I’m only 17, but my grandpa used to tell me something that stuck harder than most lessons in school.
He’d tap the side of his mower, look me dead in the eyes, and say, “Son, this is what Jesus would do.” He meant helping widows – especially the ones in our neighborhood who didn’t have anyone left to look after them.
When he passed away last year, I didn’t know how to handle the grief. Grandpa was the kind of man whose kindness filled the whole room, I felt lost without him. One afternoon, while sitting in the garage, I saw his old mower pushed against the wall. It still had grass stuck underneath it from the last yard we did together.
I heard his voice clear as day.
So that summer, I decided to honor him. Every week, I picked a widow in our neighborhood and showed up with the mower: no charge, no announcement, no sermon, just work boots, sweat and love. Most of them tried to pay me. I always shook my head and said exactly what Grandpa said:“This is what Jesus would do.”
There was one widow, Mrs. Talley, who cried the first time I cut her lawn. She told me her husband used to take so much pride in their yard, but after he passed, she just couldn’t keep up anymore. She said seeing it cared for made her feel like she wasn’t forgotten.
I think that’s the whole point. People don’t need grand displays of faith. They need to know someone remembers them.
Every time I fire up that old mower, I feel Grandpa beside me. And I feel God teaching me that serving doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t need a platform. Sometimes it’s just cutting a lawn so someone can breathe easier for a day.
I don’t know what I’ll do when I’m older, but I know this: as long as I have hands that work and a heart that listens, I’ll keep serving widows the way Grandpa taught me.
Because he was right. This is exactly what Jesus would do.
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