a new tire on the lawnmower, my girl came running down the driveway wondering where I went. After helping them across the street, I introduced my children to my neighbors. My little girl misheard my neighbor and said your name is Papa? I laughed and said NO, and corrected her. He quickly interrupted me and said " you let that baby call me papa, I'll be that girl's papa." I laughed again and just like that we adopted two strangers into our lives. 
Fast forward to three years later, many borrowed items and cooking lessons later, we are as close as ever. My neighbors are like another set of grandparents to our girls and they adore them. My girls are just as crazy about "Kat Kat" and “Papa” as well. My youngest goes to their house almost everyday to play. Having such tremendous help across the street is a life saver, between last minute schedule changes to childcare they have always been there for me. 
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Stepping outside my comfort zone
I had to step out of my comfort zone to ask for help, but the reward from it has been life changing. I never would have thought that an act of kindness from strangers would have impacted mine and my entire family's life like they have. I am so blessed that God uses ordinary people for extraordinary tasks. Next time someone comes and asks for your help, be sure to act like my neighbors. Who knows, maybe just like us a beautiful family bond could be created.