Tractors and Printers

     I heard a devotion at church recently and I can’t seem to get it off my mind.  Maybe some of you can relate.....

    It was a story of the man fixing a clutch on his tractor.  Did you know you have to take the tractor apart totally in half to fix a clutch?  I didn’t (but that’s a good piece of information to have in case it ever comes up later in life).  He talked about his frustration when trying to put the tractor back together.  It just wouldn’t line up right.  He and the other fix-it guy decided to step away, take some time, pray about it, and try again another day.  And you know what?  A few days later the parts went back together perfectly in a very short amount of time, with only one man in the shop to handle a two-man job.  Ain’t it amazing how God cares about even the everyday things that don’t go right in our lives?!

    I don’t know about you, but I know very little (ok, nothing) about tractors.  But I could relate to the message.  And I compared it to something I do know a little bit about - office machines.  Can we all just agree that electronics are great....until they aren’t?!  The specific one I will focus on today is my copier/printer/scanner (that’s me) and its relationship with/to my desktop computer (God).

    For those of you who understand office machines about as much as I understand tractors, let me see if I can explain it.  This machine is a 3-in-1, meaning it mainly has three different functions (I’m sure there’s a message there somewhere, but I’m trying to stay focused).  It also has several other fancy features, but they’re only used in special circumstances.  First, it copies - It receives physical outside information (documents) and duplicates it, over and over, as much as you need.  Second, it prints - The computer sends internal information to it and it turns it into something physical to distribute (like writing weird stories about tractors and printers).  Third, it scans - It receives outside information and saves it internally, to be pulled out and made into something physical, or sent to someone else who needs the same information.  All of these things are accomplished by the network connection between the computer (God) and the machine (me).

    This machine works great...most of the time.  I usually just insert or send information to it, press a button, and voila!  That information is either saved or duplicated or passed on to others, as the case may require.  It has an automatic paper feeder, which means it can (or should) receive multiple things at a time and feed them through one at a time in an orderly fashion.  Sometimes, though, those things get stuck together and don’t feed through one at a time, and try to all go through at the same time.  That just jams things up and we have to restart the process, manually feeding it one page at a time.  Sometimes it loses connection and won’t do what it’s told by just pressing a button.  Sometimes I have to go through steps and access it manually from the computer.

    You may be asking, how in the world does this relate to tractors?  It doesn’t.  It relates to the frustration when things don’t go as smoothly as planned.  As I said, MOST of the time, I can press a button and the machine copies/prints/scans as I have told it.  But then sometimes, it decides to become ornery and fickle, and suddenly decides it doesn’t want to do what I tell it to do, and I’m left looking at the devilish blue spinning circle. 

    I try all the redo efforts, and usually get nowhere.  I’m yelling at it, “I don’t understand!  Why won’t you just do what I tell you to do?!  How hard is that?!  How do you suddenly, in the middle of a job, decide to disconnect from the thing that controls it all?!  And how does the connection work one way but not the other?!”  (Yes I talk to my machines.  But I don’t give them names, because (#1) I’m not crazy M’Lynn, and (#2) it makes it less personal when I have to smack it with a rolled up paper.)  Sometimes this can go on all day, or for multiple days.  Let me tell you, this can just about just down an office that handles a lot of paper/information.

    When I’ve finally had enough of the frustration and nothing I try seems to work, I take the professional advice I received years ago - turn it off; unplug it; reboot it; turn it back on; and try again.  It takes some time, and a lot of prayer.  I have to wait it out while it decides to reconnect and act right, but it works.  A lot of days, God has to do the same thing with me.  I can become disconnected (even in the middle of the job), uncooperative, and even unresponsive.  But God, in his infinite wisdom, knows exactly how to fix it.  No, he doesn’t walk away - He will never leave us, even when we’re being complicated.  But I believe he will sometimes let us sit in our uncooperativeness (?) for a while.  Then He will unplug, reboot, reconnect us (hear our prayers), and try again.  And usually by the end of the day I’ve learned my lesson and can do or finish the job I was assigned.  The connection is quick; the paper doesn’t jam; the information is distributed as needed; and things run smooth again.

    Now, if you will excuse me, my phone is ringing and I must answer it.  It’s part of my job.

Happy New Year 2026!

  Life is like a game of Rummy.  Stay with me while I unpack what God showed me this morning....

Last night was New Year’s Eve.  My husband, my son, and I played cards for several hours.  It’s our way of bringing in the new year.  We went to bed late.  But God woke me up early this morning, telling me things I’d never noticed before (because He always uses the simple, everyday things to teach me stuff).  I hope I can share it with you the way he showed it to me....

First, it doesn’t matter who you play with or how many people are in the game, you always follow the same rules.  But, as you grow, the rules evolve, become more intricate you might say.  The game I played when I was younger was very basic.  As I’ve gotten older and played with others who have been playing a while, extra tips and skills have been learned.

Which leads into the next thing, and honestly I’m gonna have to do some studying on this one - What do you do when a player makes a questionable move, and nobody can say definite if he’s wrong or right, and the player himself isn’t sure if that’s the way it’s played?  We decided we needed a Rule Book so we could check it.  But everybody plays a little different, so there are probably hundreds of rules that weren’t in the original game.  When/how do we know we’ve got the most accurate guidelines?  I’m sure we’ll know, and we’ll feel enlightened and know in our spirit that it’s right.

Here’s another thing I go back and forth on - Do you see how each game is a little shorter than the one before?  We each had a turn at winning.  The last game was the tie breaker, and ended up being the quickest game we played all night.  Why?  Was it because me and Dylan got sloppy and made mistakes and ended up giving away a victory?  Or was it because we all had gotten so good that we played better, made better moves, and moved toward the goal with more intention?  Something else I’m gonna to have to study on.

We played four games last night. They are all filled with huge gains, huge losses, small ups and downs, setbacks and comebacks.  Isn’t that how life is?  We go through mountains and valleys, ups and downs, wins and losses.  Some hands were over in just a few rounds; others seemed to take forever.  Several times we thought we might run out of cards, but it kept going.  When we reach the end, we’ll see it played out as it should have.  And, if we did it with the right attitude, we might actually have enjoyed it all.

One last thing I noticed (and I’ve heard it said many times) - it doesn’t matter how you start; it only matters how you finish.  It doesn’t matter if you start with a great hand or if you start with nothing and have to build it up.  Either way you learn as you play; if you don’t play, you don’t get better; and quitting in the middle isn’t a good idea.  You can’t win if you don’t play.  You could be dealt great cards, but you’ve still got to make the right choices.  Some of my greatest plays were made with a hand I didn’t think had a chance.

I’ve been playing a long time.  I like to think I have more skills now than I did when I first started.  I’ve watched others play, took advice from experienced players.  I’ve learned what not to do by making the wrong moves and suffering the consequences.  

    It’s just a game of Rummy.  But it’s also a game of Life.  If you start playing and learning early, the better you’ll be when you get to play at the “big table.”  You’ll enjoy it more because you kept building your hand and didn’t give up.  And, if you’re saved and have accepted Jesus as your ultimate teacher, you will always have the winning hand.