The Peak of Inspiration

Our lawn looked so bad I literally spent a whole evening brooding about it. I was frustrated. Already last year, I had expended too much effort and time trying to remedy the puzzling problem. After a cold, extra-dry winter, things had only become much worse.There were fairy rings and creeping clover. There were dead spots that seemed too dry. There were blotches of lime green where it looked like it was getting too much water. There were whole patches of fat, healthy dandelions. Even in the places where the grass was a normal green hue, it seemed stunted and sparse. And the suckers from the surrounding cottonwood trees were shooting up everywhere, competing with the weeds to be the main crop.

The previous year I had tried iron, nitrogen, and phosphate in varying ratios and amounts. Scott’s Weed and Feed had barely brought any noticeable change. To combat the clover and dandelions I had carefully mixed some 2-4D to just the right potency. The instructions clearly said it would not kill grass, but I knew my luck. Before I sprayed it all over I had tested a small area and waited a couple days. Sure enough, the area immediately died. Yellow and brown. Grass and all. Nothing was working.

This year with the additional afflictions I had no idea where to even start. So I didn’t start. I would walk around out there and kick at the grass, scowling and muttering. I would go look at the irrigation controller settings and increase the watering times just for good measure. I would hunker down in the garden shed and stare at the little arsenal of half empty fertilizer bags that I had collected. But then I would just go inside and bemoan the whole thing to my wife. She also was dismayed at the eyesore that our lawn had become.

Conversation has often turned to finding an expert. Surely someone could come in and take a look and see what needed to be done with this grass. I was convinced it was just missing something. I had multiple theories. I watched YouTube videos and usually only ended up wishing these experts that were educating the masses would just come here and look at our lawn. But alas, our location is rural. Lawn is not a major concern in this sleepy little desert valley. Local enquiries and Google searches turned up no such experts anywhere close. One landscaper guy said he could come in and top dress it with compost, and I hired him to do so, then never heard from him again. There were people on the front range, hours away that did this stuff for a living, but their schedules were booked solid.

I was grumpy.

But then, in another online search, I came upon a local fellow who actually specialized in healthy lawn. Right here in the San Luis Valley. Hope instantly sprung up in my heart. I hadn’t talked to him five minutes and I knew he could help me. I was on the outer edges of the area he serviced, and I literally begged him to come over and see this grass.

Now maybe I’m taking too long to reach my point, but I have to tell you how this was. By the time I reached Mr. K-Lawn on the phone, I was at my wits end. I gave him an earful about everything I had tried, everything I just explained herein, and more.

“Sir,” I said “This is and incredibly ugly lawn, you have no idea.”

He said “Hmm. OK. Yes.”

I said “I think there is just something weird in the soil. Like it ain’t right.”

He said “Ya, hmm, that could be.”

I explained how I thought the surrounding hills drained right into my house site and I thought the soil was just sandy silt that lacked nutrients. And so on.

Just like a patient telling the doctor what the problem surely must be and how it ought to be treated.

I said “We need to take a soil sample and check and see what’s missing.”

He said “Hmm. Well. That’s not something I do.”

I said, “OK you really need to come see what you think. There’s something wrong.”

The interesting thing was he never really latched on to my ideas. I started to wonder if this guy really was any kind of expert at all. I mean, anyone knows you have to ask some questions to develop a treatment plan. Anyway he was really my only hope.

He agreed to come. I had to wait two weeks, but he came.

He drove a simple old pickup and pulled a little trailer with a tank on it. When I came out of the house he was already pulling a long hose off the reel.

“Good morning!” I said. “Here let me show you what we have going on.”

“Oh! OK” he said, and followed me obediently up to the front yard.

The poor fellow had to listen to me ramble about the theories again. He had to walk over that pathetic grass and watch me point out all the many flaws. He dutifully nodded and pulled at the grass a little. He thumped the ground with his foot and scratched his chin like any good expert should.

I expected some conversation about how this all works. Surely there would be some analysis and discussion about exactly what approach we were going to take. I figured I’d learn something about humic acids and aeration and such.

But when I was done he just said “OK, I’ll get on it then.” I hesitated. Then thankfully I shut my mouth and walked over to his little trailer with him. He turned on the pump, picked up the hose, and started spraying the lawn. Back and forth he walked, just misting over it.

As I watched, I started to realize something. That big tank had enough solution in it for all the lawns he was gonna spray that day. He was gonna go around and give lawns of all types and ailments the same simple remedy. Furthermore, that had been the plan all along. I don’t think my silly theories had influenced the chemical makeup of that day’s treatment one little bit. The good fellow had listened, and that was nice of him, but he had the plan established regardless of what was wrong with my grass.

You see he had something in this tank he believed in. It was good for lawns. It was composed of a lot of magical stuff that just made grass happy.

Actually I felt a little jipped for a short moment. I figured the guy just goes around charging people for this “wonderful amazing potion” and doesn’t really know much about how to make grass grow. But then a feeling of hope and trust settled over me. Maybe it was his humble demeanor and patient, listening ear. For whatever reason I determined to give this a few days and just see.

I tell you, the stuff worked. Suckers and dandelions started shrivelling up that very day. We had a nice rain that night and the next morning there was a very noticeable greenness all over the lawn. The lime yellow spots darkened to a solid deep green. It was inspiring to watch.

I do this with God a lot. I pray and tell Him so many of my problems. I tell Him how I think I got here, and what needs to happen to get it sorted out. Endless analysis and proposed treatment plans. I explain all the various things I’ve already tried. I admit discouragement and beg for help even as I tell Him how that help ought to come.

He listens, so kind and patient. He waits it out. But in the end, He just applies the same remedy that has always worked. It’s the solution that He offers to every other person, in every other circumstance. His tank is in endless supply. What it holds is good for the heart. It’s just the right wonderful something that makes a person thrive. It’s grace and love and the blood of Christ. Good for humans and good for me. It’s not one dose for one and different for another. Just the same old true plan He always had for all men everywhere. And the sooner we can get all our explaining done the sooner He can get to work.

Written by Trevor Toews