Preparing for Isaac

Love can be so inconvenient.

This morning I had just returned from a run and I was cooling down on my back patio when I heard it: the sound of metal hurricane shutters scraping against each other. My neighbor Dave was trying to put up his shutters with Tropical Storm Isaac bearing down on us.

Now, there is a privacy fence that encloses my back yard so I knew Dave couldn’t see me sitting out there. I sat there for a moment listening to him puttering about in his yard. Frankly, I was pooped from my run. I had run 5K and had treated it as if it were a race to see what my time would look like. I was sitting there soaked in sweat and working on hanging hurricane shutters was the last thing I wanted to do.

Quietly I picked up my running shoes and socks that were lying on the floor next to my chair. I tip-toed into the house being very careful to open and close the patio door as quietly as possible. I did not want Dave to hear me sneaking back into the house. On a Saturday morning I just wanted to lay on the couch for a while and enjoy a cup of coffee.

I patted myself on the back as I silently closed the patio door behind me. I plopped down into a comfy chair, took a swig from my water bottle, and that’s when I heard it. It was not the sound of Dave’s hurricane shutters clinking together as he carried them around the yard. No, it was my conscience screaming at me. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTT AND GO HELP YOUR NEIGHBOR.” My conscience can be so rude.

And that’s when it struck me, love can be so inconvenient.

I had my plan for what I wanted to get done today. I had my list, my priorities. But then there is this inconvenient storm named Isaac bearing down on us and my neighbor needs some help. I could sit on my couch and wait for him to humble himself and come and ask for my help. Or I could get off my couch and go offer to help. Which one looks more like love to you?

This is why I say that when you love someone, everything changes. See, I love my neighbors Dave and his wife Mary Lou. I really love them. And love makes you do things when it is inconvenient.

So I got up, changed out of my running clothes and into some work clothes. I went to the garage and got a pair of gloves and a couple of portable screw guns.

Walking across the yard, I could hear the sound of clinking hurricane shutters from the other side of Dave’s house.

It was going to be a great day after all.