“You won’t need to buy a thing,” the salesman informed me. Where are the cameras? Was I being “punked?” Had Candid Camera arrived at the Conyers’ Home Depot? Surely, this was a joke.

I had just asked for some guidance choosing a new mower. I had been coming for several weeks to buy parts and fluids to help lengthen the life of my two year old push mower (a refurbished model from an unnamed store, it did come with a manual). Mowing our half acre yard took over two hours since I had to restart it every 20 feet. I had learned more about how lawn mowers work than I ever wanted to know. After still having no real results, I planned to give up and buy a new one.

“Have you flushed the carburetor?” Peter, the salesman, asked. This patient man had been helping me the last three times that I had wandered through the lawn department. I had cleaned the filter, but, no, I had not done that. Relatively new at all of this repair stuff, I wasn’t even sure where to find the carburetor.

So, step by step, he told me what to do.

“You’re kidding,” I replied. I argued and told him I was skeptical.

He encouraged me to give it a try and even told me that he would have Tim talk to me. Tim was in charge of the tool rental and repair.

Still unsure, I walked with Peter. Immediately, Tim agreed with Peter.

You can probably predict what happened next. It worked. As a matter of fact, the mower ran better than it ever had.

I may have been the only middle aged momma pushing a mower and crying for joy that day.

Finding practical, reliable advice that I could use was a blessing.

It had been almost two years since the divorce. I didn’t want the house. It needed a lot of expensive work (new roof, heating and air system, sheetrock, and much more). I didn’t grow up as a handy girl. My ex had handled all of the repairs. My family lived across the country. Hiring people to do the work was costly. I had learned, the hard way, that there are a lot of deceitful people out there.

But, I also learned, that if I was going to be effective in giving my son what he needed, I was going to have to know who (or rather whom) to trust.

I always thought that my faith in God had been pretty strong. Like many, I had been active in my church family and had a solid prayer life. This reluctant adventure into single parenthood was going to require more of me than I had ever known. So, I clung to a familiar verse from the Old Testament, Joshua 24:15 (NIV), “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

I made a decision that day to dive deeper into my relationship with God. Since then, my life has been a whirlwind. I’ve learned so many things about taking care of my house and my household. I’ve learned how to barter, budget and still believe.

And, how to flush a carburetor.

Lisa Hetzel is a local freelance writer, speaker, teacher and mom. Go to www.thequiltandthequill.blogspot.com to find out more.