Friends with Tractors
That’s a song title, if those words don’t seem familiar to you. Rodney Atkins is the singer’s name, and the song was released in 2010 in case you did miss this musical gem which poses the question, “Is Larry the Cable Guy an actor?”. It matters not as the song concludes that Larr does, in fact, own a tractor. This musical masterpiece also references a Friday night tradition whereby folks would go bogging in their trucks, and concludes “it’s guaranteed some good ‘ol boy”ll get stuck”. For us, it was Sunday afternoons, by the way.
And at some point, Rodney shares with us that “I’ll sink mine to the floorboards” and that that fact matters not because he”s got friends with tractors. Yep. I am sharing so much about this song because I lived so much of this song. And it wasn’t just friends with tractors (or other trucks), it was an accommodating uncle and some cousins who owned a couple tractors. One for backup.
Ok, neither tractor was acquired to simply pull us-and by us I mean me-out of the mud. But they did come in handy when needed!
Similarly, I have a cousin, Brian, who shared with me once…”you don’t need to own the truck, you just need to know someone with a truck.” He is a city dude. Of course he would say that. He has a point, but, I own a truck! There are many reasons I own a truck, not the least of which is growing up in the country. Also among the reasons is that, as a professional mechanic, the shop rule was that you could borrow a tool three times and then you had better buy your own. Instinctively from that point on I could only borrow a truck three times, and well, you see where this is going…
Ok, so where is all this going you might ask?
Just that we need each other. What each of us bring to the table. Or to the mudhole, as the case may be. God has placed people in His body as He saw (sees) fit (1 Cor 10:18) and has called US to follow and serve in His mission and purpose. I am, by definition-that of simply being human-limited. So art thou. I will bemoan the fact that my brother in the Lord has this or that or can do this or that or is more handsome or more talented or more…you get the idea. That’s wasted emotional energy I simply don’t have to spare. Chances are, neither do you. In the Kingdom of God, we all have an assortment of this and that; talent and stuff, time and energy, money and skill. It’s smattered about on purpose, right? In God’s economy, you don’t have to own the tractor, He’s provided you a friend that already has one.
